U.S. Dep’t of Justice, "ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments: Chapter 7, Addendum 1: Title II Checklist (Emergency Management)"
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NOTICE Portions of this addendum may not fully reflect the current ADA regulations. The regulation implementing title II of the ADA was revised as recently as 2016. Revised ADA Standards for Accessible Design (2010 Standards) were issued on September 15, 2010 and went into effect on March 15, 2012. ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments Chapter 7 Addendum 1: Title II Checklist (Emergency Management)PURPOSE OF THIS CHECKLIST: This checklist is designed for use as a preliminary assessment of your emergency management programs, policies, procedures, and shelter facilities. The goal is to look at your programs, policies, procedures, and shelter facilities to see if there are any potential ADA problems.MATERIALS AND INFORMATION NEEDED: To assess the accessibility of your emergency management programs, policies, procedures, and shelter facilities, you will need:
General Emergency Management Policies and Procedures 1. If you have a contract or other arrangement with any third party entities, such as the American Red Cross or another local government, to provide emergency planning and/or emergency management or response services, does your contract or other documentation of your arrangement contain policies and procedures to ensure that the third party entities comply with ADA requirements, as outlined in Chapter 7 of this Tool Kit, including Addenda 2 and 3? Yes No N/A2. Do you have written procedures to ensure that you regularly seek and use input from persons with a variety of disabilities and organizations with expertise in disability issues in all phases of your emergency planning, such as those addressing preparation, notification, evacuation, transportation, sheltering, medical and social services, temporary lodging and/or housing, clean-up, and remediation? Yes No3. Do you seek input and participation from people with disabilities and organizations with expertise on disability issues when you stage emergency simulations and otherwise test your preparedness? Yes No ACTIONS: If the answer to any of the above questions is “No,” this is a red flag that your emergency management program may not be fully accessible to people with disabilities. Here are some steps to ensure that your emergency management programs, policies, and procedures are accessible to people with disabilities.
Planning for Emergency Notification and Evacuation This section helps you identify potential ADA-related problems in your plans for the emergency notification and evacuation of people with disabilities. To ensure an accurate assessment of ADA compliance, this checklist should be completed with the input and assistance of those employees and contractors who are involved in your entity’s emergency planning, notification, and evacuation programs, services, and activities. 4. For planning purposes, have you determined the extent to which, in an emergency or disaster, people with disabilities who reside or visit your community are likely to need individualized notification, evacuation assistance, and/or transportation, including accessible transportation? Yes No 5. Has your emergency planning identified the resources you will use to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities who require individualized notification, evacuation assistance, and/or transportation, including accessible transportation? Yes No6. If your emergency warning systems use sirens or other audible alerts, do you have written procedures to ensure the use of a combination of methods to provide prompt notification of emergencies to persons who are deaf or hard of hearing? (Note: Examples of methods that may be effective in communicating emergencies to people who are deaf or hard of hearing include auto-dialed TTY and taped telephone messages, text messaging, emails, open captioning on emergency broadcasts on local television stations, and dispatching qualified sign language interpreters to assist with emergency announcements that are televised.) Yes No7. Does your plan address the needs of people with disabilities who will require assistance leaving their homes? Yes No8. Do you have written procedures to ensure that your community evacuation plans enable people with a wide variety of disabilities to safely self-evacuate and, for those who cannot self-evacuate, to receive evacuation assistance ? (Note: The plans should address the evacuationneeds of people who have mobility disabilities, people who are blind or have low vision, people who are deaf or hard of hearing, people with cognitive and psychiatric disabilities, people with disabilities who use service animals, and other people with disabilities who reside or visit your community who may need evacuation assistance.) Yes No9. Have you established a voluntary, confidential registry for persons with disabilities to request individualized notification, evacuation assistance, and transportation? Yes Noa. If you maintain such a registry, do you have written procedures to ensure that it is voluntary, it has appropriate confidentiality controls, the information in the registry is regularly updated, and outreach to persons with disabilities and organizations with expertise on disability issues is conducted to inform them of its availability? Yes No N/A 10. Does your emergency transportation plan identify accessible transportation resources that will be available to evacuate persons with mobility disabilities, including people who use wheelchairs or scooters, people who use medical equipment, such as oxygen tanks, and people who use service animals? (Accessible transportation consists of wheelchair lift-equipped vehicles.) Yes No 11. Do your emergency plans, policies, and procedures provide for people with disabilities to be evacuated and transported to shelters together with their families? Yes No12. Do your emergency management plans, policies, and procedures ensure that people with disabilities are not separated from their service animals during evacuation and transportation? Yes No ACTIONS: If the answer to any of the above questions is “No,” this is a red flag that your emergency management program may not be fully accessible to people with disabilities. Here are some steps to ensure that your emergency notification and evacuation policies, procedures, and programs are accessible to people with disabilities.
Training First Responders, Staff, and Volunteers 13. Have the following categories of individuals been trained on the information provided in Chapter 7, including Addenda 2 and 3? a. Emergency planners, those who designate facilities to be used as shelters, and those who make advance arrangements to address emergency staffing, equipment, medical supplies, food and beverages, and other emergency-related needs? Yes No b. Staff and volunteers who participate in notification activities? Yes No c. First responders and other staff and volunteers who deal with evacuation, transportation, and emergency-related security issues? Yes No d. Shelter staff and volunteers and those who will be involved in routing people to shelters and deciding shelter placements for people with disabilities and their families? Yes No e. Individuals involved in establishing and operating temporary housing or lodging programs? Yes No f. Individuals who will establish and operate emergency-related medical and social service programs? Yes No g. Individuals who will be responsible for repair, rebuilding, and continuity of program operations following an emergency or disaster? Yes No ACTIONS: If the answer to any of the above questions is “No,” this is a red flag that your training programs for emergency management personnel and volunteers may not adequately address access issues for people with disabilities. Here are some steps to ensure that your training policies, procedures, and programs ensure access for people with disabilities.
Physical Accessibility in Emergency Shelter Programs This section helps you identify architectural barriers to access in your emergency shelter facilities. To ensure an accurate assessment of ADA compliance, this checklist should be completed with the input and assistance of those employees, volunteers, and representatives of third party organizations that are involved in your emergency planning and sheltering programs. 14. Have you conducted an accessibility survey of all of your emergency shelter facilities, whether owned by government or a private entity to determine if they comply with ADA requirements? See “Checklist for Accessible Emergency Shelters,” included in Addendum 3 to this Chapter. Yes No 15. Have you identified access barriers at any of the shelter facilities? Yes No 16. If you found barriers at emergency shelters, have you taken steps to ensure that the barriers are removed to provide (at a minimum) the following accessible features that comply with the requirements of the ADA Standards for Accessible Design (ADA Standards): parking, exterior route from the parking to the entrance, entrance, sleeping area, dining area, toilet facilities, bathing facilities, recreational areas, emergency exit, and interior routes to all of these areas? Yes No N/A 17. If all barriers have not been removed from a shelter, have you identified an appropriate number of alternate shelters that provide (at a minimum) the following accessible features that comply with the requirements of the ADA Standards: parking, exterior route from the parking to the entrance, entrance, sleeping area, dining area, toilet facilities, bathing facilities, recreational areas, emergency exit, and interior routes to all of these areas? Yes No N/A 18. Until all emergency shelters have the required accessible features referenced above, have you identified and widely publicized to the public and to persons with disabilities and disability organizations the most accessible emergency shelters and the accessible features that each has? Yes No N/A 19. Have you adopted policies and procedures to ensure that shelter staff and volunteers maintain accessible routes for individuals who use wheelchairs and other mobility aids? Yes No 20. Have you adopted procedures to minimize protruding objects and overhead objects in shelters so that someone who is blind or has low vision can walk safely throughout the shelter? Yes No 21. Have you adopted policies and procedures for shelter staff and volunteers to offer wayfinding assistance to people who are blind and those with low vision who may need assistance in understanding and navigating the shelter layout and locating shelter facilities (e.g., finding the route to the toilet room when furniture layouts change)? Yes No 22. Have you established policies and procedures to ensure that, in the future, facilities are surveyed for accessibility and barriers to access are removed before a facility is designated as a shelter? Yes No ACTIONS: If the answer to any of the above questions is “No,” this is a red flag that your emergency shelter program may not be fully accessible to people with disabilities. Here are some steps to ensure that your emergency shelters are physically accessible to people with disabilities.
Policies and Procedures in Emergency Shelters 23. Do you have supplies of informational materials routinely handed out at emergency shelters available in alternative formats (Braille, large print) for people who are blind or have low vision? Yes No24. Have you adopted policies and procedures for shelter staff and volunteers to provide assistance to people who are blind or have low vision by reading and completing forms and other written materials that are not available in alternative formats? Yes No25. Do any of your shelters have low-stimulation “stress-relief zones,” such as an empty classroom in a school building used as an emergency shelter? Yes No
26. Have you adopted emergency shelter eligibility policies and procedures to ensure that people with disabilities are housed at “mass care” shelters unless they are medically fragile? Yes No27. Have you adopted “mass care” shelter procedures to ensure that shelter staff and volunteers do not turn away people with disabilities who may need assistance with activities of daily living even though their personal care aides may not be with them? Yes No28. Have you adopted policies and procedures to ensure that “mass care,” “special needs,” and “medical” shelter staff and volunteers are trained and monitored so they provide safe, appropriate assistance with activities of daily living (e.g., eating, dressing, personal hygiene, transferring to and from wheelchairs) that some people with disabilities may require? Yes No29. If you provide a “special needs” or “medical” shelter, have you adopted eligibility policies and procedures to ensure that people with disabilities are not housed in such shelters just because they have a disability? (Note: Special needs and medical shelters are for medically fragile people who require the type of care provided in hospitals and nursing homes. Most people with disabilities are not medically fragile. The ADA requires emergency managers and shelter operators to accommodate people with disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs.) Yes No N/A 30. Have your shelter staff and volunteers received training with site-specific instructions for providing people with disabilities access to all services, activities, and programs at “mass care,” “medical,” and “special needs” shelters? Yes No 31. Do you have written policies and procedures to ensure that people who are deaf or hard of hearing, people with speech disabilities, and people who are blind or have low vision are provided with effective communication during their stay at a shelter? Yes No32. Do you provide a TTY at each emergency shelter for use by people who are deaf, are hard of hearing, or have speech disabilities? Yes No33. Do you have written procedures to ensure that persons with disabilities who use service animals are not separated from their service animals when using emergency shelters and have full access to shelter programs, services, and activities, even if pets are normally prohibited in shelters or in certain areas of shelters? Yes No34. Do you have written procedures to ensure that food, water, and a receptacle and plastic bags for the disposal of service animal waste are available at emergency shelters? Yes No35. Have you established security procedures at shelters that allow people with service animals to take their animals outside for relief without unnecessary delays for security screening upon re-entry? Yes No36. Do you have written procedures to ensure that emergency shelters have back-up generators and a way to keep medications refrigerated (such as a refrigerator or a cooler with ice)? Yes No37. Do your written procedures on back-up generators include a plan for routinely notifying the public and disability groups of the location of shelters providing electricity and refrigeration? Yes No38. Does your emergency management plan provide an effective way for people with disabilities to request and receive durable medical equipment and medication while in shelters? Yes No39. Have you established procedures for people with disabilities to request and receive cots or beds, modifications to cots or beds, securement of cots or beds to allow safe transfer to a wheelchair, and placement of cots or beds in specific locations when needed? Yes No40. Have you adopted kitchen access policies to provide immediate access to food and refrigerated medications for shelter residents and volunteers whose disabilities may require it? Yes No41. Does your emergency management plan ensure that at least some kinds of foods and beverages are available in emergency shelters for people with dietary restrictions, such as people who have diabetes or severe food allergies? Yes NoACTIONS: If the answer to any of the above questions is “No,” this is a red flag that your emergency shelter program may not be fully accessible to people with disabilities. Here are some steps to ensure that the policies and procedures relating to your emergency shelter programs are accessible to people with disabilities.
Medical and Social Services 42. Have you established policies and procedures to ensure that medical and social services and other benefit programs are accessible to people with disabilities, including people who use wheelchairs, scooters, and other mobility aids, individuals who cannot leave shelters because of their disabilities, and people who use service animals? Yes No43. Have you established policies and procedures to ensure that application processes for benefit programs are designed so they do not exclude people with disabilities whose disabilities prevent them from using one particular type of application process (e.g., web-based application processes, telephone-based application processes, procedures requiring applicants to have a valid driver’s license, or procedures requiring applicants to apply in person)? Yes No44. Do you have policies and procedures to ensure that your medical, social service, and other benefit programs provide effective communication to people with disabilities, including people who are deaf or hard of hearing and people who are blind or have low vision? Yes No
ACTIONS: If the answer to any of the above questions is “No,” this is a red flag that the medical and social services your entity provides may not be fully accessible to people with disabilities. Here are some steps to ensure that the policies and procedures relating to your medical and social services are accessible to people with disabilities.
Post-Sheltering Policies and Procedures 45. Have you adopted procedures to provide additional time, transportation, and search assistance for people with disabilities in emergency shelters to locate accessible temporary housing and support services in the community following an emergency? Yes No46. If you have a program to provide temporary housing to persons when they leave emergency shelters but cannot yet return home (e.g., housing in dormitories, rooms at lodging facilities, trailers), have you adopted a plan for providing prompt, equivalent temporary housing to persons with disabilities, including accessible housing for people who use wheelchairs, scooters, and other mobility aids and people who are deaf or hard of hearing? Yes No N/A 47. If you have a temporary housing program, do your information materials on temporary housing include information on accessible housing (such as the specific location of accessible hotel rooms within the community or in nearby communities and transportation resources available in that area)? Yes No N/A ACTIONS: If the answer to any of the above questions is “No,” this is a red flag that your emergency management and post-shelter programs may not be fully accessible to people with disabilities. Here are some steps to ensure that your post-shelter policies, procedures, and programs are accessible to people with disabilities.
Post-Emergency Repair, Rebuilding, and Resumption of Program Operations 48. Have you established policies and procedures to ensure that the repair and rebuilding of government facilities comply with the accessibility requirements of Title II of the ADA? Yes No49. Have you established policies to ensure that programs relocated from a damaged facility on a temporary or permanent basis remain accessible to people with disabilities? Yes No ACTIONS: If the answer to any of the above questions is “No,” this is a red flag that your post-emergency policies and procedures may not be fully accessible to people with disabilities. Here are some steps to ensure that your post-emergency policies and procedures ensure access for people with disabilities.
ADA Tool Kit for State and Local Governments |
October 26, 2009