Developing Disability Access Policy and Procedures

Monthly Civil Rights Webinar Series for Recipients:

Developing Disability Access Policy and

Procedures

Presented by

Amy Vance and Kimberly Bandy

Brian Parsons and Margaret Schaefer

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

October 29, 2020

Webinar Agenda

I. Introduction and Logistics

II. Presentation

• The role of the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil

Liberties

• The DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool

• Key information and Q&A

• Section 4 Requirements:

• Developing Disability Access Policy and Procedures

III. Technical Assistance Resources

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Why am I here?

• Entities that receive grants from the Federal Government must

comply with applicable civil rights authorities.

• When a recipient provides programs and services, and carries out

activities, it cannot discriminate against the program beneficiaries

based on race, color, national origin (including language),

disability, age, sex, or religion.

• DHS is required to ensure that its recipients are carrying out their

programs and activities in a nondiscriminatory manner.

• This presentation will provide information on what is needed to

complete the DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool, which may assist

recipients in meeting their administrative requirements.

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DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

(CRCL)

• As one of its functions, CRCL implements a comprehensive

compliance program to ensure nondiscrimination in DHS

assisted programs and activities in accordance with civil

rights authorities. This program includes:

• Data Collection

• Technical Assistance and Training

• Issuing Policy, Guidance, and Resources

• Compliance Reviews

• Complaint Investigations

• Outreach to program beneficiaries and stakeholders

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DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

(CRCL)

• CRCL coordinates with FEMA and other DHS Component

agencies that administer grants and other type of financial

assistance to ensure that recipients understand and are able

to meet their civil rights requirements.

• CRCL also coordinates with other federal agencies that may

also provide grants to DHS recipients.

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DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool

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DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool –

Key Information

The DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool is a technical

assistance tool to assist recipients in understanding and

being able to meet their civil rights requirements.

Objectives:

• To remind recipients of important civil rights requirements

• To assist recipients in meeting their obligations

• To connect recipients with resources and technical assistance

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DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool –

Key Information

• DHS began implementation of the tool in April 2018.

• Recipients are required to complete and submit this tool

within thirty days of receipt of the Notice of Award (for the

first award under which this term applies).

• Recipients of multiple awards of financial assistance from

DHS or its component agencies should only submit one

completed tool on behalf of their organization, not per

award.

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DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool –

Key Information

• Recipients are required to complete the tool once every two

years from the date they last submitted the tool (if DHS

assistance is continuing).

• After the initial submission, recipients are only required to

submit updates every two years. If there are no updates

since the initial submission, the recipient can indicate “no

change” for each item. Recipients should not resubmit

information previously submitted.

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DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool –

Key Information

• Sub-recipients are not required to complete or submit the

tool.

• However, sub-recipients have the same obligations as their

primary recipients to comply with applicable civil rights

requirements and should follow their primary recipient’s

procedures regarding the submission of civil rights

information.

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DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool –

Key Information

2020 DHS Standard Terms and Conditions, ver. 10.1

(

https://www.dhs.gov/publication/fy15-dhs-standard-terms-and-conditions)

Text from Terms and Conditions:

DHS Specific Acknowledgments and Assurances (pg. 1-2)

5. Recipients of federal financial assistance from DHS must complete the DHS Civil

Rights Evaluation Tool within thirty (30) days of receipt of the Notice of Award or, for

State Administering Agencies, thirty (30) days from receipt of the DHS Civil Rights

Evaluation Tool from DHS or its awarding component agency. After the initial

submission for the first award under which this term applies, recipients are required to

provide this information once every two (2) years if they have an active award, not

every time an award is made. Recipients should submit the completed tool, including

supporting materials, to

CivilRightsEvalua[email protected]. This tool clarifies the civil

rights obligations and related reporting requirements contained in the DHS Standard

Terms and Conditions. Subrecipients are not required to complete and submit this tool

to DHS. The evaluation tool can be found at

https://www.dhs.gov/publication/dhs-civil-

rights-evaluation-tool.

6. The DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will consider, in its discretion,

granting an extension if the recipient identifies steps and a timeline for completing the

tool. Recipients should request extensions by emailing the request to

CivilRightsEvalua[email protected]

prior to expiration of the 30-day deadline.

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Section 4 – Required Information

This presentation covers what is needed to complete

the DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool (as it pertains to

disability access policies and procedures), which

may assist recipients in meeting their administrative

requirements.

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Section 4 – Disability Access Policy and

Procedures

Section 4, Item 7:

Provide copies of the recipient's policy and

procedures used to ensure nondiscrimination and

equal opportunity for persons with disabilities to

participate in and benefit from the recipient's

programs and services.

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Section 4 – Disability Access: Legal Authority

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended,

“prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs and

activities receiving federal financial assistance.”

Many DHS grantees, such as state and local government recipients,

are subject to the provisions of both Section 504 of the

Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act

(ADA). Congress and the courts have generally construed the

obligations under Section 504 to parallel those under Title II of the

ADA.

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Section 4 – Disability Access:

Legal Obligations

•

Under Section 504, the recipient is obligated to

ensure:

• Program accessibility, including by providing equal opportunity

to access programs, services, and activities and delivering these

in the most integrated setting appropriate to the individual’s

needs;

• Physical access, including by providing accessible new

construction and alterations in accordance with applicable

architectural standards;

• Effective communication,

including by providing auxiliary aids

and services, giving primary consideration to the individual’s

preference regarding type of aid or service; and

• Reasonable accommodation, i

ncluding by conducting an

interactive process with the individual to determine how best to

meet their need.

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Section 4 – Disability Access Policy

• The statement should prohibit discrimination on the basis

of disability in the recipient’s programs and activities

• If the recipient’s nondiscrimination policy includes disability

among the covered bases, you do not need to create a

separate policy.

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Section 4 – Disability Access:

Definition

A reasonable accommodation is a change or

modification to afford a qualified individual with a

disability full enjoyment of the recipient’s programs or

activities, unless modifications of policies, practices, and

procedures would fundamentally alter the nature of the

program, service, or activity, or result in undue financial

and administrative burdens to the recipient.

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Section 4 – Disability Access:

Examples

Some examples of how the recipient can provide reasonable

accommodations include:

• Arranging for qualified sign language interpreters;

• Providing on-site captioning;

• Producing alternate formats of print materials in braille, large

print, or in an electronic format;

• Providing remote conference captioning services; and

• Furnishing a temporary ramp to access the dais or other areas

with one or more stairs to ensure accessibility for individuals

who have physical disabilities and may be using a wheelchair

or walker.

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Section 4 – Disability Access:

Procedures

The recipient’s reasonable accommodation process should

include:

• Part 1: Procedure for notifying program beneficiaries of how

to request accommodations;

• Part 2: Procedure for accepting and responding to requests for

reasonable accommodations; and

• Part 3: Procedure for monitoring the provision of reasonable

accommodations.

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Section 4 – Disability Access:

Part 1: Procedure for Notifying Program

Beneficiaries

The procedure should delineate how the recipient will

notify clients, customers, program participants, or

consumers of the recipient and any subrecipients of how to

request reasonable accommodations.

Recipients should consider providing such notice using a

variety of means, formats, and languages.

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Section 4 – Disability Access:

Part 1: Procedure for Notifying Program

Beneficiaries…

• Sample Notice: [Recipient] is committed to providing

individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate

in and benefit from [Recipient’s] programs, activities, and

services.

• Individuals may request reasonable accommodations from

[Recipient] that they believe will enable them to have such

equal opportunity to participate in our programs, activities,

and services.

• To request reasonable accommodations, contact [Recipient

POC/Office and methods for contacting the recipient].

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Section 4 – Disability Access:

Part 2: Procedure for Accepting and Responding to

Requests

To be effective, recipients should consider including

the following 5 Elements in their review procedure:

1. A designation of the recipients’ employee or office

responsible for coordinating reasonable

accommodation requests and provision of contact

information for submitting the request to that

employee or office;

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Section 4 – Disability Access:

Part 2: Procedure for Accepting and Responding to

Requests…

2. An explanation of the process for receipt and review of

reasonable accommodations requests, including:

a. Any forms for program beneficiaries to request reasonable

accommodations;

b. A description of the process for determining whether to

provide a requested accommodation, including consulting

with the individual requesting the accommodation in an

interactive process to determine what, if any, accommodation

the recipient should provide;

c. Timeframes for responding and/or providing reasonable

accommodations; and

d. Provisions for providing interim accommodation if a

requested accommodation cannot be provided immediately.

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Section 4 – Disability Access:

Part 2: Procedure for Accepting and Responding to

Requests…

3. Information on the recipient’s resources for obtaining the

reasonable accommodation to be provided, for example,

how they will make arrangements for sign language

interpreters.

4. Information on how the recipient will maintain the

confidentiality of and appropriately secure any personally

identifiable information (PII) in the request for reasonable

accommodations to ensure that only those recipient’s

employees with a need to know have the information.

5. Information on how the recipient will provide the

approved reasonable accommodation in future or ongoing

interactions with the beneficiary.

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Section 4 – Disability Access:

Key Point

The individual does not need to put their request for

accommodation in writing; however, making a written

request can be helpful documentation for ensuring that

the recipient provides the desired accommodation.

In addition, note that the individual does not need to

use the specific words “reasonable accommodation”

when making the request.

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Section 4 – Disability Access:

Key Point…

In some cases, the recipient will need to consult with

the individual in an interactive process to determine on

a case-by-case basis what accommodations can be

made.

The recipient’s questions should be limited to

understanding the barrier to the individual’s ability to

participate in the program or activity and the nature of

an accommodation that will remove this barrier.

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Section 4 – Disability Access:

Part 3: Procedure for Monitoring

The recipient should have a record-keeping system in place so

they can monitor:

a. The number and type of requests for reasonable

accommodations received in a designated period (e.g.,

annually);

b. The number of such requests that were denied and

reason(s) for denial;

c. The number and type of alternate accommodations, if any,

that were provided; and

d. A summary of circumstances regarding any denials based

upon a determination of fundamental alteration or undue

burden to the recipient.

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Technical Assistance Resources

• Online Resource Guides:

• Sample Policy and Notice of Nondiscrimination

• Developing a Discrimination Complaints Process

• Developing a Language Access Plan

• 504 and Disability Access

• Reasonable Accommodation Guidance, Sample Notice and FAQs

• Civil Rights Evaluation Tool Frequently Asked Questions

• Civil Rights Tool Overview

Recipient Resource Webpage:

https://www.dhs.gov/resources-recipients-dhs-financial-assistance

Click on “Recipient Resources”

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For questions or technical assistance on meeting your civil rights

obligations, please contact:

DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL)

Email: CivilRightsEvalua[email protected].gov

Website: https://www.dhs.gov/resources-recipients-dhs-

financial-assistance

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