Oklahoma Office of Disability Concerns Conducts Search For Compliance

The Office of Disability Concerns acts as conduit for Oklahoma citizens with disabilities to understand what resources are available as well as what they should expect in terms of accessibility when working with both public and private sectors.  

The Oklahoma Office of Disability Concerns has conducted a lengthy search of cities and towns for evidence of compliance with the requirement of having made available to its citizens an American with Disabilities Act Notice.

The Americans with Disabilities Act has specific requirements for Title II public entities. Public entities include state and local governments which required to identify an ADA Coordinator, ADA Notice and a Grievance Procedure for both their employees and local citizens.

The requirements for an ADA Coordinator, Notice & Grievance Procedure: Administrative Requirements Under Title II of the ADA:

If a public entity has 50 or more employees, it is required to designate at least one responsible employee to coordinate ADA compliance.  A government entity may elect to have more than one ADA Coordinator. Although the law does not refer to this person as an “ADA Coordinator,” this term is commonly used in state and local governments across the country and will be used in this chapter.

Note: The number of employees is based on a government-wide total, including employees of each department, division, or other sub-unit. Both part-time and full-time employees count. Contractors are not counted as employees for determining the number of employees.  If your organization has less than 50 employees (even after adding all departments such a city hall, utilities, police, fire, dispatch, economic development and such), you are still required to publish an ADA Notice and publish an ADA grievance procedure

The ADA notice requirement applies to ALL state and local governments covered by title II, even localities with fewer than 50 employees.  Requirements for the ADA Notice can found at: https://www.ada.gov/pcatoolkit/chap2toolkit.htm

A Sample ADA Notice:

NOTICE UNDER THE AMERICANS
WITH  DISABILITIES ACT

In accordance with the requirements of title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"), the [name of public entity] will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability in its services, programs, or activities. 

Employment: [name of public entity] does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its hiring or employment practices and complies with all regulations promulgated by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under title I of the ADA.

Effective Communication: [Name of public entity] will generally, upon request, provide appropriate aids and services leading to effective communication for qualified persons with disabilities so they can participate equally in [name of public entity’s] programs, services, and activities, including qualified sign language interpreters, documents in Braille, and other ways of making information and communications accessible to people who have speech, hearing, or vision impairments.

Modifications to Policies and Procedures: [Name of public entity] will make all reasonable modifications to policies and programs to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all of its programs, services, and activities.  For example, individuals with service animals are welcomed in [name of public entity] offices, even where pets are generally prohibited.

Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a program, service, or activity of [name of public entity], should contact the office of  [name and contact information for ADA Coordinator] as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled event.

The ADA does not require the [name of public entity] to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services, or impose an undue financial or administrative burden. 

Complaints that a program, service, or activity of [name of public entity] is not accessible to persons with disabilities should be directed to [name and contact information for ADA Coordinator].

[Name of public entity] will not place a surcharge on a particular individual with a disability or any group of individuals with disabilities to cover the cost of providing auxiliary aids/services or reasonable modifications of policy, such as retrieving items from locations that are open to the public but are not accessible to persons who use wheelchairs.

Title II entities are also required to publish their grievance procedures to provide fair and prompt resolution of complaints under Title II of the ADA at the local level.  A sample grievance procedure: 

Grievance Procedure under
The Americans with Disabilities Act

This Grievance Procedure is established to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA").  It may be used by anyone who wishes to file a complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of disability in the provision of services, activities, programs, or benefits by the [name of public entity].  The [e.g. State, City, County, Town]'s Personnel Policy governs employment-related complaints of disability discrimination. 

The complaint should be in writing and contain information about the alleged discrimination such as name, address, phone number of complainant and location, date, and description of the problem.  Alternative means of filing complaints, such as personal interviews or a tape recording of the complaint, will be made available for persons with disabilities upon request.

The complaint should be submitted by the grievant and/or his/her designee as soon as possible but no later than 60 calendar days after the alleged violation to:

[Insert ADA Coordinator’s name]
ADA Coordinator [and other title if appropriate]
[Insert ADA Coordinator’s mailing address]

Within 15 calendar days after receipt of the complaint, [ADA Coordinator's name] or [his/her] designee will meet with the complainant to discuss the complaint and the possible resolutions.  Within 15 calendar days of the meeting,[ADA Coordinator's name] or [his/her] designee will respond in writing, and where appropriate, in a format accessible to the complainant, such as large print, Braille, or audio tape.  The response will explain the position of the[name of public entity] and offer options for substantive resolution of the complaint.

If the response by [ADA Coordinator's name] or [his/her] designee does not satisfactorily resolve the issue, the complainant and/or his/her designee may appeal the decision within 15 calendar days after receipt of the response to the [City Manager/County Commissioner/ other appropriate high-level official] or [his/her] designee.

Within 15 calendar days after receipt of the appeal, the [City Manager/County Commissioner/ other appropriate high-level official] or [his/her] designee will meet with the complainant to discuss the complaint and possible resolutions.  Within 15 calendar days after the meeting, the [City Manager/County Commissioner/ other appropriate high-level official] or [his/her] designee will respond in writing, and, where appropriate, in a format accessible to the complainant, with a final resolution of the complaint.

All written complaints received by  [name of ADA Coordinator] or [his/her] designee, appeals to the [City Manager/County Commissioner/ other appropriate high-level official] or [his/her] designee, and responses from these two offices will be retained by the [public entity] for at least three years.

Posting the ADA Coordinator, ADA Notice and ADA Grievance Procedure can be accomplished multiple ways such as websites, Facebook, and publications.  Once you have completed this important task and commitment to Oklahomans with Disabilities please drop us an email at odc@odc.ok.gov.  Please include the name of your city or town and how you posted the required information.

Additional detailed information is available at American with Disabilities Act information web site at www.ada.gov and the Architectural Barriers Act at www.access-board.gov.   You may contact me if you have any questions or need additional information. 

Sincerely,
Doug MacMillan
Director, Office of Disability Concerns
(405) 522-6700
doug.macmillan@odc.ok.gov