Interactive Exercises about Public Entities and the ADA ADA Trainer Network Module 5d Thinking it Through: Interactive Exercises about Public Entities and the ADA Select one or more of these activities from this module to use along with one or more presentation format modules related to Title II: State and Local Government Entities. Each activity takes about 20 minutes in small groups or can be done in about 10 minutes if you choose 2 or 3 scenarios to discuss in a large group format. Trainer’s Name Trainer’s Title Phone Number Email/Website Here
Disclaimer Information, materials, and/or technical assistance are intended solely as informal guidance, and are neither a determination of your legal rights or responsibilities under the ADA, nor binding on any agency with enforcement responsibility under the ADA. The Northeast ADA Center is authorized by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) to provide information, materials, and technical assistance to individuals and entities that are covered by the ADA. The contents of this document were developed under a grant from the Department of Education, NIDRR grant number H133 A110020. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
Legal Applications: An activity about how disability law impacts public entities This activity involves participants working in pairs to determine legal obligations in scenarios related to disability law and public entities.
A county day camp for kids requires children who use wheelchairs to be accompanied by an attendant for safety reasons. Is this legal? 2. A person with a visual disability enrolls in a community college class and requests class materials be provided on CD. The college states it only has time to provide the materials needed for the first class and will provide the rest later. Is this acceptable under the law? 3. A county recreation program requires that all participants in its scuba program pass a swimming test. Is this legal? #1 NO. A blanket requirement is a violation of the law as many wheelchair users would not need special assistance to safely participate in the camp. #2 YES. If the college can show that it is an undue burden to produce all materials immediately then they can, as a reasonable modification, provide the materials needed for the first class and then give the student the rest of the materials as soon as they are produced; this would need to be done in a reasonable timeframe so that the student can keep up with and benefit from the course. # 3 YES. If the county can demonstrate that being able to swim is necessary for safe participation in the class. This is permitted even if requiring such a test would tend to screen out people with certain kinds of disabilities.
4. A city ordinance states home owners must remove snow from their sidewalks within 48 hours. A resident with a disability that inhibits their ability to shovel snow requests the city provide snow removal service as a reasonable modification. Is the city obligated to provide this? 5. A state park has a contract with a private restaurant to operate a concession stand for park users and employees. A concession staff member refuses to serve someone who has an intellectual disability. Is this a violation of Title II or Title III? #4 NO. The ADA does not require a city government to provide snow removal service for the private driveways of residents with disabilities, if the city does not provide such service for residents without disabilities. #5 BOTH. As a public accommodation, the restaurant is subject to Title III and must meet those obligations. The state park, a public entity, is subject to Title II. The Parks Department is obligated to ensure by contract that the restaurant is operated in a manner that enables the Department to meet its Title II obligations, even though the restaurant is not directly subject to Title II.
Program Accessibility: An activity about how to make the programs and services offered by public entities accessible to people with disabilities This activity involves participants working in pairs to consider legal obligations in scenarios related to disability law and public entities.
Jane, a defendant in a civil suit, has a respiratory condition that prevents her from climbing steps. The courtroom is on the second floor of a courthouse that has no elevator. Now what? A state agency has five offices downtown- two are accessible, three are not. If the same services/programs are available in all 5 offices, do the 3 inaccessible ones need to be made accessible? A person with a mobility disability wants to apply to city council. The application office in City Hall is inaccessible. Now what? This is an activity in which participants work in pairs to discuss questions and brainstorm answers. Make these questions available as a handout, too, for anyone who requests it. See answers to questions below: The public entity must relocate the proceedings to an accessible ground floor courtroom or another building if necessary, in order to allow Jane to participate in the civil suit. No. The agency does not have to make structural changes to those inaccessible offices as long as the accessible offices operate the same hours and business/services. However, in a large city where there is significant distance between facilities, this can create barriers to program access; then structural changes may be necessary in order to achieve program access for everyone. A city worker may need to meet the individual at an alternative location such as an accessible part of City Hall or the applicant’s home, to process the necessary paperwork. Another option might be to allow the applicant to complete and submit the paperwork electronically. 7
There are two historic properties in town- one is a house on the List of Historic Preservation that is used as a museum. The other is an historic building, not in a preservation program, that houses city offices. What are the accessibility requirements, for each? A surgery patient at County Hospital is deaf and requests the hospital provide her an ASL interpreter for the duration of her one week stay. The hospital refuses claiming this would cause them undue financial burden. How should this be resolved? 4. The historic house museum does not need to do anything that would destroy architectural or historic features of the museum however they do need to provide program access to the upstairs part of the building such as providing an audio-visual display of the contents of the upstairs rooms in an accessible location on the first floor. The office building is not a historic preservation program, it just happens to be located in a historic property. In this case, there is no historical building protection and the office must attempt nonstructural methods of providing program accessibility, such as relocating all or part of the office’s services or making home visits, to ensure accessibility. If this is not possible, then structural accessibility may need to be initiated unless it causes undue financial or administrative burden. If providing an ASL interpreter 24 hours a day/7 days a week for one patient is an undue financial and/or administrative burden for the hospital, then they are obligated to provide effective communication through other means (e.g., provide an interpreter any time the patient is meeting with her doctor, etc.). For other more routine communication exchanges such as nurses administering nightly medication, staff serving lunch, etc. communicating via note writing or computer typing may be an effective way to communicate.
Public Entities and the ADA Case Scenarios: Public Entities and the ADA In this activity, participants will have a chance to apply what they learned from the presentation modules you have presented by considering how they might respond to some hypothetical yet plausible scenarios.
Small Group Activity 1. Divide into small groups. 2. Receive handout with 7 scenarios — choose one scenario to work through. 3. Read your scenario and answer these questions: – Is what the person with a disability requesting “reasonable?” – What are ways this situation can be resolved? – How much cost might be involved? 4. Report out your scenario and thoughts to the larger group. See Case Scenario Sheets in this Guide. You can either let the groups self-select which scenario to work on, or you can assign each group a different scenario. Give each group about 5 minutes to read and discuss the scenario, then have them report out their situation and resolution to the larger group, allowing other groups to comment, agree/disagree, ask questions, etc. The report out/discussion piece will be the most substantial part of this activity. You will find the answers to the case scenarios in this guide, which will aid you in the facilitated discussion piece. Refer to these to ensure participants leave the session with accurate information.
Employment and Disability Institute Northeast ADA Center Employment and Disability Institute Cornell University Dolgen Hall Room 201 Ithaca, New York 14853-3901 Toll-Free : 800.949.4232 (NY, NJ, PR, USVI) Telephone 607.255.6686 Fax 607.255.2763 TTY 607.255.6686 Email northeastada@cornell.edu Web www.northeastada.org The contents of this presentation were developed under a grant from the Department of Education, NIDRR grant number H133 A110020. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Conclude by reminding participants that the training materials were produced by the Northeast ADA Center in collaboration with the National ADA Network. Remind them of the free and confidential technical assistance and other services available from your local ADA Center and from the ADA Centers throughout the country.