Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is American legislation that guarantees certain rights to people with disabilities. It requires that people with disabilities are able to take part in all programs that receive federal funding, while being free from discrimination. It was one of the first U.S. federal civil rights laws that offered legal protections for people with disabilities. Section 504 set precedents for subsequent legislation expanding the rights of people with disabilities, and kickstarted a political movement by in the United States for people with disabilities, resulting in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.
Summary of the Section
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 states :It is Pub. L. No. 93-112, 87 Stat. 394, codified at et seq.
As amended in 1974, Section 111, Pub L. 93-516, 88 Stat. 1619, Individuals with Disabilities are:
where
However, "For purposes of employment", Qualified Individuals with Disabilities must also meet "normal and essential eligibility requirements", such that:
where
That is, Qualified Individuals with Disabilities must be able to perform the job duties associated with the job for which they would be hired. The United States Department of Labor also indicates that "Small Providers" do not have to make "significant structural alterations to their existing facilities" to accommodate individuals with disabilities.
Implications
Section 504 covers "any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." If an organization receives federal support of any kind, even if the organization is not a federal or state organization, the organization must comply with Section 504. For example, airports in the United States can be at least partially funded by grants from federal and state governments, thus must be compliant. In many communities, public libraries receive federal financial assistance, directly or indirectly, so they must comply as well. Airports and public libraries became accessible according to Section 504 stipulation within a few years of the implementation of Section 504.Requirements for educational programs
K–12 schools
The law also pertains to any "local educational agency, system of vocational education, or other school system". As applied to K–12 schools, "the language broadly prohibits the denial of public education participation, or enjoyment of the benefits offered by public school programs because of a child's disability." Although the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act also applies to K-12 schools, the existence of IDEA does not mean the Rehabilitation Act is superfluous. IDEA only protects a subset of children and youth who have disabilities—those who satisfy its definition for "child with a disability", which is limited to thirteen types of disabilities. The definition of disability under Section 504 is broader than that of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, so some children who do not meet the IDEA definition of disability can still be served under Section 504.Section 504 requires school districts to provide Free Appropriate Public Education to children with disabilities, who may benefit from public education, within the individual district's jurisdiction. Regardless of the child's disability, the school district must identify the child's educational needs and provide any regular or special education to satisfy the child's educational needs just as well as it does for the children without disabilities. This may be accomplished by developing an education plan for the child. When done so under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, it is referred to as a 504 plan. This 504 plan covers accommodations, services, and support the child will be receiving in order to have access to education at school. A 504 plan is different and less detailed than an Individualized Education Program.
Section 504 supports rights for students for needs outside of the school day, such as extracurricular activities, sports, and after-school care, because Section 504 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. While the process for accommodating students varies per institution, schools generally comply with Section 504 by identifying students with disabilities and evaluating those students. If the students are eligible, they create a written accommodation plan, often called a "504 Plan." It is similar to, but often shorter than, the IDEA Individualized Education Program. Parents, teachers, and school staff are a part of the process. Parents have due process rights; where they disagree with the determinations of the school, they have a right to an impartial hearing.
Violations of Section 504 in the educational environment can be addressed locally with the education agency or with the of the U.S. Department of Education. Violations of Section 504 can result in a loss of the federal funding. According to the Department individuals may also file a private right of action for violations of Sec. 504. Thus, Section 504 is enforced by OCR. IDEA is carried out by another unit of the department, the Office of Special Education Programs.
Extracurricular activity
Section 504 covers extracurricular and after school programs such as sports, music lessons, and afterschool care. .37.The Department of Education Office of Civil Rights has determined that Section 504 applies to:
- Playgrounds - Hazleton Area School District, 17 EHLR 907 ; San Francisco Unified Sch. Dist., 23 IDELR 1200 ; Mill Valley Elementary Sch. Dist., 23 IDELR 1190 ;
- Band programs - Akron City Sch., 19 IDELR 793 ;
- Special programs and assemblies - Whitman-Hanson Regional Sch. Dist., 20 IDELR 775 ; Atlanta Pub. Sch., 16 EHLR 19
- Field trips and off site programs - Ontario-MontClair Unified Sch. Dist., 24 IDELR 780 ; Elk Grove Unified Sch. Dist., 21 IDELR 941
- Clubs - Colquitt County Sch. Dist., 25 IDELR 244 ; South Central Area Special Educ. Coop., 17 EHLR 248 ;
- Afterschool and summer programs - Clayton Sch. Dist., 16 EHLR 766 ; Conejo Valley Unified Sch. Dist., 23 IDELR 448 ;
- Graduation - Aldine Indep. Sch. Dist., 16 EHLR 1411 ; and
- Late bus transportation - Carmel Cent. Sch. Dist., 20 IDELR 1177.
Higher education
Higher education institutions are required to make their programs accessible to qualified students with disabilities. Qualified students with disabilities are determined by the admissions criteria of the individual higher education institution. Students wishing to receive accommodations must initiate the process, which varies per higher education institution. This process largely subscribes to the medical model of disability, as many higher education institutions require medical documentation of diagnosis and functioning regarding the disability during the accommodation application process. These colleges and universities are required to make reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities who attend their institutions.
Rights under Section 504
Although not in the text of the statute, courts have held that individuals have a private right of action under Section 504. While punitive damages are not available, compensatory damages are available to plaintiffs. Arguably, these rights extend to include emotional distress damages.In addition to its responsibility for enforcing other federal statutes prohibiting discrimination in housing, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has a statutory responsibility under Section 504 to ensure that individuals are not subjected to discrimination on the basis of disability by any program or activity receiving HUD assistance. Section 504 charges HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity with enforcing the right of individuals to live in federally subsidized housing free from discrimination on the basis of disability. Further, Section 504 covers employment discrimination based on disability and requires HUD and HUD-assisted agencies to make reasonable accommodations for the known physical or mental limitations of an employee or qualified applicant. It covers all HUD programs except for its mortgage insurance and loan guarantee programs.
Any housing that receives federal assistance, such as Section 8 public housing, is subject to Section 504 regulations and requirements. Any person with a disability who believes that have been discriminated against in a HUD-funded program or activity may file a complaint with HUD under Section 504. A complaint can be filed with HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. If a person with disabilities feels subject to discrimination in a housing situation that does not receive federal assistance, they can also file a complaint, under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act.
History
The early history of federal legislation benefiting people with disabilities includes the Civilian Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1920 passed after World War I, one of the first U.S. laws that provided services for all Americans with disabilities, not just veterans with disabilities. Over the years, subsequent laws and amendments included additional vocational rehabilitation measures.Section 504 brought the language of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. As a law that fell within the office of Health, Education, and Welfare, this was an unlikely place for a social justice provision, yet inserting such a rights clause happened without fanfare. Working behind the scenes on what most believed was a bill related to budget, a staffer added the thirty-five words that addressed issues of discrimination related to disability. This was a departure from then prevailing views that considered disability to be purely a medical condition. The law prohibited any entity receiving federal funding from discriminating against someone because of a disability.
Concerned about costs and enforcement, the Nixon and Ford Administrations attempted to stall the regulations both by rewriting them and calling for further study regarding their impact if they did stay in their present form. Institutions such as universities and hospitals hoped to avoid bad publicity and huge expenses by waiting out the regulation process. As well, early versions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 were vetoed by Nixon in October 1972 and March 1973. In 1972, Disabled in Action demonstrated in New York City with a sit-in protesting one of the vetoes. Led by Judith E. Heumann, eighty activists staged this sit-in on Madison Avenue, stopping traffic. In 1972, demonstrations were also held by disabled activists in Washington, D.C. to protest this veto; among the demonstrators were Disabled in Action, Paralyzed Veterans of America, the National Paraplegia Foundation, and others.
Disability rights groups, especially the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities, advocated to keep the regulations of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act in place unchanged. Section 504 required another step before being implemented, a signature from the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. In 1975, a federal lawsuit was filed to force the agency to act. In July 1976, a federal district for Washington DC ruled that the regulations should be issued "with no further unreasonable delays." As the arrival of a new president drew near, HEW Secretary under departing President Gerald Ford, David Matthews, left them unsigned.
During his campaign, Jimmy Carter promised to change this if he was elected president. When he took office in January 1977, he too grew concerned about costs and invited Joseph Califano, the new HEW head, to study the legislation and its implications by establishing a task force that did not include representation from ACCD or anyone with a disability. Word leaked out that the 504 regulations that insisted on full integration of people with disabilities were being changed into something more akin to "separate but equal." ACCD members tried to reach President Carter, who had promised to support disability rights during a campaign speech in Warm Springs, Georgia, a significant location because it had been President FDR's wheelchair-accessible "home away from home" while he was in the White House. Carter insisted that the matter fell to Califano.