The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is in its tenth year, yet questions remain about how best to implement its enforcement. Several agencies of the federal government engage in ADA enforcement, with the Department of Justice having overall responsibility. The primary tools of enforcement have included setting policy and issuing regulations, providing technical assistance, assessing compliance, processing complaints of ADA violations, and participating in lawsuits. Across this set of enforcement tools, complaint processing has been a key focus of enforcement activity. It is also one of the activities of enforcement most familiar to the public. Complaints have been the primary means people with disabilities have used to bring treatment they believe violates the ADA to the attention of the federal enforcement agencies. This paper assesses the utility of complaint processing as a tool for ADA enforcement, and contrasts it with another technique, compliance monitoring. The analysis is derived from complaint data collected as part of a large study of federal enforcement of the ADA. The profile of complainants and issues in the utilization and outcome of complaint processing under Titles I, II, and III, and of compliance monitoring activities, will be presented. These data form the basis of a broader consideration of complaint processing and compliance monitoring as strategies for ADA enforcement. The unique issues raised by the ADA for both complaint processing and compliance monitoring are discussed and evaluated in the context of the enforcement experience and data from the first ten years of ADA enforcement.
Learning Objectives: 1. Understand the structure and processes used for ADA enforcement 2. Describe the profile of the utilization and outcome of ADA complaints and compliance activities to date 3. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the complaint processing and monitoring approaches to ADA enforcement as policy implementation
Keywords: Disability Policy, Equal Access
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.