ADA

[BillB]

I saw where someone said that CAP was exempted from ADA requirements. Can someone give me that cite? For example is CAP exempt from having bathrooms that have disabled access?

[mikeylikey]

CAP has a responsibility to adhere as closely as possible to the ADA.  That includes restrooms.  However, the organization can reasonably get around the bathroom issue if the meeting location is found on any type of Department of Defense installation, Federal facility or State National Guard building that was constructed before 1993.  For some reason military facilities were not included in the ADA law.  I wonder why?  Anyway, here is one answere found on the CAP Knowledgebase.  Go to Cap.gov and check out more answerers!

SUBJECT: Membership for handicapped personnel


3.2. The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) per Title 10, United States Code, Section 9441 (1976 and Supp IV 1980).

1. Air Force Nondiscrimination Policy
1.1. Air Force Nondiscrimination Policy. It is Air Force policy that no person shall be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination on the basis of age, race, color, national origin, disability (formerly handicap), religion, or sex (except as prescribed by statue or policy), under any program or activity either conducted by the Air Force, or receiving federal financial assistance disbursed by the Air Force.

1. Guidance with respect to membership for an adult afflicted with Cerebral Palsy.
2. Civil Air Patrol's policy is contained in our Constitution, Article VII: "Membership in Civil Air Patrol is a privilege and not a right. Qualifications and conditions for membership shall be established in the Bylaws and regulations. Discrimination based on race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin or disability is prohibited." [Emphasis added]
3. CAPR 39-1 incorporates DOD Directive 1020.1 into the CAP guidance. This directive requires that no qualified handicapped person in the United States shall on the basis of handicap be excluded from participation in, denied the benefit of, or otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity conducted by the Federal Government or receiving Federal financial assistance. CAP is specifically included in the requirements of DOD Directive 1020.1.
4. Although not applicable to CAP vis a vis our volunteer members, the Americans With Disabilities Act provides some useful guidance to ascertain what may be required of CAP when we have an applicant with a disability. The following guidelines have been adopted from information published by the Council on Education in Management.
a. CAP cannot limit, segregate or classify applicants in such a way that adversely impacts the opportunities or status of the applicant because of disability. Consequently, we must make decisions based on the abilities of individual applicants and not on the basis of presumptions or generalizations about what a class of individuals can or cannot do.
b. CAP is required to make "reasonable accommodations" to the known physical or mental limitations of a qualified applicant unless CAP can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of CAP. It is expected that the applicant will advise CAP of the need for an accommodation. An "undue hardship" means an action requiring significant difficulty or expense.
c. A limited pre-application inquiry into the ability of an applicant to perform specific CAP related functions may be made. These specific functions may include the ability to attend unit meetings without being disruptive and the ability to safely participate in field activities, SAR exercises, flightline activities,etc. Outside professional opinions may be obtained to help determine if the applicant can perform the activities required of a member of CAP.
5. The results of any pre-application inquiry and the objective requirements of the CAP position sought should be documented and retained for a period of three years.
6. In addition to active membership, CAP offers patron membership pursuant to CAPM 39-2 with rights and restrictions as listed in CAPR 35-1 paragraph 5. This alternative should be discussed with the applicant when appropriate.

[DNall]

You'd have to dig around & look it up. CAP is voluntarily complying & has added the provisions to our regs. ADA & actually the whole series of acts cover businesses over I believe it's 50 employees & all govt or govt supported facilities. Obviously this is financially prohibitive for a CAP Sq in beg/narrowed facilities & no budget. IG complaint(s) in the early 90s on non-compliance despite federal support resulted in a policy letter from the attorney general with the concurrence of the Congressional cmte stating that CAP units are exempt. CAP in turn issued a letter saying we would continue to non-discriminate & voluntarily comply to the best of our ability.

No one's seeking to discriminate or create barriers to participation, but a local unit in barrowed facilities with literally no budget should not be shut down when it doesn't have the power to accommodate an individual, nor should CAP as a whole lose federal funding over such issues. That's the position of the govt as well, and while CAP regs say you must comply, the law behind them doesn't force the unreasonable response that would be standard if you were the post officer or a university.

Thanks for posting the above though, I hadn't seen that in a while & it's very helpful.

[davedove]

For some reason military facilities were not included in the ADA law.  I wonder why? 

I don't know the full legalities on this, but if there is a civilian workforce at a facility, and most do have one, then reasonable accomodation must be made for any disabled employees.