District of Columbia/ DOJ Settlement (DJ #204-16-96) Deliverables
Shelter Program ADA Compliance
Settlement Summary: (All references to “days” shall mean calendar days)
Please Note: January 30, 2009, Meeting updates are highlighted below in the Master Calendar.
Next Meeting: The next meeting is scheduled for February 27, 2009. TCP will attend. Future meetings will be the last Friday of the month.
1. ADA Notice Revision: Within ninety (90) days of the effective date of this Settlement [December 10, 2008], the District’s Office of Disability Rights (“ODR”) will revise the District’s ADA notice to ensure that it provides sufficient notice of rights under title II of the ADA. Copies shall also be provided to persons hired as Shelter Staff within ten (10) days of the commencement of their employment as Shelter Staff.
2. ADA Procedures: Within one-hundred and twenty (120) days of the effective date of this Settlement, the District will require the Shelter Program to develop written procedures for providing information to Shelter clients concerning their rights and the District’s obligations under title II of the ADA, and the District will provide a copy of these procedures to DOJ.
3. Interim Physical Access Plan: Within ninety (90) days of the effective date of this Settlement, the District will draft an interim physical access plan (“Interim Plan”) for the Shelter Program. The District will provide DOJ with a progress report on the Interim Plan no later than one-hundred and eighty (180) days after the effective date of this Settlement.
4. Comprehensive Physical Access Plan: Within (90) days of the effective date of this Settlement, the District shall draft a comprehensive physical access plan for the Shelter Program (“Comprehensive Plan”).
5. Comprehensive Physical Access Plan Comments: Within (90) days of the effective date of this Settlement, the District will make the Comprehensive Plan available to interested persons including Shelter residents and organizations that represent Shelter applicants and residents. The District will seek comments and suggestions to improve the Comprehensive Plan for a minimum of forty-five (45) days (the “Comment Period”).
6. Comment Period Review: Within sixty (60) days of the end of the Comment Period the District shall review all public comments and, where appropriate, modify the Comprehensive Plan in response to those comments.
7. First Revised Comprehensive Plan: Within sixty (60) days of the end of the Comment Period the District shall have the First Revised Comprehensive Plan sent to DOJ by e-mail (or another mutually acceptable electronic format.) Along with the First Revised Comprehensive Plan the District shall forward to DOJ by e-mail (or another mutually acceptable electronic format) the version of the Comprehensive Plan that was submitted for public comment, copies of all public comments, and a transcript of the public hearing(s).
8.Second Revised Comprehensive Plan: DOJ will provide the District with a written response to the District’s First Revised Comprehensive Plan. The District, within sixty (60) days of its receipt of the DOJ response to the First Revised Comprehensive Plan, shall have a Second Revised Comprehensive Plan hand-delivered to DOJ and sent to DOJ by e-mail (or another mutually acceptable electronic format).
9.Implementation of Comprehensive Plan: Within sixty (60) days of its receipt of DOJ’s response, the District shall begin implementing all portions of the Second Revised Comprehensive Plan upon which the parties agree. If DOJ and the District have been unable to reach agreement on all aspects of the Second Revised Comprehensive Plan within ninety (90) days of DOJ’s final response, then the provisions of Paragraph 32 shall apply as if DOJ had provided the thirty (30) days notice required by that paragraph.
10. Policies, Practices, Training: Within one-hundred and twenty (120) days of the effective date of this Settlement, the District will require the Shelter Program to create or modify policies, practices, and training to achieve the following: (A) Notification of Right to Request Reasonable Modification; (B) Processing of Reasonable Modification Requests; (C) Timing of the Shelter Program’s Response to a Reasonable Modification Request: The District shall require the Shelter Program to decide all requests for reasonable modification promptly with no undue delay and taking into consideration the urgency of the request; (D) Recordkeeping for Reasonable Modification Requests; and (E) Miscellaneous: (1) reasonable modifications shall be offered prior to denying Shelter to an individual that poses a threat to the health or safety of others; (2) individuals are not required to accept an accommodations if they choose not to.
11. Effective Communication: Within ninety (90) days of the effective date of this Settlement, the District will ensure that the Shelter Program takes the following actions to facilitate effective communication with Shelter applicants and clients who have disabilities related to speech, vision or hearing: (A) obtain the necessary equipment, establish the written procedures, and provide the training necessary to ensure that the Shelter Program furnishes appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary to afford an individual with a disability an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of, the Shelter Program; (B) enter into contracts or make other arrangements with qualified sign language and oral interpreters to ensure their availability when required for effective communication with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing; and (C) require that whatever written information is provided to Shelter applicants or residents will also be provided in alternate formats - including large print or audio recording - upon request.
12. Written Transportation Plan: Within ninety (90) days of the effective date of this Settlement, the District will ensure the Shelter Program creates and implements a written plan to ensure that individuals with disabilities are not denied the services, programs and activities of the Shelter Program due to a lack of fully operational wheelchair accessible transportation vehicles, including the vehicles used to transport individuals to and between Hypothermia Shelters.
13. Contractor/ Sub-Contractor Procedures: Within one-hundred and twenty (120) days of the effective date of this Settlement, the District will create and implement procedures for ensuring that any contractor or subcontractor of the District providing services in the Shelter Program is providing those services in compliance with this Settlement and title II of the ADA.
14. Written Procedures: Within one-hundred and twenty (120) days of the effective date of this Settlement, the District will ensure that the Shelter Program creates and implements written procedures to achieve: (A) that individuals and families are not excluded from the Shelter Program or subjected to differential treatment in the provision of Shelter services based on an individual’s disability; and (B) that individuals are not denied meaningful access to medication necessitated by their disability.
15. Written Reports: Six (6) months after the effective date of this Settlement the District will submit written reports to DOJ summarizing the actions the District has taken pursuant to this Settlement.
16. ODR Training: Within one-hundred and twenty (120) days of the effective date of this Settlement, the District’s Office of Disability Rights shall either create or approve a training program for Shelter Staff with a written curriculum, objectives, and training schedule (the “Training”). The purpose of the Training will be to teach Shelter Staff about the District’s duties, responsibilities, the Shelter Program’s DHS approved reasonable modification policy, and the Shelter Program’s procedures under this Settlement, the ADA, and the ADA’s implementing regulations.
17. Shelter Program Training: The Shelter Program will provide the Training to newly hired staff, or have newly hired staff review a video of a past Training, within 60 days of their entry date of service.
