Laws protecting the disabled

Education for all Handicapped Children Act of 1975

-individualized educational plan that closely resembles that of non-disabled students -mandated services provided and services from birth -renamed program to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Fair Housing Act of 1974

Expanded to include discrimination based on gender

Fair Housing Act of 1988

o Expanded to protect the disabled and families with children

Civil Rights Act of 1866

• "All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of every kind, and to no other."

Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004

• Aligned IDEA with No Child Left Behind legislation o Each school held accountable for producing quality students and so the idea of accountability is that funding from public education comes through taxation and it's usually property tax within parishes or districts -- with NCLB schools now were not able to get their full amount if they aren't able to show high levels of performance i.e. on LEAP tests etc; the higher the students perform, the more money the schools are able to get for their program o Started having inclusion classrooms - no longer housed in special education classrooms but are now integrated into classrooms with their able bodied counterparts; does a better job of integrating the individual into society • Introduced Response to Intervention to replace the discrepancy model in place with IDEA. o Discrepancy model - schools required to wait until a child fell considerably behind grade level before being eligible for special education services o Response to intervention - set forth mechanisms for screening children for developmental/learning disabilities instead of waiting until they fall too far behind • Part A - defines children with disabilities • Part B - requires that children with disabilities, from age 3 to 21, are provided a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment (environment most like that of typical children in which the child with a disability can succeed academically ) through following the IEP o Least Restrictive Environment: mimics the environment that children without disabilities are in; where inclusion classrooms came from • Part C - requires that infants and toddlers with disabilities receive early intervention services from birth through age 3 through implementation of an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) o Services may include family training, counseling, home visits, speech-language services, occupational therapy and physical therapy. • Part D - helps state education departments and other agencies improve how they work with children and youth with disabilities o Provides information and research that informs professional practitioners and families, including: • Teacher education • Parent training and information (PTI) centers • Identification of best and promising practices • Development of technologies • Public dissemination (spread) of information • IDEA all started with Education Act of 1975

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990

• Authorized additional grants for technology, disabled infants and toddlers, parent training, and professional development • 1997 amendments - continued to lay groundwork for transitions to adult living and specified that this transition was to start at age 14 (more definition) ***Early Steps program is funded by federal grants, LA CHIP (health insurance for children) is as well*** • Individualized Education Program (IEP) must include transition plans or procedures for: o Identifying appropriate employment and other post-school adult living objectives for the student o Referring the student to appropriate community agencies o Linking the student to available community resources, including job placement and other follow-up services • The IEP must also specifically designate who is responsible for each transition activity. • The percentage of high school graduates who are disabled have increased dramatically since 1987; also the percentage who have gainful employment after graduation has increased - demonstrates that these programs have worked

Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act of 1980

• Authorized the Attorney General to conduct investigations and litigation relating to conditions of confinement in state or locally operated institutions (1) Jails and Prisons (2) Juvenile Correctional Facilities (3) State or locally-run Mental Health Facilities (4) State or locally-run Developmental Disability and Mental Retardation Facilities (5) State or locally-run Nursing Homes

Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008

• Broadened the scope of who is considered disabled under the law • When considering whether a person is disabled, required that people ignore the beneficial effects of any mitigating measures (except ordinary eyeglasses and contact lenses) the person uses o Beneficial effects of mitigating measures - they are still considered disabled even though their disability is managed (i.e. with medications or glasses) • Required the consideration of bodily functions as well as other major life activities o Changes in bodily function define the individual as disabled as well • Having one major life activity substantially limited is enough • Required the consideration of the person's limitations as they are when the condition is in an active state (not remission) o Whether are not they are disabled isn't determined by remission and exacerbations; they are considered disabled even when in remission (i.e. MS)

Americans with Disabilities Act New Rules of 2011

• Expanded accessibility requirements for recreational facilities such as swimming pools, golf courses, exercise clubs, and boating facilities. • Set standards for the use of wheelchairs and other mobility devices like Segways in public spaces • Changed the standards for things such as selling tickets to events and reserving accessible hotel rooms. • Clearly defined "service animal" as "...any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability." • States that the services the service animal provides must be "directly related to the handler's disability" and dogs that provide only emotional support or crime deterrence cannot be defined as service animals

Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Laid groundwork for future legislation • Title VI declared it to be the policy of the United States that discrimination on the ground of race, color, religion or national origin shall not occur in connection with programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance and authorizes and directs the appropriate Federal departments and agencies to take action to carry out this policy. o Setting up for the next step - can't discriminate on the level of ability of a person

Civil Rights Act of 1968 - Fair Housing Act

• Prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin

Air Carrier Access Act of 1986

• Prohibited discrimination in air transportation by domestic and foreign air carriers against qualified individuals with physical or mental impairments • Addressed issues including boarding assistance and certain accessibility features in newly built aircraft and new or altered airport facilities o Long walkways with moving floors (flat escalators), golf carts, wheelchairs

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

• Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, State and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications • Person with a disability - person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. ***Up to this point everything was about the federal agencies; this act put an "umbrella" over ANY public entity - has to be available to ALL of the public*** • Title I: Employment • Title II: State and Local Government Activities • Title III: Public Accommodations • Title IV: Telecommunications Relay Services Title I: Employment • Requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide qualified individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from the full range of employment-related opportunities available to others o If a small business had to get in line with the ADA, they may not be able to afford it and would have to go out of business, so the government drew the line at 15 employees • Prohibits discrimination in recruitment, hiring, promotions, training, pay, social activities, and other privileges of employment • Restricts questions that can be asked about an applicant's disability before a job offer is made • Requires that employers make reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities, unless it results in undue hardship (i.e. more money than they could afford to spend in order to put the accommodations in place) o Inherent aspects of the job that the disabled persons cannot perform - you don't have to hire them, but you have to prove that their disability limits them from being able to perform the job o Businesses need technical standards for the task that are the bare mental and physical requirements for whatever position or job description that you have; if they don't have these they don't meet the qualifications of the job o However, if they meet the technical standards, you cannot use their disability in making the hiring decision - you have to hire the most qualified person, and you need to prove why you hired one over the other and that the decision had nothing to do with the disability Title II: State and Local Government Activities • Requires that State and local governments give people with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from all of their programs, services, and activities (e.g. public education, employment, transportation, recreation, health care, social services, courts, voting, and town meetings). o I.e. lift gates on public transportation • Required to follow specific architectural standards in the new construction and alteration of their buildings Title II: Public Transportation • Public transportation authorities may not discriminate against people with disabilities in the provision of their services. • Must comply with requirements for accessibility in newly purchased vehicles, make good faith efforts to purchase or lease accessible used buses, remanufacture buses in an accessible manner, and, unless it would result in an undue burden, provide para transit where they operate fixed route bus or rail systems. o Para transit - vans that come to help you if the bus or streetcar can't accommodate you Title III: Public Accommodations • Public accommodations must comply with basic nondiscrimination requirements that prohibit exclusion, segregation, and unequal treatment. • Must comply with specific requirements related to architectural standards for new and altered buildings; reasonable modifications to policies, practices, and procedures; effective communication with people with hearing, vision, or speech disabilities; and other access requirements as well as remove barriers in existing buildings where it is easy to do so without much difficulty or expense, given the public accommodation's resources • Includes: 1 inch rise to every foot of ramp, doorways have to be a certain width, etc. Title IV: Telecommunications Relay Services • Requires common carriers (telephone companies) to establish interstate and intrastate telecommunications relay services (TRS) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. • TRS enables callers with hearing and speech disabilities who use telecommunications devices for the deaf to communicate with each other through a third party communications assistant

Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by Federal agencies, in programs receiving Federal financial assistance, in Federal employment, and in the employment practices of Federal contractors. • Section 501 - affirmative action and nondiscrimination in employment • Section 504(a) No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States, as defined in section 7(20), shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance or under any program or activity conducted by any Executive agency or by the United States Postal Service. • Section 508 establishes requirements for electronic and information technology developed, maintained, procured, or used by the Federal government to be accessible to people with disabilities, including employees and members of the public. o Accessible IT - can be operated in a variety of ways and does not rely on a single sense or ability of the user o Most of the technological advances in the US were through our government and the military, so they had to be accessible to the disabled - voice controlled things, accessibility options on the computers, voice recognition, etc. o Section 508 started the push to the private sector

1996 - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

• Protects for the privacy and confidentiality of patient information in all formats (electronic, paper, verbal)

1975 - Developmental Disabilities Act (DDA)

• Provide protection and advocacy for persons with developmental disabilities • Promoted independent living, productivity, and community integration o Assisted living, human developmental centers (assist individuals to try to promote reintegration into society) • Provided a broader definition of disability to increase coverage for diagnoses such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and mental retardation • Title I - III: I=individual II=family III=workers o Title I pertains to individuals, title II pertains to people with family that have disabilities

National Voter Registration Act of 1993

• Required all offices of State-funded programs that are primarily engaged in providing services to persons with disabilities to provide all program applicants with voter registration forms, to assist them in completing the forms, and to transmit completed forms to the appropriate State official • Aimed at increasing the historically low registration rates of minorities and persons with disabilities that have resulted from discrimination

Telecommunications Act of 1996

• Required manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and providers of telecommunications services to ensure that such equipment and services are accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, if readily achievable • Ensured that people with disabilities will have access to a broad range of products and services such as telephones, cell phones, pagers, call-waiting, and operator services

Architectural Barriers Act of 1968

• Required that buildings and facilities that are designed, constructed, or altered with Federal funds, or leased by a Federal agency, comply with Federal standards for physical accessibility. • First is was only buildings that were Federal (public); this was the predecessor to the ADA o ADA opened this up to all businesses (had to be all handicapped accessible) - this one limited to only those buildings that received federal funds

Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984

• Requires polling places across the United States to be physically accessible to people with disabilities for federal elections • Where no accessible location is available, a political subdivision must provide an alternate means of casting a ballot • Requires states to make available registration and voting aids for disabled and elderly voters