Frio County Training

1. Americans with Disability Act (ADA) • Overview and training for Elected Officials and Managers of Frio County Government Frio County Texas Stephen Meyer Accessibility Consultants San Antonio Texas

2. Introduction to the ADA • The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H.W. Bush. The ADA is one of America's most comprehensive pieces of civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in the mainstream of American life -- to enjoy employment opportunities, to purchase goods and services, and to participate in State and local government programs and services. Modeled after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin – and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 -- the ADA is an "equal opportunity" law for people with disabilities.

3. Protected Class • To be protected by the ADA, one must have a disability, which is defined by the ADA as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. The ADA does not specifically name all of the impairments that are covered.

4. The Law • The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. The purpose of the law is to make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. The ADA is divided into five titles (or sections) that relate to different areas of public life.

5. Title I (Employment) Equal Employment Opportunity for Individuals with Disabilities Disability discrimination occurs when an employer or other entity covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended, or the Rehabilitation Act, as amended, treats a qualified individual with a disability who is an employee or applicant unfavorably because she has a disability. Disability discrimination also occurs when a covered employer or other entity treats an applicant or employee less favorably because she has a history of a disability (such as cancer that is controlled or in remission) or because she is believed to have a physical or mental impairment that is not transitory (lasting or expected to last six months or less) and minor (even if she does not have such an impairment).

6. Title I (Employment) Equal Employment Opportunity for Individuals with Disabilities The law requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodation to an employee or job applicant with a disability, unless doing so would cause significant difficulty or expense for the employer ("undue hardship"). The law also protects people from discrimination based on their relationship with a person with a disability (even if they do not themselves have a disability). For example, it is illegal to discriminate against an employee because her husband has a disability If a complaint against a state or local government agency involves race, color, national origin, sex, religion, or disability discrimination, the agency is covered by the laws enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Commission (EEOC) For More Information: WWW.EEOC.gov

7. Title II (Public Entities) • "Public entities" include any State or local government and any of its departments, agencies, or other instrumentalities. • All activities, services, and programs of public entities are covered, including activities of State legislatures and courts, town meetings, police and fire departments, motor vehicle licensing, and employment. • Private entities that operate public accommodations, such as hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, dry cleaners, doctors' offices, amusement parks, and bowling alleys, are not covered by title II but are covered by title III of the ADA and the Department's regulation implementing title III. Title II is the focus and will be expanded further in the presentation.

8. Title III-Public Accommodations • Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations and in Commercial Facilities This title prohibits private places of public accommodation from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. Examples of public accommodations include privately-owned, leased or operated facilities like hotels, restaurants, retail merchants, doctor’s offices, golf courses, private schools, day care centers, health clubs, sports stadiums, movie theaters, and so on. This title sets the minimum standards for accessibility for alterations and new construction of facilities. It also requires public accommodations to remove barriers in existing buildings where it is easy to do so without much difficulty or expense. This title directs businesses to make "reasonable modifications" to their usual ways of doing things when serving people with disabilities. It also requires that they take steps necessary to communicate effectively with customers with vision, hearing, and speech disabilities. This title is regulated and enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice.

9. Title IV (Telecommunications) This title requires telephone and Internet companies to provide a nationwide system of interstate and intrastate telecommunications relay services that allows individuals with hearing and speech disabilities to communicate over the telephone. This title also requires closed captioning of federally funded public service announcements. This title is regulated by the • Federal Communication Commission

10. Title V (Miscellaneous Provisions) • The final title contains a variety of provisions relating to the ADA as a whole, including its relationship to other laws, state immunity, its impact on insurance providers and benefits, prohibition against retaliation and coercion, illegal use of drugs, and attorney’s fees. This title also provides a list of certain conditions that are not to be considered as disabilities.

11. Title II and Frio County To assess how Frio County is meeting its requirements of providing services, program and activities an accessibility survey is conducted in the following manner: • If there is an architectural barrier to accessibility in a pre-ADA facility (built before January 26, 1992) , the barrier may be removed using the ADA Standards for Accessible Design as a guide, or you may choose to make the program, service, or activity located in the building accessible by providing “program access.” • Program access allows you to move the program to an accessible location, or use some way other than making all architectural changes to make the program, service, or activity readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities

12. Example • A small town with few public buildings operates a museum featuring the history of the area. The museum is in a two story building built in 1970, which has no elevator. The town may either install an elevator or find other ways to make the exhibits accessible to people with mobility disabilities. One program access solution in this case might be to make a video of the second floor exhibits for people to watch on the first floor.

13. Options • There are many ways to make a program, service, or activity accessible other than through architectural modifications. Keep in mind, however, that sometimes making architectural changes is the best solution financially or administratively, or because it furthers the ADA’s goal of integration.

14. After January 26, 1992 Any facility built or altered after January 26, 1992, must be “readily accessible to and usable by” persons with disabilities.27 For ADA compliance purposes, any facility where construction commenced after January 26, 1992 is considered “new,” “newly constructed,” or “post-ADA.” “Readily accessible to and usable by” means that the new or altered building must be built in strict compliance with either the ADA Standards for Accessible Design or UFAS. • Altering (renovating) a building means making a change in the usability of the altered item. Examples of changes in usability include: changing a low pile carpet to a thick pile carpet, moving walls, installing new toilets, or adding more parking spaces to a parking lot. Any state or local government facility that was altered after January 26,1992 was required to be altered in compliance with the ADA Standards or UFAS. • When part of a building has been altered, the alterations must be made in strict compliance with architectural standards, including creating an accessible path of travel to the altered area.

15. March 15, 2012 • The Department of Justice’s revised regulations for Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) were published in the Federal Register on September 15, 2010. These regulations adopted revised, enforceable accessibility standards called the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, "2010 Standards." On March 15, 2012, compliance with the 2010 Standards was required for new construction and alterations under Titles II and III. March 15, 2012, is also the compliance date for using the 2010 Standards for program accessibility and barrier removal.

16. 1991 Versus 2010 The 2010 revision of the original 1991 law was adopted and signed by President Obama in March of 2010 and became law in March 15, 2011. The new provisions are quite extensive and are not included in this presentation, but can be found at: http://www.ada.gov/regs2010/2010ADAStandards/Guidance2010ADAstandards.htm

17. Preparing Frio County Government II-8.1000 General. Title II requires that public entities take several steps designed to achieve compliance. • II-8.2000 Self-evaluation. All public entities subject to title II of the ADA must complete a self-evaluation • II-8.3000 Transition plan. Where structural modifications are required to achieve program accessibility, a public entity with 50 or more employees must do a transition plan by July 26, 1992, that provides for the removal of these barriers. • II-8.4000 Notice to the public. A public entity must provide information on title II's requirements to applicants, participants, beneficiaries, and other interested persons. The notice shall explain title II's applicability to the public entity's services, programs, or activities. A public entity shall provide such information as the head of the public entity determines to be necessary to apprise individuals of title II's prohibitions against discrimination. • II-8.5000 Designation of responsible employee and development of grievance procedures. (ADA Coordinator) A public entity that employs 50 or more persons shall designate at least one employee to coordinate its efforts to comply with and fulfill its responsibilities under title II, including the investigation of complaints. A public entity shall make available the name, office address, and telephone number of any designated employee.

18. Moving Forward • Each Department is being contacted in the month of January 2015 to survey the programs, activities and services provided by the Frio County Government. This also requires input from the public, employees and any contracted services.

19. Additional Information Questions can be directed to: Stephen Meyer, Accessibilty Consultants 210-250-1651 Steve@Accessibility-Consultants.com or Meyerinspectionservices@gmail.com • Dale Stein Frio County Engineer 830-334-0085 • Dstein.frioco@dbcglobal.net