Best Practices
We are generating a list of successful ADA implementation ideas. If you have one to include please fill out the form:
Selected Best Practices:
Disability Services Facilitators: Increasing Enforcement of Inclusive City Services
New York, NY
During the spring of 2016, NYC Mayor de Blasio and the City Council enacted legislation (Local Law 27) that requires all City agencies to hire or appoint full-time Disability Service Facilitator (DSF) positions. These individuals are liaisons to New Yorkers with disabilities, creating access points for them to obtain information, services, and assistance. The DSF’s responsibilities include ensuring their agencies, programs, and services comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Rehabilitation Act, the New York State Human Rights Law and the New York City Human Rights Law; learning about issues affecting people with disabilities; providing information to the public on programs and services; ensuring that construction projects within the agency’s control are compliant with the ADA Standards for Accessible Design and the accessibility provisions of the NYC Building Code; and serving as a liaison with the NYC Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD). DSFs meet quarterly or as otherwise needed to discuss citywide coordination, policies, share resources and participate in trainings. For more information on DSFs including a list of each City agency’s DSF please visit nyc.gov/dsf.
Contact
Eli Fresquez, Assistant General Counsel
Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities
100 Gold Street, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10038
212.788.2505, New York Relay users dial
JFresquez@cityhall.nyc.gov
Municipal ADA Improvement Grant Program
Massachusetts
This program will provide grants of up to $250,000 for any Massachusetts city, town, special purpose district and/or regional governmental organization. The grants will support capital improvements, including ramps, elevators, power lifts and Limited Use/Limited Application (LULAs), signage, communication access devices, curb cuts and/or any other features that are designed to improve architectural access and/or programmatic access for people with disabilities.
Municipalities that sign a Community Compact (CC) and select the "Public Accessibility Best Practice" option will be provided priority for grant funding. Planning Grants will also be available for applicants that have not yet met the administrative requirements set forth in Title II of the ADA and do not have Self-Evaluation or Transitions Plans.
Contact: www.mass.gov/mod/adagrants
Curb Ramp and Sidewalk Program
Cambridge, MA
The Cambridge Department of Public Works (DPW) consults regularly with the ADA Coordinator and the Cambridge Commission for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) to ensure pedestrian access to sidewalks. The DPW evaluates each sidewalk, intersection, crosswalk and curb ramp at least every five years. Surface conditions, slopes, landings and detectable warnings are all rated using a 1-5 system, and the data is entered into the city geographic information system (GIS). From this data the DPW develops and annually updates (with CCPD input) a five year plan for sidewalk repairs and curb ramp replacement - currently $4.5 M per year. The DPW has experimented (again with CCPD input) with different sidewalk materials, for example rubberized asphalt, wire cut brick, etc. and detectable warnings types - plastic, composite, cast-iron - to find the most durable and accessible solutions. This experimentation resulted in standardization of materials across the public right-of-way. In addition, the City of Cambridge has budgeted $800,000 for FY 2018 for its Miscellaneous Sidewalk Program, allowing the City to address and correct smaller scale accessibility concerns that lie outside the scope of major street renovation projects. To learn more about the program visit the Cambridge website.
Contact: Cambridge Commission for Persons with Disabilities, 51 Inman Street, Cambridge MA 02139. 617-349-4692.
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