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:

• a copy of your emergency planning and preparedness documents;

• a copy of materials used to train employees and volunteers who perform emergency management functions;

• a copy of materials distributed to the public on emergency preparedness and emergency management and the procedures used for distribution of such materials;

• a copy of any current contracts or other documents reflecting your relationship with other public entities and/or private organizations to provide any services related to emergency management, such as planning, prevention, preparedness, evacuation, transportation, sheltering, medical services, lodging, housing, response, social services, recovery, clean-up, and remediation;

• a list of notification methods, procedures, materials, and equipment used to communicate information about emergencies to the public, including people with disabilities (in particular, communication with people who are deaf or hard of hearing and people who are blind or have low vision);

• a copy of your policies and procedures on emergency notification, evacuation, transportation, emergency shelters, emergency food and medical supplies, temporary lodging and housing, medical services, social services, and other emergency management services;

• a list of accessible transportation and lodging resources that can be used in an emergency for evacuation, return home following an evacuation, and/or temporary lodging and housing;

• a list of the facilities designated as emergency shelters, including mass care shelters, special needs shelters, and medical shelters;

• eligibility criteria, if any, for participation in emergency management programs, services, and activities, including mass care, special needs, and medical shelters; and

• copies of the “ADA Checklist for Emergency Shelters,” located in Addendum 3 to this Chapter and at , and survey tools (metal tape measure, electronic (digital) level, pressure gauge, and digital camera).

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/A

2.   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

  ◼  No

3.   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

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

  ◼  No

6.    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

  ◼  No

7.   Does your plan address the needs of people with disabilities who will require assistance leaving their homes?

  ◼  Yes

  ◼  No

8.    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 evacuation needs 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

  ◼  No

9.    Have you established a voluntary, confidential registry for persons with disabilities to request individualized notification, evacuation assistance, and transportation?

  ◼  Yes

  ◼  No

a.   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

  ◼  No

12.    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

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

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

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

  ◼  No

24.    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

  ◼  No

25.    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

• If you offer “stress-relief zones,” have you adopted policies and procedures to make these areas available on a priority basis to people whose disabilities are aggravated by stress?

    ◼  Yes
  
    ◼  No
  
    ◼  N/A

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

  ◼  No

27.    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

  ◼  No

28.    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

  ◼  No

29.   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

  ◼  No

32. 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

  ◼  No

33.    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

  ◼  No

34.    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

  ◼  No

35.    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

  ◼  No

36.    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

  ◼  No

37.    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

  ◼  No

38.    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

  ◼  No

39.    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

  ◼  No

40.    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

  ◼  No

41. 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

  ◼  No

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

  ◼  No

43.    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

  ◼  No

44.   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

• Do your policies and procedures include primary consideration of
  the communication method preferred by an individual with a
  disability?

    ◼  Yes
  
    ◼  No
  
    ◼  N/A

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

  ◼  No

46.    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

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

  ◼  No

49.    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