SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AND
THE CITY OF INDEPENDENCE, KANSAS
UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT
DJ 204-29-144
![horizontal divider](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121006233443im_/http://www.ada.gov/images/teeltow2.gif)
Fact Sheet
Press Release
BACKGROUND
SCOPE
OF THE INVESTIGATION
The United
States Department of Justice (Department) initiated this matter as a compliance
review of the City of Independence, Kansas, (City ) under title II of the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131-12134, and
the Department’s implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. Part 35. Because the City receives financial
assistance from the Department of Justice, the review was also conducted under
the authority of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. §
794, and the Department’s implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. Part 42, Subpart
G.
The review
was conducted by the Disability Rights Section of the Department’s Civil Rights
Division and focused on the City’s compliance with the following title II
requirements:
- to conduct a self-evaluation of its services,
policies, and practices by July 26, 1992, and make modifications necessary to
comply with the Department’s title II regulation, 28 C.F.R. § 35.105;
- to notify applicants, participants,
beneficiaries, and other interested persons of their rights and the City’s
obligations under title II and the Department’s regulation, 28 C.F.R. § 35.106;
- to designate a responsible employee to
coordinate its efforts to comply with and carry out the City’s ADA
responsibilities, 28 C.F.R. § 35.107(a);
- to establish a grievance procedure for resolving
complaints of violations of title II, 28 C.F.R. § 35.107(b);
- to operate each program, service, or activity so
that, when viewed in its entirety, it is readily accessible to and usable by
individuals with disabilities, 28 C.F.R. §§ 35.149 - 35.150, by:
- delivery
of services, programs, or activities in alternate ways, including, for example,
redesign of equipment, reassignment of services, assignment of aides, home
visits, or other methods of compliance or, if these methods are not effective
in making the programs accessible,
- physical
changes to buildings (required to have been made by January 26, 1995), in
accordance with the Department’s title II regulation, 28 C.F.R. §§ 35.150 and
35.151, and the ADA Standards for Accessible Design (Standards), 28 C.F.R. pt.
36, App. A, or the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS), 41 C.F.R.
§ 101-19.6, App. A.
- to ensure that facilities for which construction
or alteration was begun after January 26, 1992, are readily accessible to and
usable by people with disabilities, in accordance with 1) the Department’s
title II regulation and 2) the Standards or UFAS, 28 C.F.R. § 35.151;
- to ensure that communications with applicants,
participants, and members of the public with disabilities are as effective as
communications with others, including furnishing auxiliary aids and services
when necessary, 28 C.F.R. § 35.160;
- to provide direct access via TTY (text
telephone) or computer-to-telephone emergency services, including 9-1-1
services, for persons who use TTY’s and computer modems, 28 C.F.R. § 35.162;
- to provide information for interested persons
with disabilities concerning the existence and location of the City’s
accessible services, activities, and facilities, 28 C.F.R. § 35.163(a);
and
- to provide signage at all inaccessible entrances
to each of its facilities, directing users to an accessible entrance or to
information about accessible facilities, 28 C.F.R. § 35.163(b).
As part of
its compliance review, the Department reviewed the following facilities, which
– because construction or alterations commenced after January 26, 1992 – must
comply with the ADA’s new construction or alterations requirements: River Beach Family Aquatic Center, Ash
Youth Center, Independence Public Library, and Independence Memorial Hall and
Civic Center.
The
Department’s program access review covered those of the City’s programs,
services, and activities that operate in the following facilities: Ralph
Mitchell Zoo, Riverside Park, Emmot Field, and City Hall, including the Police
Department and Fire Department.
The
Department reviewed the City’s policies and procedures regarding emergency
management, disaster prevention, and sidewalk maintenance to evaluate whether
persons with disabilities have an equal opportunity to utilize these programs.
Finally,
the Department reviewed the City’s Police Department’s policies and procedures
regarding providing effective communication to persons who are deaf or
hard-of-hearing.
JURISDICTION
- The
ADA applies to the City because it is a “public entity” as defined by title
II. 42 U.S.C. § 12131(1).
- The
Department is authorized under 28 C.F.R. Part 35, Subpart F, to determine the
compliance of the City with title II of the ADA and the Department's title II
implementing regulation, to issue findings, and, where appropriate, to
negotiate and secure voluntary compliance agreements. Furthermore, the Attorney General is
authorized, under 42 U.S.C. § 12133, to bring a civil action enforcing
title II of the ADA should the Department fail to secure voluntary compliance
pursuant to Subpart F.
- The
Department is authorized under 28 C.F.R. Part 42, Subpart G, to determine the
City’s compliance with section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to issue findings,
and, where appropriate, to negotiate and secure voluntary compliance
agreements. Furthermore, the Attorney
General is authorized, under 29 U.S.C. § 794 and 28 C.F.R. §§ 42.530 and
42.108-110, to suspend or terminate financial assistance to the City provided
by the Department of Justice should the Department fail to secure voluntary
compliance pursuant to Subpart G or to bring a civil suit to enforce the rights
of the United States under applicable federal, state, or local law.
- The
parties to this Agreement are the United States of America and the City of
Independence.
- In
order to avoid the burdens and expenses of an investigation and possible
litigation, the parties enter into this Agreement.
- In
consideration of, and consistent with, the terms of this Agreement, the
Attorney General agrees to refrain from filing a civil suit in this matter
regarding all matters contained within this Agreement, except as provided in
the section entitled “Implementation and Enforcement.”
ACTIONS TAKEN BY CITY
- In
1993, the City appointed Anthony Royse, Finance Director and City Clerk, as ADA
Coordinator. He currently serves in this
position.
REMEDIAL ACTION
NOTIFICATION
- Within
two months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will adopt the
attached Notice (Attachment A); distribute it to all agency heads; publish the
Notice in a local newspaper of general circulation serving the City; post the
Notice on its Internet Home Page; and post copies in conspicuous locations in
its public buildings. It will refresh
the posted copies, and update the contact information contained on the Notice,
as necessary, for the life of this Agreement.
Copies will also be provided to any person upon request.
- Within
three months of the effective date of this Agreement, and on yearly
anniversaries of this Agreement until it expires, the City will implement and
report to the Department its written procedures for providing information for
interested persons with disabilities concerning the existence and location of
the City’s accessible programs, services, and activities.
GRIEVANCE
PROCEDURE
- Within
three months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will adopt the
attached ADA Grievance Procedure (Attachment B), distribute it to all agency
heads, and post copies of it in conspicuous locations in each of its public
buildings. It will refresh the posted
copies, and update the contact information contained on it, as necessary, for
the life of the Agreement. Copies will
also be provided to any person upon request.
GENERAL
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION PROVISIONS
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will identify
sources of qualified sign language and oral interpreters, real-time
transcription services, and vendors that can put documents in Braille, and will
implement and report to the Department its written procedures, with time
frames, for fulfilling requests from the public for sign language or oral
interpreters, real-time transcription services, and documents in alternate
formats (Braille, large print, cassette tapes, accessible electronic format (e.g., HTML), etc.).
- The City
will take steps to ensure that all appropriate employees are trained and
practiced in using the Kansas Relay Service to make and receive
calls.
9-1-1
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will ensure that
each 9-1-1 call station is equipped with a TTY or computer equivalent.
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will develop
procedures for answering 9-1-1 calls that include training all call takers to
use a TTY to take 9-1-1 calls, to recognize a “silent” open line as a potential
TTY call and respond by TTY, and to ensure that TTY calls are answered as
quickly as other calls received.
- The
City will monitor its incoming 9-1-1 TTY calls to ensure they are answered as
quickly and accurately as other calls received.
- The
City will incorporate correct TTY call-taking procedures into 9-1-1 call
takers’ performance evaluations and will amend its personnel policies to
include written disciplinary procedures for call takers who fail to perform TTY
call-taking consistent with the training and procedures. The City will implement and report to the
Department its evaluation and procedures within three months of the effective
date of this Agreement.
LAW ENFORCEMENT AND EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will adapt for
its own use and implement Independence Police Department’s Policy Statement on
Effective Communication with People Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (Attachment
C) and distribute to all police officers the Guide for Law Enforcement Officers
When in Contact with People Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (Attachment D).
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will contract
with one or more local qualified oral/sign language interpreter agencies to
ensure that the interpreting services will be available on a priority basis,
twenty-four hours per day, seven days a week, to its police department or
make other appropriate arrangements (such as contracting directly with or
hiring qualified interpreters).
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will ensure that
each police department is equipped with a working TTY to
enable persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, or who have speech impairments to
make outgoing telephone calls. Where
inmate telephone calls are time-limited, the City will adopt policies
permitting inmates who use TTY’s a longer period of time to make those calls,
due to the slower nature of TTY communications compared with voice
communications.
EMPLOYMENT
- Within
twenty-four months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will amend
its employment policies, as necessary, to comply with the regulations of the
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission implementing title I of the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, codified at 29 C.F.R. Part 1630. At minimum, those policies will provide that
the City:
- will not discriminate on the basis of
disability in its hiring or employment practices;
- will not ask a job applicant about
the existence, nature, or severity of a disability.
- Applicants
may be asked about their ability to perform specific job functions. Medical examinations or inquiries may be
made, but only after a conditional offer of employment is made and only if
required of all applicants for the position; will make reasonable accommodations
for the known physical or mental limitations of a qualified
applicant or employee with a disability upon request unless the accommodation
would cause an undue hardship on the operation of the City’s business. If an applicant or an employee requests a
reasonable accommodation and the individual's disability and need for the
accommodation are not readily apparent or otherwise known, the City may ask the
individual for information necessary to determine if the individual has a
disability-related need for the accommodation;
- will maintain any employee’s medical
records separate from personnel files and keep them confidential; and
- will make an individualized
assessment of whether a qualified individual with a disability meets selection
criteria for employment decisions. To
the extent the City’s selection criteria have the effect of disqualifying an
individual because of disability, those criteria will be job-related and
consistent with business necessity.
POLLING
PLACES
- The
City’s polling places are owned or operated by other public entities subject to
title II or by public accommodations subject to title III and, as such, would
be subject to the obligation to provide program access or to remove barriers to
accessibility under the ADA. This
Agreement does not limit future enforcement action against the owners or operators
of these polling places by any person or entity, including the Department.
- Before
designating any site as a new polling place, the City will survey the site using the survey instrument at
Attachment F to determine whether the site contains barriers to access by
people with disabilities in the parking, exterior route to the entrance,
entrance, interior route to the voting area, or voting area. The City will not designate any such site as
a polling place until all such barriers have been removed.
- Within
twenty-four months of the effective date of this Agreement, using the survey
instrument at Attachment F, the City will survey all polling places to identify
barriers to access by people with disabilities in the parking, exterior route
to the entrance, entrance, interior route to the voting area, and voting
area. For each such polling place, the
City will then either (1) ensure that all barriers to access by people with
disabilities have been removed or (2) identify an alternate polling place with no
barriers to access by people with disabilities.
That identification of accessible polling places will utilize the survey
instrument that appears as Attachment F to this Agreement. The City will then take immediate steps to
change each new inaccessible polling place to a new accessible location. Under this provision of the Agreement, the
City will ensure that barriers at each polling place are either removed or a
substitute accessible polling place is in operation before the next election
occurring more than 30 months after the effective date of this Agreement.
- Until
all polling places in each precinct or voting district have accessible parking,
exterior routes, entrances, interior routes to the voting area, and voting
area, prior to each election, the City will identify and widely publicize to
the public and to persons with disabilities and organizations serving them the
most accessible polling place(s) for each precinct or voting district.
- Within
twenty-four months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will
provide opportunities for same-day balloting for voters with disabilities whose
assigned polling place does not have accessible parking, exterior route to
entrance, entrance, interior route to the voting area, and voting area. The method for providing these opportunities
may include allowing the individual to vote at another nearby location that is
accessible, allowing individuals with disabilities to vote by an absentee ballot
that is accepted if postmarked on the day of the election (or picked up by
election officials at the home of the voter on the same day as the election),
providing curbside voting at the inaccessible polling place, or any other
method that ensures that voters with disabilities have the same degree of
information available to them when casting their ballots as others. If curbside assistance is provided and a
polling place official is not stationed outside to provide assistance to people
with disabilities in curbside voting, it must include a reliable, effective
mechanism by which individuals with disabilities can summon election officials
to provide curbside assistance without leaving their vehicles and ensure prompt response and assistance with curbside
voting from polling officials.
- Within
twenty-four months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will
survey its voter registration locations for accessibility to persons with
disabilities by using the form provided at Attachment F and will report the
results of this survey to the Department.
If barriers to access are identified, the City will implement and report
to the Department its plan to provide program access, which may include
allowing persons to register to vote through alternative means or at
alternative locations.
- Within
twenty-four months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will make
all voter registration materials available in alternate formats, including
Braille, large print, audio tape, and accessible electronic format (e.g., HTML).
- Within
the month prior to the next election that utilizes the City’s polling places,
and at yearly anniversaries of the effective date of this Agreement until it
expires, the City will train poll workers on the rights of people with disabilities
and the practical aspects of assuring those rights. The training will cover, at minimum, the need
to maintain the physical accessibility of polling locations; how to assist
people with disabilities, as necessary; and how to operate any non-standard
voting equipment or accessible features of standard equipment (particularly
new, accessible equipment).
EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES AND POLICIES
- The
Department will work collaboratively with the City to ensure that the City’s
Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) will be in compliance with ADA
requirements. The touchstone for
compliance with ADA requirements relating to emergency management is Chapter 7 of the Department’s ADA Best Practices
Tool Kit for State and Local Government (ADA Tool Kit), which addresses in detail key ADA obligations that
apply to all aspects of emergency management, including planning, preparedness,
evacuation, shelters, medical and social services, lodging and housing
programs, recovery, and rebuilding.
- The
City is committed to compliance with the ADA requirements as described in
Chapter 7 of the ADA Tool Kit. Within 60 days of the effective date of this
Agreement, the City will revise its EOP
so that it conforms with Chapter 7 of the ADA
Tool Kit, and the City will provide
a copy of its revised EOP (including supporting documents) to the
Department. The Department will review
the revised EOP to ensure compliance with title II of the ADA and its
implementing regulation.
- If
the City contracts with another entity, such as the American Red Cross or
another local government, to provide its emergency preparedness plans and
emergency response services, the City will ensure that the other entity
complies with the following provisions on its behalf.
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will implement
and report to the Department its written procedures that ensure that it
regularly solicits and incorporates input from persons with a variety of
disabilities and those who serve them regarding all phases of its emergency
operations plan (preparation, notification, response, and clean up).
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will implement
and report to the Department its written procedures that ensure that its
community evacuation plans enable those who have mobility impairments, vision
impairments, hearing impairments, cognitive disabilities, mental illness, or other
disabilities to safely self-evacuate or be evacuated by others. Some communities are instituting voluntary,
confidential registries of persons with disabilities who may need
individualized evacuation assistance or notification. If the City adopts or maintains such a
registry, its report to the Department will discuss its procedures for ensuring
voluntariness, appropriate confidentiality controls, and how the registry will
be kept updated, as well as its outreach plan to inform persons with
disabilities of its availability.
Whether or not a registry is used, the City plan should address
accessible transportation needs for persons with disabilities.
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will implement
and report to the Department its written procedures that ensure that if its
emergency warning systems use sirens or other audible alerts, it will also
provide ways to inform persons with hearing impairments of an impending
disaster. The use of auto-dialed TTY
messages to pre-registered individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, text
messaging, e-mails, open-captioning on local TV stations and other innovative
uses of technology may be incorporated into such procedures, as well as
lower-tech options such as dispatching qualified sign language interpreters to
assist with emergency TV broadcasts.
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will implement
and report to the Department its written procedures that ensure that emergency
shelters have a back-up generator and a way to keep medications refrigerated
(such as a refrigerator or a cooler with ice).
Access to back-up power and refrigeration at such shelters will be made
available to persons whose disabilities require access to electricity and refrigeration,
for example, for using life-sustaining medical devices, providing power to
motorized wheelchairs, and preserving certain medications, such as insulin,
that require refrigeration. The written
procedures will include a plan for notifying persons of the location of such
shelters.
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will implement
and report to the Department its written procedures that ensure that persons
who use service animals are not separated from their service animals when
sheltering during an emergency, even if pets are normally prohibited in
shelters. The procedures will not
segregate persons who use service animals from others but may take into account
the potential presence of persons who, for safety or health reasons, should not
be in contact with certain types of animals.
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will develop,
implement, and report to the Department its plans for providing equivalent
opportunities for accessible post-emergency temporary housing to persons with
disabilities. Within one year of the
effective date of this Agreement, the City will ensure that information it
makes available regarding temporary housing includes information on accessible
housing (such as accessible hotel rooms within the community or in nearby
communities) that could be used if people with disabilities cannot immediately
return home after a disaster if, for instance, necessary accessible features
such as ramps or electrical systems have been compromised.
PHYSICAL
CHANGES TO EMERGENCY SHELTERS
- Some
of the of the City’s emergency shelters may be owned or operated by other
public entities subject to title II or by public accommodations subject to
title III and, as such, are subject to the obligation to provide program access
or remove barriers to accessibility under the ADA. This Agreement does not limit such future
enforcement action against the owners or operators of these facilities by any
person or entity, including the Department.
- Within
twenty-four months of the effective date of this Agreement and until all
emergency shelters have accessible parking, exterior routes, entrances,
interior routes to the shelter area, and toilet rooms serving the shelter area,
the City will identify and widely publicize to the public and to persons with
disabilities and the organizations that serve them the most accessible
emergency shelters.
SIDEWALKS
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will implement
and report to the Department its written process for the following: (1)
soliciting and receiving input from persons with disabilities regarding the
accessibility of its sidewalks; (2) responding to the input it receives from
persons with disabilities regarding sidewalk access; and (3) promptly revising
its sidewalk program to incorporate input and requests from persons with
disabilities, such as a request to prioritize installation of a curb ramp at a
particular location. The City will provide multiple ways for individuals with
disabilities to provide input, including but not limited to, a City website
portal; a City telephone number, email address, and street address; and through
public hearings and outreach to disability groups.
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will develop a
list of actions it will take to comply with the sidewalk provisions of this
Agreement (paragraphs 40 - 45). The list will identify all of the intersections
where curb ramps and other sloped areas are needed to comply with the
provisions of this Agreement, and will identify the order in which the City
proposes to complete each curb ramp and other sloped area. This list will be
made available to the public through several means, including but not limited
to, posting the list on the City’s website, making it available at city hall and
other government buildings, distributing the list to local disability groups
and organizations, and by making it available upon request through a City phone
number, email address, and street address. The City will refresh the list no
less than annually throughout the life of this Agreement.
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will identify and
report to the Department all streets, roads, and highways that have been
constructed or altered since January 26, 1992.
Paving, repaving, or resurfacing a street, road, or highway is
considered an alteration for the purposes of this Agreement. Filling a pothole is not considered an
alteration for the purposes of this Agreement.
Within five years of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will
provide curb ramps or other sloped areas complying with the Standards or UFAS
at all intersections of the streets, roads, and highways identified under this
paragraph having curbs or other barriers to entry from a street level pedestrian
walkway.
- Beginning
no later than three months after the effective date of this Agreement, the
City will provide curb ramps or other
sloped areas complying with the Standards or UFAS at any intersection having
curbs or other barriers to entry from a street level pedestrian walkway,
whenever a new street, road, or highway is constructed or altered.
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will identify all
street level pedestrian walkways that have been constructed or altered since
January 26, 1992. Paving, repaving, or
resurfacing a walkway is considered an alteration for the purposes of this
Agreement. Within five years of the
effective date of this Agreement, the City will provide curb ramps or other
sloped areas complying with the Standards or UFAS at all places where a street
level pedestrian walkway identified under this paragraph intersects with a
street, road, or highway.
- Beginning
no later than three months after the effective date of this Agreement, the City will provide curb ramps or other sloped areas
complying with the Standards or UFAS at all newly constructed or altered
pedestrian walkways where they intersect a street, road, or highway.
WEB-BASED
SERVICES AND PROGRAMS
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, and on subsequent
anniversaries of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will distribute to all persons – employees and contractors –
who design, develop, maintain, or otherwise have responsibility for content and
format of its website(s) or third party websites used by the City (Internet
Personnel) the technical assistance document, “Accessibility of State and Local
Government Websites to People with Disabilities,” which is Attachment H to this
Agreement (it is also available at www.ada.gov/websites2.htm).
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, and throughout the life of
the Agreement, the City will do the following:
- Establish,
implement, and post online a policy that its web pages will be accessible and
create a process for implementation;
- Ensure
that all new and modified web pages and content are accessible;
- Develop
and implement a plan for making existing web content more accessible;
- Provide
a way for online visitors to request accessible information or services by
posting a telephone number or e-mail address on its home page; and
- Periodically
(at least annually) enlist people with disabilities to test its pages for ease
of use.
NEW
CONSTRUCTION, ALTERATIONS,
AND
PHYSICAL CHANGES TO FACILITIES
- The
City will ensure that all buildings and facilities constructed by or on behalf
of the City are constructed in full compliance with the requirements of 28
C.F.R. § 35.151, including applicable architectural standards.
- The
City will ensure that alterations to City facilities are made in full
compliance with the requirements of 28 C.F.R. § 35.151, including applicable
architectural standards.
- The
elements or features of the City’s facilities that do not comply with the
Standards, including those listed in Attachments I, J, and K, prevent persons
with disabilities from fully and equally enjoying the City’s services,
programs, or activities and constitute discrimination on the basis of
disability within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 12132 and 28 C.F.R. §§ 35.149 and
35.150.
- The
City will comply with the cited provisions of the Standards when taking the
actions required by this Agreement.
- Within
twenty-four months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will
install signage as necessary to comply with 28 C.F.R. § 35.163(b), after having
surveyed all facilities that are the subject of this Agreement for the purpose
of identifying those that have multiple entrances not all of which are
accessible.
- Newly
Constructed Facilities: In order to
ensure that the following spaces and elements in City facilities for which
construction was commenced after January 26, 1992, are readily accessible to
and usable by persons with disabilities, the City will take the actions listed
in Attachments I and M.
- Altered
Facilities: In order to ensure that
the following spaces and elements in City
facilities for which alterations commenced after January 26, 1992, are
readily accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, the City will
take the actions listed in Attachments J and M.
- Program
Access in Existing Facilities: In
order to ensure that each of the City’s
programs, services, and activities operating at a facility that is the
subject of this Agreement, when viewed in its entirety, is readily accessible
to and usable by persons with mobility impairments, the City will take the
actions listed in Attachments K and M.
- Facilities
and Programs Not Surveyed by the Department: The City will review compliance with the
requirements of title II of the ADA for those City facilities and programs that
were not reviewed by the Department.
Within twelve months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City
will submit for review by the Department a detailed report listing the access
issues identified during its review together with the corrective actions and
completion dates proposed to resolve such issues. The review conducted by the City, the access
issues identified, and the corrective actions and completion dates proposed
will be consistent with the requirements of title II of the ADA; the review of
City facilities and programs conducted by the Department for purposes of this
Agreement; and the access issues, corrective actions, and completion dates
reflected in Attachments I, J, K, and M.
PROGRAMS
FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND ABUSE
- If
the City owns or operates any programs that provide shelter, counseling, or
other assistance or supportive services to victims of domestic violence or
abuse and their families (hereafter referred to as Domestic Violence Programs),
within twenty-four months of the effective date of this Agreement, it will do
the following:
- Whatever
written information is provided regarding its Domestic Violence Programs will
also be provided in alternate formats, including Braille, large print, audio
recording, and electronic formats (e.g.,
HTML), upon request.
- Enter
into contracts or make other arrangements with qualified sign language and oral
interpreters to ensure their availability when required for effective
communication with persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. The type of aid that will be required for
effective communication will depend on the individual’s usual method of
communication, and the nature, importance, and duration of the communication at
issue. In many circumstances, oral
communication supplemented by gestures and visual aids, an exchange of written
notes, use of a computer or typewriter, or use of an assistive listening device
may be effective. In other
circumstances, qualified sign language or oral interpreters are needed to
communicate effectively with persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. The more lengthy, complex, and important the
communication, the more likely it is that a qualified interpreter will be
required for effective communication with a person whose primary means of
communication is sign language or speech reading.
- If
the City’s Domestic Violence
Programs operate a hotline to take telephone calls of an emergency nature, the
City shall ensure that it provides equivalent service for persons who use
TTY’s, including providing direct-connection service for TTY users with hotline
operators, without requiring TTY users to call through a third party operator,
such as through the state or local Telecommunication Relay Services. The City will obtain the necessary equipment,
establish the written procedures, and provide the training necessary to ensure
effective communication by Hotline staff with direct-connection callers using
TTY’s, as well as the training necessary to respond to callers who use the
Telecommunication Relay Services.
- Survey
facilities used as shelters or designated as potential shelters – or for
counseling, job training, education, clothing or household provisioning, or
other aspects of Domestic Violence Programs – to ensure that adequate
arrangements are available for potential clients and family members with
disabilities, including adults and children who have mobility impairments, who
are blind or have low vision, and who are deaf or hard of hearing. Within one year of the effective date of this
Agreement, modify each such facility to remove the barriers or, alternatively,
procure another, fully accessible facility to ensure that potential clients and
family members with disabilities have integrated options when participating in
a sheltering or other Domestic Violence program. Nothing in this Agreement requires any
modifications that would compromise the confidentiality of a shelter or counseling
center. Until there is a sufficient
stock of accessible housing and other facilities within the sheltering program,
the City will implement written procedures ensuring that it has identified
temporary accessible housing (such as accessible hotel rooms within the
community or in nearby communities) and other facilities that could be used if
people with disabilities need sheltering or inservice access to a Domestic
Violence Program. The cost to potential
clients of being housed or otherwise served in alternate accessible facilities
shall not exceed any costs normally attributed to clients of the City’s
Domestic Violence Programs.
- Implement
written procedures and modify, as appropriate, eligibility criteria, to ensure
that no person with a disability is turned away from a shelter or otherwise
denied the opportunity to benefit from the services of the City’s Domestic
Violence Programs on the basis of disability.
- Implement
written procedures to ensure that persons with disabilities who use service animals
are not denied or discouraged from participating in Domestic Violence Programs,
are able to be housed and served in an integrated environment, and are not
separated from their service animals while participating in the City’s Domestic
Violence Programs even if pets are normally not permitted in the facilities
where such programs are conducted. The
procedures will not unnecessarily segregate persons who use service animals
from others but may take into account the potential presence of persons who,
for safety or health reasons, should not be in contact with certain types of
animals. If the City’s Domestic Violence
Programs require clients to make any payments for shelter or other services
they provide, clients shall not be required to make additional payments because
they or their family members use service animals.
- Implement
written procedures to ensure that reasonable modifications are made to the
City’s Domestic Violence Programs when necessary for a client or family member
with a disability to participate in such Programs, unless doing so would
fundamentally alter the nature of the program.
- Implement
written policies to ensure that despite any “drug-free” policy of the
City’s Domestic Violence Programs,
persons with disabilities who use medication prescribed for their use are able
to continue using such medication while participating in such Programs or being
housed in a shelter.
- If
the City contracts with another entity to provide or operate Domestic Violence
Programs, it will ensure that the other
entity complies with the preceding provisions on its behalf. If that entity will not comply with the
following provisions, the City will nonetheless take all necessary steps to
ensure that its program is accessible to persons with disabilities.
- Some
of the of the City’s shelters may be owned or operated by other public entities
subject to title II or by public accommodations subject to title III and, as
such, are subject to the obligation to provide program access or remove barriers
to accessibility under the ADA. This
Agreement does not limit such future enforcement action against the owners or
operators of these facilities by any person or entity, including the
Department.
- This
Agreement shall not be construed to require the City to divulge confidential
information relating to the location or existence of any Domestic Violence
Programs, beyond what is otherwise required by applicable law or what is
necessary for the Department to effectively enforce this Agreement.
MISCELLANEOUS
PROVISIONS
- Except
as otherwise specified in this Agreement, at yearly anniversaries of the
effective date of this Agreement until it expires, the City will submit written
reports to the Department summarizing the actions the City has taken pursuant
to this Agreement. Reports will include
detailed photographs showing measurements, architectural plans, work orders,
notices published in the newspaper, copies of adopted policies, and proof of
efforts to secure funding/assistance for structural renovations or equipment.
- Throughout
the life of this Agreement, consistent with 28 C.F.R. § 35.133(a), the
City will maintain the accessibility of
its programs, activities, services, facilities, and equipment, and will take
whatever actions are necessary (such as routine testing of accessibility
equipment and routine accessibility audits of its programs and facilities) to
do so. This provision does not prohibit
isolated or temporary interruptions in service or access due to maintenance or
repairs. 28 C.F.R. § 35.133(b).
- Within
nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will develop or
procure a two-hour training program on the requirements of the ADA and
appropriate ways of serving persons with disabilities. The City will use the ADA technical
assistance materials developed by the Department and will consult with
interested persons, including individuals with disabilities, in developing or
procuring the ADA training program.
- Within
one year of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will deliver its
training program to all City employees who have direct contact with members of
the public. At the end of that period,
the City will submit a copy of its training curriculum and materials to the
Department, along with a list of employees trained and the name, title, and
address of the trainer.
IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT
- If
at any time the City desires to modify any portion of this Agreement because of
changed conditions making performance impossible or impractical or for any
other reason, it will promptly notify the Department in writing, setting forth
the facts and circumstances thought to justify modification and the substance
of the proposed modification. Until
there is written Agreement by the Department to the proposed modification, the
proposed modification will not take effect.
These actions must receive the prior written approval of the Department,
which approval will not be unreasonably withheld or delayed.
- The
Department may review compliance with this Agreement at any time. If the Department believes that the City has
failed to comply in a timely manner with any requirement of this Agreement
without obtaining sufficient advance written agreement with the Department for a
modification of the relevant terms, the Department will so notify the City in
writing and it will attempt to resolve the issue or issues in good faith. If the Department is unable to reach a
satisfactory resolution of the issue or issues raised within 30 days of the
date it provides notice to the City, it may institute a civil action in federal
district court to enforce the terms of this Agreement, or it may initiate
appropriate steps to enforce title II and section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act.
- For
purposes of the immediately preceding paragraph, it is a violation of this
Agreement for the City to fail to comply in a timely manner with any of its
requirements without obtaining sufficient advance written agreement with the
Department for an extension of the relevant time frame imposed by the
Agreement.
- Failure
by the Department to enforce this entire Agreement or any provision thereof
with regard to any deadline or any other provision herein will not be construed
as a waiver of the Department's right to enforce other deadlines and provisions
of this Agreement.
- This
Agreement is a public document. A copy
of this document or any information contained in it will be made available to
any person by the City or the Department on request.
- This
Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties on the matters
raised herein, and no other statement, promise, or agreement, either written or
oral, made by either party or agents of either party, that is not contained in
this written Agreement (including its Attachments, which are hereby incorporated
by reference), will be enforceable. This
Agreement does not purport to remedy any other potential violations of the ADA
or any other federal law. This Agreement
does not affect the City’s continuing responsibility to comply with all aspects
of the ADA and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
- This
Agreement will remain in effect for three years, or until the parties agree
that all actions required by the Agreement have been completed, whichever is
later, with the exception of paragraphs 40 through 44, 60, and 64 through 72,
which will remain in effect for six years, or until the parties agree that all
actions required by the Agreement have been completed, whichever is later.
- The
person signing for the City represents that he or she is authorized to bind the
City to this Agreement.
- The
effective date of this Agreement is the date of the last signature below.
For the City :
By:
____________________________
TIM WHITE, Mayor |
For the United States:
THOMAS E. PEREZ
Assistant Attorney General for Civil
Rights
JEANINE M. WORDEN, Acting Chief
DOV LUTZKER, Acting Deputy Chief
By:_____________________________
NAOMI MILTON, Supervisory Attorney
By:_____________________________
YOLANDA HILLIARD, Investigator
BRIAN RYU, Architect
Disability Rights Section - NYA
Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530
(202) 307-0663
(202) 514-7821 (fax) |
Date: ___________________________
|
Date: ______________________________
|
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April 29, 2011