Source: https://www.ada.gov/st_lucie/st_lucie_sa.htm
Timestamp: 2017-04-29 15:37:45
Document Index: 434470732

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 12131', 'art 35', '§ 794', 'art 42', '§ 35', '§ 101', 'art 1630', '§ 12132', '§ 35']

SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE CITY OF PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE CITY OF PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA
DJ 204-18-185 Press Release Fact Sheet
SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION The United States Department of Justice (Department) initiated this matter as a compliance review of the City of Port St. Lucie, Florida, (City) under title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131-12134, and the Department's implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. Part 35. Because the City receives financial assistance from the Department of Justice, the review was also conducted under the authority of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, and the Department's implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. Part 42, Subpart G. The review was conducted by the Disability Rights Section of the Department's Civil Rights Division and focused on the City's compliance with the following title II requirements:
delivery of services, programs, or activities in alternate ways, including, for example, redesign of equipment, reassignment of services, assignment of aides, home visits, or other methods of compliance or, if these methods are not effective in making the programs accessible, physical changes to buildings (required to have been made by January 26, 1995), in accordance with the Department's title II regulation, 28 C.F.R. §§ 35.150 and 35.151, and the ADA Standards for Accessible Design (Standards), 28 C.F.R. pt. 36, App. A, or the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS), 41 C.F.R. § 101-19.6, App. A.
As part of its compliance review, the Department reviewed the following facilities, which – because construction or alterations commenced after January 26, 1992 – must comply with the ADA's new construction or alterations requirements: City Hall, the Prineville Water Treatment Plant, the Police Athletic League Building, the Neighborhood Services Animal Control Building, the Neighborhood Services Code Enforcement Building, the Community Center, Deacon Street Park, Charles Ray Park, Riverplace Park, Girl Scout Park, Fred Cook Park, the Western Regional Office of the Police Department, Whispering Pines Park, Jessica Clinton Park, Elk Lodge Park, Sandhill Crane Park, McChesney Park, Oak Hammock Park, Turtle Run Park, Lyngate Park, Rivergate Park, Sportsman's Park, Sportmans West, Swan Park, Saints Golf Course, Jaycee Park, and Kiwanis Park.
The Department's program access review covered those of the City's programs, services, and activities that operate in the following facilities: the Police Station – Building C, the Public Works Building, Rotary Park, and the Old Fire Station.
The Department reviewed the City's policies and procedures regarding sidewalk maintenance and emergency management and disaster prevention to evaluate whether persons with disabilities have an equal opportunity to utilize these programs.
The parties to this Agreement are the United States of America and the City of Port St. Lucie, Florida.
The City has adopted a notice under the Americans with Disabilities Act and has printed this notice in the newspaper and posted it on the City's website and throughout City buildings and parks.
The City has designated an ADA Coordinator. The City has also adopted a grievance procedure under the Americans with Disabilities Act and has designated the ADA Coordinator as the person to review and handle complaints under the ADA.
The City conducted a self evaluation of its programs and services under the ADA. The inspection encompassed all buildings, facilities, and parks owned and operated by the City and led to the development of a transition plan designed to remedy any problems found.
The City follows "Core Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" in designing and updating its website.
The City has TTYs provided throughout various City facilities and lists TTY numbers on its website. The City Clerk's office will provide minutes of all public meetings on audio tape if requested. The City has identified sources of qualified sign language and oral interpreters, computer assisted real-time transcription services, and vendors that can produce print documents in Braille format. The City has implemented written procedures, with time frames, for fulfilling requests from the public for sign language or oral interpreters, computer assisted real-time transcription services, and documents in alternate formats (Braille, large print, cassette tapes, accessible electronic format, etc.).
The City has contracted with one or more local qualified oral/sign language interpreter agencies to ensure that the interpreting services will be available on a priority basis, twenty-four hours per day, seven days a week, to its police department. The City has adapted for its own use and will continue to implement the City of Port St. Lucie Police Department's Policy Statement on Effective Communication with People Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing [Attachment C] and distributed to all police officers the Guide for Law Enforcement Officers When in Contact with People Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing [Attachment D].
The City has equipped each police station or substation with a working TTY to enable persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, or who have speech impairments to make outgoing telephone calls. The City has implemented written procedures for providing information for interested persons with disabilities concerning the existence and location of the City's accessible programs, services, and activities. The City has begun developing a two-hour training program on the requirements of the ADA and how to serve persons with disabilities. Prior to the execution of this Agreement, the City had begun to address a number of the items listed in Attachments I, J, K and M. The City will submit verification and on-going documentation as indicated by this Agreement.
ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY CITY
On yearly anniversaries of this Agreement until it expires, the City will report to the Department its written procedures for providing information for interested persons with disabilities concerning the existence and location of the City's accessible programs, services, and activities. GENERAL EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION PROVISIONS
The City has taken and will continue to take steps to ensure that all appropriate employees are trained and practiced in using the Florida Relay Service to make and receive calls.
The City will maintain and enforce the City of Port St. Lucie Police Department's Policy Statement on Effective Communication with People Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing [Attachment C] and distribute to all new police officers the Guide for Law Enforcement Officers When in Contact with People Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing [Attachment D].
The City will continue to ensure that each police station or substation is equipped with a working TTY to enable persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, or who have speech impairments to make outgoing telephone calls. EMPLOYMENT
Within twelve months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will amend its employment policies, as necessary, to comply with the regulations of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission implementing title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, codified at 29 C.F.R. Part 1630. At minimum, those policies will provide that the City:
will not ask a job applicant about the existence, nature, or severity of a disability. Applicants may be asked about their ability to perform specific job functions. Medical examinations or inquiries may be made, but only after a conditional offer of employment is made and only if required of all applicants for the position. will make reasonable accommodations for the known physical or mental limitations of a qualified applicant or employee with a disability upon request unless the accommodation would cause an undue hardship on the operation of the City's business. If an applicant or an employee requests a reasonable accommodation and the individual's disability and need for the accommodation are not readily apparent or otherwise known, the City may ask the individual for information necessary to determine if the individual has a disability-related need for the accommodation.
Within six months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will implement and report to the Department its written process for soliciting and receiving input from persons with disabilities regarding the accessibility of its sidewalks, including, for example, requests to add curb cuts at particular locations.
Within nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will identify and report to the Department all streets, roads, and highways that have been constructed or altered since January 26, 1992. Paving, repaving, or resurfacing a street, road, or highway is considered an alteration for the purposes of this Agreement. Filling a pothole is not considered an alteration for the purposes of this Agreement. Within three years of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will provide curb ramps or other sloped areas complying with the Standards or UFAS at all intersections of the streets, roads, and highways identified under this paragraph having curbs or other barriers to entry from a street level pedestrian walkway.
Within six months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will identify all street level pedestrian walkways that have been constructed or altered since January 26, 1992. Paving, repaving, or resurfacing a walkway is considered an alteration for the purposes of this Agreement. Within three years of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will provide curb ramps or other sloped areas complying with the Standards or UFAS at all places where a street level pedestrian walkway identified under this paragraph intersects with a street, road, or highway.
Within three months of the effective date of this Agreement, and throughout the life of the Agreement, the City will do the following: Establish, implement, and post online a policy that its web pages will be accessible and create a process for implementation;
Periodically (at least annually) enlist people with disabilities to test its pages for ease of use. NEW CONSTRUCTION, ALTERATIONS, AND PHYSICAL CHANGES TO FACILITIES
Attachments I, J, and K list the elements or features of the City's facilities that do not comply with the Standards. It is the Department's position that elements or features of a facility that do not comply with the Standards prevent persons with disabilities from fully and equally enjoying City services, programs, and activities, and constitutes discrimination on the basis of disability within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 12132 and 28 C.F.R. §§ 35.149 and 35.150. This Agreement shall not be construed as an admission of liability or discrimination by the City.
Altered Facilities: In order to ensure that the following spaces and elements in City facilities for which alterations commenced after January 26, 1992, are readily accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, the City will take the actions listed in Attachment J and M.
Program Access in Existing Facilities: In order to ensure that each of the City's programs, services, and activities operating at a facility that is the subject of this Agreement, when viewed in its entirety, is readily accessible to and usable by persons with mobility impairments, the City will take the actions listed in Attachment K and M. City Facilities and Programs Not Surveyed by the Department: The City will review compliance with the requirements of Title II of the ADA for those City facilities and programs that were not reviewed by the Department. Within 12 months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will submit for review by the Department a detailed report listing the access issues identified during its review together with the corrective actions and completion dates proposed to resolve such issues. The review conducted by the City, the access issues identified, and the corrective actions and completion dates proposed will be consistent with the requirements of Title II of the ADA; the review of City facilities and programs conducted by the Department for purposes of this Agreement; and the access issues, corrective actions, and completion dates reflected in Attachments I, J, K, and M. PROGRAMS FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND ABUSE
Enter into contracts or make other arrangements with qualified sign language and oral interpreters to ensure their availability when required for effective communication with persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. The type of aid that will be required for effective communication will depend on the individual's usual method of communication, and the nature, importance, and duration of the communication at issue. In many circumstances, oral communication supplemented by gestures and visual aids, an exchange of written notes, use of a computer or typewriter, or use of an assistive listening device may be effective. In other circumstances, qualified sign language or oral interpreters are needed to communicate effectively with persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. The more lengthy, complex, and important the communication, the more likely it is that a qualified interpreter will be required for effective communication with a person whose primary means of communication is sign language or speech reading. If the City's Domestic Violence Programs operate a hotline to take telephone calls of an emergency nature, the City shall ensure that it provides equivalent service for persons who use TTY's, including providing direct-connection service for TTY users with hotline operators, without requiring TTY users to call through a third party operator, such as through the state or local Telecommunication Relay Services. The City will obtain the necessary equipment, establish the written procedures, and provide the training necessary to ensure effective communication by Hotline staff with direct-connection callers using TTY's, as well as the training necessary to respond to callers who use the Telecommunication Relay Services. Survey facilities used as shelters or designated as potential shelters – or for counseling, job training, education, clothing or household provisioning, or other aspects of Domestic Violence Programs – to ensure that adequate arrangements are available for potential clients and family members with disabilities, including adults and children who have mobility impairments, who are blind or have low vision, and who are deaf or hard of hearing. Within one year of the effective date of this Agreement, modify each such facility to remove the barriers or, alternatively, procure another, fully accessible facility to ensure that potential clients and family members with disabilities have integrated options when participating in a sheltering or other Domestic Violence program. Nothing in this Agreement requires any modifications that would compromise the confidentiality of a shelter or counseling center. Until there is a sufficient stock of accessible housing and other facilities within the sheltering program, City will implement written procedures ensuring that it has identified temporary accessible housing (such as accessible hotel rooms within the community or in nearby communities) and other facilities that could be used if people with disabilities need sheltering or inservice access to a Domestic Violence Program. The cost to potential clients of being housed or otherwise served in alternate accessible facilities shall not exceed any costs normally attributed to clients of City's Domestic Violence Programs.
Implement written procedures and modify, as appropriate, eligibility criteria, to ensure that no person with a disability is turned away from a shelter or otherwise denied the opportunity to benefit from the services of the City's Domestic Violence Programs on the basis of disability. Implement written procedures to ensure that persons with disabilities who use service animals are not denied or discouraged from participating in Domestic Violence Programs, are able to be housed and served in an integrated environment, and are not separated from their service animals while participating in the City's Domestic Violence Programs even if pets are normally not permitted in the facilities where such programs are conducted. The procedures will not unnecessarily segregate persons who use service animals from others but may take into account the potential presence of persons who, for safety or health reasons, should not be in contact with certain types of animals. If the City's Domestic Violence Programs require clients to make any payments for shelter or other services they provide, clients shall not be required to make additional payments because they or their family members use service animals.
Implement written procedures to ensure that reasonable modifications are made to City's Domestic Violence Programs when necessary for a client or family member with a disability to participate in such Programs, unless doing so would fundamentally alter the nature of the program. Implement written policies to ensure that despite any "drug-free" policy of City's Domestic Violence Programs, persons with disabilities who use medication prescribed for their use are able to continue using such medication while participating in such Programs or being housed in a shelter.
If the City has shelters, some may be owned or operated by other public entities subject to title II or by public accommodations subject to title III and, as such, are subject to the obligation to provide program access or remove barriers to accessibility under the ADA. This Agreement does not limit such future enforcement action against the owners or operators of these facilities by any person or entity, including the Department.
Within six months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will finalize development or procure a two-hour training program on the requirements of the ADA and appropriate ways of serving persons with disabilities. The City will use the ADA technical assistance materials developed by the Department and will consult with interested persons, including individuals with disabilities, in developing or procuring the ADA training program.
Within one year of the effective date of this Agreement, the City will deliver its training program to all City employees who have direct contact with members of the public. At the end of that period, the City will submit a copy of its training curriculum and materials to the Department, along with a list of employees trained and the name, title, and address of the trainer. IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT
For purposes of the immediately preceding paragraph, it is a violation of this Agreement for the City to fail to comply in a timely manner with any of its requirements without obtaining sufficient advance written agreement with the Department for an extension of the relevant time frame imposed by the Agreement. Extensions of time must receive the prior written approval of the Department, which approval will not be unreasonably withheld or delayed.
This Agreement will remain in effect for three years or until the parties agree that all actions required by the Agreement have been completed, whichever is later.
The effective date of this Agreement is the date of the last signature below. For the City of Port St. Lucie, Florida:
121 SW Pt. St. Lucie Blvd.
ROGER G. ORR
Port St. Lucie Blvd. FL 34984
JEANINE M. WORDEN, Deputy Chief DOV LUTZKER, Special Counsel
By:________________________ NAOMI MILTON, Supervisory Attorney
Date: August 10, 2009 Return to Project Civic Access August 10 , 2009