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Grant Community.com Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Descriptions |
CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC
ASSISTANCE
16.108: Americans With Disabilities Act Technical Assistance Program
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| PROGRAM AND AWARD | FINANCIAL AND INFORMATION CONTACTS |
| ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS | FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFO. |
| APPLICATION AND AWARD PROCESS | INFORMATION CONTACTS |
| RELATED PROGRAMS | ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS |
| PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS | POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS |
Applicant Eligibility: Nonprofit organizations, including trade and professional associations or their subsidiaries, organizations representing State and local governments or their employees, other organizations representing entities covered by the ADA, State and local governments agencies, national and State-based organizations representing persons with disabilities, and individuals.
Beneficiary Eligibility: The target audiences of funded grants will include State and local governments, businesses and nonprofit organizations that operate public accommodations and commercial facilities, and individuals with disabilities.
Credentials/Documentation: Not applicable.
Preapplication Coordination: None. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Application Procedure: Notice of solicitation of grant applications published in Federal Register. Applications are typically submitted in 45 to 60 days prior to award. Solicitation requires that the following forms be submitted with the application: SF 424 and 424A Application for Federal Assistance; Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Form 4000-3 (attached to SF 424); OJP Form 4061/6 (3-91); certifications regarding lobbying, debarment, suspension, and other responsibility matters; and Drug-Free Workplace Requirement; OJP Form 7120/1 (1/85), Accounting System and Financial Capability Questionnaire.
Award Procedure: Final award decisions are made by the Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division. Civil Rights Division Program personnel receive and review proposals and make recommendations to the Assistant Attorney General. All grants are made directly to applicants. No State Plan required.
Deadlines: Variable. Announced in the solicitation published in the Federal Register.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time: The range is 60-120 days.
Appeals: None.
Renewals: None.
Criteria for Selecting Proposals: Criteria for selection of projects published in the solicitation of application.
Examples of Funded Projects: The Police Executive Research Forum was awarded funding to create a set of materials on protecting the rights of persons with seizure disorders, speech and hearing impairments, mental retardation, and mental illness, to be integrated into police academy training and others for use in on-the-job roll-call training. The Chief Officers of State Library Agencies was awarded funding to place a collection of ADA material in 15,000 local libraries nationwide. The National Association of Towns and Township was awarded funding to produce ADA training materials to assist regional and State ADA technical assistance providers in educating officials from small towns across the country on how to comply with the ADA. The American Association of Retired Persons was awarded funding to create materials and conduct training sessions throughout the country to educate older persons with disabilities about their rights under the ADA. In 1995 and 1996, the Program funded state based grant projects to increase knowledge about the requirements of the ADA and awareness of resources available locally and at the State, regional, and national levels.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance: Not available.
None.
The Section carries out a multi-faceted approach toward achieving compliance with the ADA through its technical assistance, enforcement, and certification activities. These activities affect six million businesses and non-profit agencies, 80,000 units of state and local government, and 54 million people with disabilities. Technical Assistance: The toll-free ADA Information Line received 164,000 calls from the public seeking information and publications on the ADA. Over eight million publications and information pieces were disseminated in response to requests, outreach mailings, and dissemination through the ADA Home Page on the World Wide Web and a fax-on-demand service. The Section publishes an illustrated ADA Guide for Small Businesses, a Guide to Disability Rights Laws, ADA Technical Assistance Manuals, and publications on law enforcement, child care, service animals, HIV/AIDS, van-accessible parking spaces, stadiums, and other specific topics. The Section provides speakers for educational events around the country. Through the ADA technical assistance grant program, the Section works with organizations to carry out educational projects. One recent project is a joint initiative by the Department of Justice and the Small Business Administration (SBA) to increase the awareness of small businesses of their rights and responsibilities under the ADA. SBA offices throughout the country are disseminating ADA materials to the existing and new small businesses they serve. The first material disseminated by this initiative will be a jointly issued version of the ADA Guide for Small Businesses, which includes the toll-free number for the SBA information line for small businesses. The Department also issued a new technical assistance factsheet on ADA requirements for providing assistance at self-serve gas stations and has published three new documents designed to assist hotel owners, franchisers, architects, and contractors gain a better understanding of ADA requirements for newly constructed hotels. Enforcement: A number of recent cases join earlier cases as models for ADA compliance throughout the country. In Olmstead v. L.C., the Supreme Court ruled that unjustified segregation is discrimination. The Court ruled that the ADA s "most integrated setting appropriate" mandate, requires States to avoid undue institutionalization of people with disabilities. In finding that unjustified isolation is a form of discrimination under the ADA, the Court pointed to the stigma of unworthiness, and the unequal access to family and social interaction, employment, education, and cultural enrichment that result from unnecessary institutionalization. According to the Court, an institutional placement is unjustified when the States treatment professionals have determined that communi placement is appropriate, the transfer is not opposed by the individual, and the placement can be accomplished without fundamentally altering the States program. In Cleveland v. Policy Management Systems Corp, the Supreme Court ruled that, in determining whether a plaintiff is a qualified individual with a disability in a title I employment suit, courts should not give any special weight to the fact that the individual has also applied for Social Security disability benefits. The ruling recognizes that because the qualification standards under Social Security and the ADA are different, application for or receipt of Social Security benefits is not by itself inconsistent with being a qualified individual with a disability. In Amos v. Maryland Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, upheld the constitutionality of an ADA lawsuit against the Maryland State prison system. The court found the ADA to be a valid exercise f Congress authority to enforce the equal protection guarantees of the U.S. Constitution, because the ADA was based on a legislative record of discrimination against persons with disabilities, and because the ADA s mandate for "reasonable accommodation" was a proportional response to the injuries Congress identified. And, in Pallozzi v. Allstate Life Insurance Co., the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the ADA may prohibit disability-based discrimination in insurance underwriting practices. Consent decrees and settlement agreements are also important enforcement tools. In a citywide settlement, the City of Toledo, Ohio, agreed to make significant changes to its policies and facilities to provide greater access for persons with disabilities. Modifications will include providing accessible parking and accessible restroom facilities, installing ramps, widening doors, providing accessible public phones, and lowering information counters; and taking steps to ensure that effective communication is available to persons with disabilities at city activities such as court proceedings and public meetings. In other significant settlements, Greyhound Lines Inc., agreed to improve the availability and quality of accessible bus service for persons with disabilities; the MGM Grand Hotel, Casino, and Theme Park will be made fully accessible to people with disabilities; the New York Yankees, and the City of New York will vastly increase the number of accessible wheelchair seating locations at Yankee Stadium. In addition: Days Inns, the world s largest hotel chain will undertake a nationwide initiative designed to make hundreds of its new hotels across the country more accessible to persons with disabilities; Avis Rent A Car, Inc., the nation s second largest rental car company agreed to provide accessible airport shuttle buses at all of its airport locations nationwide; and the owners and operators of Radio City Music Hall, a 6,000-seat historic theater dating from the 1930's, agreed to install 59 wheelchair and companion seating locations, to install 60 aisle seats with removable armrests, and to modify ticketing policies to reserve accessible seats for persons with disabilities until all other seats are sold. In addition, many people with disabilities have gained access to businesses and government agencies as a result of the Section's expanded program of alternative dispute resolution in which ADA complaints are referred to trained mediators. Certification: The Section granted ADA certification to the accessibility codes of the States of Maine, Florida, Washington, and Texas. The Section also provided extensive technical assistance to other States to assist them in making the State codes equivalent to the ADA requirements for new construction and alterations.
Federal Agency: CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Type of Assistance: Advisory Services and Counseling; Dissemination of Technical Information; Training; Investigation of Complaints; Project Grants.
Obligations: (Grants) FY 99 $240,885; FY 00 est $240,885; and FY 01 est $240,885. (Salaries and Expenses) FY 99 $10,453,115; FY 00 est $13,148,115; and FY 01 est $16,315,115.
Budget Account Number: 15-0128-0-1-752.
Authorization: Americans with Disabilities Act, Public Law 101-336, Section 506.
Regulations, Guidelines, and Literature: Notice of solicitation of grant applications, Federal Register 25980-25983, June 5, 1991. Notice of solicitation of grant applications, Federal Register 13797-13208, March 15, 1993, and Federal Register 15523, March 23, 1993. Notice of solicitation of grant applications, Federal Register 29160-29168, June 3, 1994. Notice of solicitation of grant applications, Federal Register 28484-28489, May 31, 1995. Notice of solicitation of grant applications, Federal Register 25744-25749, May 22, 1996.
Regional or Local Office: None.
Headquarters Office: Chief, Disability Rights Section, Civil Rights Division, P.O. Box 66738, Washington, DC 20035-6738. Phone: (800) 514-0301 (Voice) (800) 514-0383 (TDD). Contact: Office of Public Affairs, Phone: (Voice) (202) 514-2007; (TDD) (202) 514-1888. Website address: "www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm".
(See Appendix IV for more contact info.)
Formula and Matching Requirements: Not applicable.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance: Normally 12 months. Release by Letter of Credit and as required.
Uses and Use Restrictions: Grants limited to the provision of technical assistance and educational activities that have a wide impact, including the development and dissemination of materials, the conduct of seminars, conferences, and training, and the provision of technical assistance on a state, regional or national basis depending on the funding priorities announced each year. Because the grant program is educational in nature, the Department does not fund projects to research or resolve issues that are outside the scope of the Department's current ADA regulations and court interpretations. The program is not intended to fund or support site- specific compliance implementation (e.g., funding to make specific facilities more accessible), or to fund or support inspections, reviews, or tests to determine whether an entity is meeting its compliance obligations.
Reports: Quarterly financial (SF 269A (Rev. 4/88)) and program (OJP 4587/1 (Rev. 2/90)) reports.
Audits: Grants may be audited by the Office of Justice Programs using standard audit procedure mandated by GAO.
Records: Organization financial audits for each calendar year in which grant was effective.
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Last Updated, November, 2000
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