Leveling the emergency preparedness playing field

Nishamarie Sherry, JD, MPH; Anne Marie Harkins, JD

doi:10.5055/jem.2011.0075

Authors

Nishamarie Sherry, JD, MPH
Anne Marie Harkins, JD

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.2011.0075

Keywords:

ADA, disability, functional needs, special needs, FEMA, Department of Justice, guidelines

Abstract

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other similar antidiscrimination laws have always required that comprehensive emergency preparedness programs implemented by government emergency management agencies address the functional needs of people with disabilities. In addition, the Department of Justice and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have issued extensive guidance regarding the application of Title II of the ADA to emergency preparedness initiatives. Nonetheless, emergency managers have hesitated to undertake inclusive preparedness initiatives due to lingering confusion over the type and nature of services that are legally required under the ADA and frustration over the perception that federal emergency preparedness guidelines set unrealistic and unattainable standards for compliance.This confusion is reflected in two recent cases brought against emergency managers in California and New York. Using the claims of those two cases as a backdrop, this article will lay the foundation for a better understanding of how the ADA and related emergency preparedness guidance interact and will discuss how the law and guidance together provide the best direction for emergency managers to practically implement inclusive emergency preparedness programs.

Author Biographies

Nishamarie Sherry, JD, MPH

Law & Policy Analyst, Center for Health & Homeland Security, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland.

Anne Marie Harkins, JD

Law & Policy Analyst, Center for Health & Homeland Security, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland.

References

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention: Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report. Prevalence and Most Common Causes of Disability Among Adults—United States, 2005. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5816a2.htm. Accessed November 29, 2011.

US Census Bureau: 2010 American Community Survey. Available at http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_S1810&prodType=table. Accessed November 2, 2011. 3. Americans with Disabilities Act of. 1990, as amended by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADA), 42 USCA §§12101 et seq. (West 2011); Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), 29 USCA §794 (West 2011).

ADA 42 USCA §12132; ADA Title II Regulations, 28 CFR §35.130(b)(1)(i)-(vii) (2010).

ADA Title II Regulations, 28 CFR §35.102, .130(b).

ADA Title II Regulations, 28 CFR at §35.130(d).

Olmstead v L.C., 527 US 581, 597, 119 S.Ct. 2176 (1999).

ADA Title II Regulations, 28 CFR §35.130(b)(7), .150(a).

ADA Title II Regulations, 28 CFR at §35.150(a)(3).

ADA 42 USCA §12131(2).

ADA 42 USCA §12133.

Zukle v Regents of the University of California, 116 F.3d 1041, 1048 (9th Cir 1999).

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): Guidance on Planning for Integration of Functional Needs Support Services in General Population Shelters. 2010. Available at http://www.fema.gov/pdf/about/odic/fnss_guidance.pdf. Accessed November 8, 2011.

FEMA, US Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil Liberties: Interim Emergency Management Planning Guide for Special Needs Populations. 2008.

US Department of Justice: Chapter 7 of the ADA Best Practices Took Kit for State and Local Governments. 2007. Available at http://www.ada.gov/pcatoolkit/toolkitmain.htm. Accessed November 8, 2011.

US Department of Justice: An ADA Guide for Local Governments: Making Community Emergency Preparedness and Response Programs Accessible to People with Disabilities. Available at http://www.ada.gov/emerprepguideprt.pdf. Accessed November 8, 2011.

FEMA: Guidance on Planning for Integration of Functional Needs Support Services in General Population Shelters. 2010. Available at http://www.fema.gov/pdf/about/odic/fnss_guidance.pdf. Accessed November 8, 2011.

Waller v City of Danville, 556 F.3d 171, 174 (4th Cir 2009).

Communities Actively Living Indep. & Free (CALIF) v City of Los Angeles, No. CV 09-0287 CBM, 2011 WL 4595993, at *1 (CD Cal. February 10, 2011).

ADA 42 USCA §§12201(a), 12133.

Bragdon v Abbott, 524 US 624, 631-32, 118 S.Ct. 2196 (1998).

CALIF v City of Los Angeles, No. CV 09-0287 CBM, 2011 WL 4595993, at *13 (CD Cal. February 10, 2011).

CALIF v City of Los Angeles, No. CV 09-0287 CBM, 2011 WL 4595993, at 16 (CD Cal. February 10, 2011).

CALIF v City of Los Angeles, No. CV 09-0287 CBM, 2011 WL 4595993, at at *2 (CD Cal. February 10, 2011).

CALIF v City of Los Angeles, No. CV 09-0287 CBM, 2011 WL 4595993, at at *3 (CD Cal. February 10, 2011).

Complaint at 1, Brooklyn Ctr. for Independence of the Disabled v City of New York (SD NY September 26, 2011).

Complaint, Brooklyn Ctr. for Independence of the Disabled v City of New York (SD NY September 26, 2011) ¶ 93.

Complaint, Brooklyn Ctr. for Independence of the Disabled v City of New York (SD NY September 26, 2011) at ¶ 59.

Complaint, Brooklyn Ctr. for Independence of the Disabled v City of New York (SD NY September 26, 2011) at ¶ ¶ 96, 98, 100.

Complaint, Brooklyn Ctr. for Independence of the Disabled v City of New York (SD NY September 26, 2011) at ¶ 96.

CALIF v City of Los Angeles, No. CV 09-0287 CBM, 2011 WL 4595993, at *16 (CD Cal. Feb. 10, 2011).

Brief for the United States as a Statement in Interest in CALIF v City of Los Angeles, No. CV 09-0287 CBM, 2011 WL 4595993 (CD Cal. February 10, 2011).