Justice Department Signs Agreement With Humboldt County, California, to Ensure Civic...

Justice Department Signs Agreement With Humboldt County, California, to Ensure
Civic Access for Persons With Disabilities

WASHINGTON, July 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Justice Department today
announced an agreement with Humboldt County, Calif., to improve access to all
aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities. The agreement was reached
under Project Civic Access, a Justice Department initiative to bring state and
local governments into full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA).

"Today we are celebrating the commitment that Humboldt County officials have
made to ensure that their community is accessible to all of their citizens,"
said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.
"As a result of today's agreement, many more persons with disabilities will
now be able to participate fully in fundamental aspects of American life in
their own community, including attending town hall meetings, viewing
government Web sites, accessing emergency services, and voting at their local
polling places. Their increased participation benefits all Americans."

The Department's agreement with Humboldt County specifies that the county
will:

-- Make physical modifications to its facilities so that parking, routes into
the buildings, entrances, public telephones, restrooms, service counters, and
drinking fountains are accessible to persons with disabilities;

-- Post, publish and distribute a notice to inform members of the public of
the ADA's provisions and their applicability to the county's programs,
services and activities;

-- Officially recognize California's telephone relay service and train staff
in using the relay service to ensure effective communication for people who
are deaf or hard of hearing;

-- Continue to ensure that 9-1-1 emergency service calls placed by persons
with disabilities who use text telephones (TTYs) are answered as quickly as
other calls, that such calls are monitored for timing and accuracy, and that
employees are trained and practiced in using a TTY to make and receive calls;

-- Ensure that the county's official Web site is accessible to persons with
disabilities;

-- Develop a method for ensuring that voters with disabilities can vote
independently, and making auxiliary aids and services available to the public
upon request, including ballots in alternate formats;

-- Ensure access to emergency management services for persons with
disabilities; and

-- Develop a method for providing information for interested persons with
disabilities concerning the existence and location of the county's accessible
services, activities and programs.

The settlement agreement will remain in effect for three years.

Project Civic Access was initiated to ensure that persons with disabilities
have an equal opportunity to participate in civic life. As part of the
project, Department investigators, attorneys and architects survey state and
local government facilities and programs for the purpose of identifying the
modifications needed to comply with ADA requirements. Depending on the
circumstances in each community, the agreements address specific areas where
access can be improved. To date, the Department has entered into 158
settlement agreements under Project Civic Access, which improve access in
communities throughout the country.

People interested in finding out more about the ADA or today's agreement with
Humboldt County can access the ADA home page at http://www.ada.gov or can call
the toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TDD).

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice, +1-202-514-2007, or TDD, +1-202-514-1888