The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will celebrate its 22nd anniversary on July 26. To celebrate this milestone, the Southeast ADA Center, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University, and its State Leadership Network have created an ADA Anniversary Toolkit for use by the public and the media, packed with resources and information about the law and the latest ADA developments for persons with disabilities, veterans, businesses and state and local governments. The Southeast ADA Center ADA Anniversary Toolkit can be accessed via the organization’s website (ADAsoutheast.org) or through the ADA Anniversary site (ADAanniversary.org)
The Americans with Disabilities Act and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) give civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities, similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age and religion. The ADA and ADAAA assure equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities for access to businesses, employment, transportation, state and local government programs and services, and telecommunications.
“Since 1991, the Southeast ADA Center and its State Leadership Network have been the ‘go-to’ resource for comprehensive and confidential ADA information, training and technical assistance to promote voluntary compliance with the ADA throughout the Southeast region,” says L. Elaine Sutton-Mbionwu, assistant director of the Southeast ADA Center, headquartered in Atlanta. “People with disabilities are an integral and vital part of our diverse society and our communities. The Southeast ADA Center is honored to serve as the ADA resource for individuals, families, large and small businesses, educational institutions and government and to promote the full inclusion and participation of the more than 54 million—or 1 in 5—Americans with disabilities.”
The Southeast ADA Center is one of 10 regional information centers nationwide designed to advance voluntary compliance with the ADA via a broad and diverse network of state and regional partners. The Southeast ADA Center consists of a regional office, located in Atlanta, with state and local ADA Affiliates in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The Southeast ADA Center, is one of 10 regional centers throughout the United States comprising the ADA National Network. ADA National Network Centers offer training and technical assistance to promote voluntary compliance with the ADA, including information about the rights of people with disabilities and the responsibilities of businesses as well as state and local governments to provide equal opportunity to participate. All 10 regional centers are funded by a grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) of the U.S. Department of Education.
The Southeast ADA Center’s Affiliates—community-based organizations that work closely with the regional office to build local ADA knowledge and capacity—form the Southeast Region’s ADA Leadership Network. The ADA Leadership Network strengthens each state’s ongoing efforts to promote voluntary compliance with the ADA by supporting local ADA activities and by collaborating with groups and individuals representing disability, business and government entities dedicated to informing their constituents, people with disabilities and the general public about the ADA.
For more information about the Southeast ADA Center, the ADA Leadership Network, and/or the ADA, contact the Southeast ADA Center at 404-541-9001 (voice/tty), the ADA National Network toll free at 1-800-949-4232 (voice/tty), send an email with your request to adasoutheast@law.syr.edu or visit the website at ADAsoutheast.org.
