To ensure that public accommodations and commercial
facilities and State and local governments learn of the requirements of Titles
II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and acquire the
knowledge needed to comply with these requirements.
TYPES OF ASSISTANCE:
Project Grants. Place Cursor Here for Definition
Dissemination of Technical Information. Place Cursor Here for Definition
Training. Place Cursor Here for Definition
Investigation of Complaints. Place Cursor Here for Definition
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.
ELIGIBILITY 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.
Pre-application 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.
ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula and Matching Requirements: Not applicable.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance: Normally
12 months. Release by Letter of Credit and as required.
POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
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.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION:
Account Identification: 15-0128-0-1-752.
Obligations: (Grants) FY 01 $12,206; FY 02 est
$100,000; and FY 03 est $100,000. (Salaries and Expenses) FY 01 $14,493,794;
FY 02 est $15,490,000; and FY 03 est $15,807,000.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance: Not
available.
PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Recent accomplishments include initiating litigation against national theater
chains to correct violations in the design, construction and operation of
stadium style movie theaters; and against a cruise line for discriminating
against individuals who are blind. The Department intervened in a number of
lawsuits to defend the constitutionality of title II suits against States for
monetary damages. Often Departmental challenges under the ADA are resolved by
a consent decree filed at the same time as a formal complaint. The decree is
monitored and enforced by the Federal court in which they are entered. This
avenue was used to correct retaliation for filing a complaint with the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission; to enforce the prohibition of refusal of
medical services to an individual because of HIV; and to ensure modification
of designs for stadium style theaters. Formal settlement agreements were used
to require effective communications with inmates who are deaf, and to reach
agreements under Project Civic Access with 16 communities, bringing to 40 the
number of communities making themselves accessible; and to modify a policy
banning services dogs in over 60 resorts and campgrounds. Much of the
Department's enforcement effort focuses on resolution without litigation or
formal agreements. For example, under a contract the Department refers
complaints to professional mediators who have been trained in the legal
requirements of the ADA. This has resulted in more accessible seating in a
theater, accessible restaurant restrooms, providing an interpreter in a
dentist's office, and an increase in accessible parking, to name a few of the
hundreds of settlements. Additional informal settlements have resulted in
changes of policy and damages to complainants, including money paid to a
person with low vision who won a settlement against a national financial
services company who had refused to read for him. The Department's successful
enforcement and educational efforts are detailed in quarterly reports
published by the Section and available online. The Technical Assistance
Program, mandated under Section 506 of the ADA, provides answers to questions
and free publications to businesses, state and local governments, people with
disabilities, and the general public. The Section develops and disseminates
free ADA publications, provides training and information at meetings
nationwide, and carries out a variety of outreach and educational initiatives
to reach audiences affected by the ADA. The Section's technical assistance
publications range from detailed technical assistance manuals to basic
Question-and- Answer booklets and illustrated guides addressing specific
topics. Publications can be obtained 24 hours a day through a free
fax-on-demand service or through the Section's ADA Website. This web site, one
of the top five in the Department, received 17 million visits to its pages and
graphics in FY 2001. The Section also chairs an ADA Technical Assistance
Coordinating Committee and works with other agencies to coordinate technical
assistance activities nationwide. In 2001, the Section developed eight new
publications including an ADA Guide for People with Disabilities Seeking
Employment, a Guide for Places of Lodging Serving Guests Who Are Blind or Have
Low Vision, and a basic ADA Questions-and-Answers booklet in Cambodian, Hmong,
Japanese, and Laotian. The Section also published an article about the ADA-
related tax credits and deductions in an IRS newsletter that reached 6.8
million businesses nationwide. As part of its outreach to rural and minority
populations, the Section answered ADA questions and distributed information at
meetings of the National Council of La Raza, National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, National Urban League, and the Colorado and New
Mexico State Fairs. In addition, the Section completed four dissemination
projects sending targeted materials to small museums, schools of building
construction, African American churches, and hospitals. The Section also
released its ADA Technical Assistance CD-ROM containing a full set of
technical assistance publications, including a new electronic version of the
ADA Standards, for easy use by businesses and contractors in the field.
Lastly, the Section completed a project to produce a video on the ADA for law
enforcement officers.
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.
INFORMATION CONTACTS:
Regional or Local Office: None.
Headquarters Office: Department of Justice, Civil
Rights Division, Disability Rights Section, Washington, DC 20530. Telephone:
(800) 514- 0301 (Voice) (800) 514-0383 (TDD). Contact: Office of Public
Affairs, Telephone: (Voice) (202) 514-2007; (TDD) (202) 514-1888.
Web Site Address: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/drs/drshome.htm
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.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS:
Criteria for selection of projects published in the solicitation of
application.
