Access AmeriCorps

Follow-up: Section I Recruitment/Accommodation Practices

1. Has your program affirmatively sought to recruit and retain qualified Members with disabilities?
   

   AmeriCorps programs need to affirmatively include persons with disabilities in recruitment efforts. This means that recruitment activities need to be accessible and that reasonable accommodations may have to be made. The affirmative obligation is found in the National and Community Service Act of 1990, as amended.
   

   AmeriCorps programs should be able to outline what they have done in order to recruit persons with disabilities (e.g., contacting independent living centers, providing recruitment information in large print, ensuring that meetings are held in accessible locations, including pictures of Members with disabilities in recruitment brochures).
   

   Remember, we are striving for an AmeriCorps that looks like America. Forty-nine million Americans have disabilities.

2. Do you have a written policy concerning discrimination on the basis of physical or mental disability?
   

   Programs and commissions should include an anti-discrimination statement about disability with their general anti-discrimination statement: "AmeriCorps does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, gender, national origin, color, political affiliation, religion, age or disability."

3. Do you regularly review your recruitment practices (recruitment, training, tenure, disciplinary actions) to be certain that you, your managers, supervisors and external consultants are nondiscriminatory in the treatment of applicants and members with disabilities?
   

   It is not enough to review practices once and then assume that they are nondiscriminatory forever. New staff are always being hired, incumbent staff can fall into old practices, and biases and stereotypes are difficult to erase. Regular review of practices, perhaps every six months, depending on your program and your schedule of events, is highly recommended.

4. Medical records must be kept in a separate location from non-medical records. Access to medical records must be limited. Are all members' non-medical records kept in a separate place from records that contain medical information?
   

   Medical records should be kept in a locked file, and access should be limited to those who truly need to know. Further, information that relates to reasonable accommodation should be kept with medical information and not in a Member's general file.

   1. Do you have a written policy regarding who has access to medical information?
      

      A written policy serves to protect the program.

   2. What is the policy?
      

      A copy should be attached to the self-evaluation document.

5. Do your recruitment materials, including photos and ad copy, contain positive images of persons with disabilities and indicate your program's commitment to the inclusion of persons with disabilities?
   

   Recruitment and other advertising materials should include images of persons with disabilities, and copy should mention the participation of persons with disabilities. The message of inclusion needs to be carried out throughout your recruitment process, not just in the part that specifically relates to outreach to persons with disabilities.

6. Are inquiries related to the presence of a disability or the possible presence of a disability that a member or potential member may have limited to performance or essential functions of service positions and requirements for reasonable accommodations?
   

   You can ask how a member would perform service activities with or without reasonable accommodations. You cannot ask how a member acquired his/her disability, how s/he feels about it, what s/he has done about it, how long s/he has had a disability, or what s/he has learned from it. These are personal questions and are not appropriate in a recruitment setting.
   

   1. Are supervisory staff aware of what constitutes legal and illegal inquiries under the ADA/Section 504?

   2. If yes, how did they obtain this information? Describe. For example, did they participate in a training session? Read relevant literature?
      

      Supervisory staff, and those conducting recruitment interviews, should be aware of what constitutes legal and illegal inquiries in this area. Programs should be aware of how staff are trained. For example, managers often assume that staff is aware of what is legal and illegal, but when asked, cannot describe how staff know that information. Training should be on-going and periodic, and should be conducted by reputable organizations and individuals.

   3. Have service descriptions been analyzed to determine which functions of a member's service are essential' and which are marginal'? If yes', describe the process for doing this.

   4. Are service descriptions in writing?
      

      Service descriptions should be reviewed to determine what the essential functions are. This review should occur at least once a year. As programs grow and learn, service descriptions may change and adjustments may be required. A process needs to be in place to ensure that changes are incorporated into the descriptions. Service descriptions should be in writing so that documentation of the essential functions of the service position is available.

   5. Are any of the following questions asked during the recruitment or application process?
      

      It is illegal to ask questions that would reveal information about the health or presence of disability in the recruitment process. These questions are simply examples of questions that can reveal the presence of a disability.

7. Do you require that applicants for AmeriCorps positions take any of the following tests as part of an application process?
   1. Drug or alcohol test: The ADA is neutral on drug testing. This simply means that the ADA does not address the issue of drug testing, and that programs need to look to other state and federal law and policies to determine the legality of drug and alcohol testing.

   2. HIV tests: HIV is considered a disability, and it is illegal to require that applicants undergo a test for HIV.

   3. Skill or performance tests: Programs can administer skill and performance tests if the skills tested are required in order to perform the essential functions of the service.

   4. Psychological tests: Psychological tests are allowable only if they specifically relate to the essential functions of the service description.

   5. Intelligence tests: An intelligence test can only be administered if there is clear and convincing evidence that a certain level of intelligence is required to perform the service.

   Remember, the burden of proof is on the AmeriCorps program that may want to administer such exams to show that the level of skill measured by such tests is clearly essential to the performance of the service description. All such testing must be administered to all applicants.

8. Do you have a substance abuse policy?
   

   Policies relating to substance abuse should be reviewed to ensure that they do not discriminate against members who are in recovery from substance abuse.

9. Do you have a member drug testing policy?
   

   Drug testing policies should be reviewed to ensure that they do not single out Members with disabilities.

10. It is required that reasonable accommodation be provided to members with disabilities. Reasonable accommodation includes a broad range of adaptations to the manner or circumstances in which a service is performed, an interview is conducted, etc.
    
    1. Have members and applicants been informed that they are entitled to reasonable accommodations?

       Everyone needs to know that your AmeriCorps program has a policy to provide reasonable accommodations. It is not enough assume that people who need accommodations are aware of this. Nor is it enough to only let identified persons with disabilities know. Everyone who is a potential participant in your program needs to be aware of the availability of reasonable accommodations.

    2. If 'yes', how have they been so informed?

       AmeriCorps programs should be able to document how they inform their audience that reasonable accommodations are available.

    3. Are reasonable accommodations provided to AmeriCorps members with disabilities?
       

       If you truly have full participation of members with disabilities, reasonable accommodations are probably being provided.

    4. How do you know?
       

       AmeriCorps programs should have some way of determining and tracking the provision and effectiveness of reasonable accommodations that are provided.

    5. Has a written reasonable accommodation policy been developed?
       

       A written policy that states a program's ability and willingness to provide reasonable accommodations is a proactive way of letting people with disabilities know that they are welcome in your program.

    6. Do supervisory staff know how to proceed if an accommodation is requested?
       

       Often, programs are very willing to provide reasonable accommodations, but when requested, they are unsure how to go about actually securing the accommodation. It is important that programs be prepared and able to do so.

    7. Has a specific supervisory staff person been designated to coordinate reasonable accommodation, including determining when an accommodation is or is not reasonable, and when a funding request will be made of the Commission?

       It is not required that a specific person be identified. It is often helpful, however, especially when a program lacks institutionalized experience in providing reasonable accommodations.

    8. Do they know how to secure a sign language interpreter if necessary? Do they know how to have material transcribed into Braille, recorded on audio cassette, or placed on an ASCII disk?
       

       These are two methods of measuring the ability of staff to provide reasonable accommodations when they are requested.

11. Are interviews, member's staff meetings, and other gatherings held, as a matter of policy, in accessible locations?

12. Are off site members staff training, holiday parties, picnics or other gatherings held in accessible locations?

13. Are reasonable accommodations, including sign language interpreters, written materials in alternative format, and so forth, provided to individuals with disabilities at meetings, training sessions and other events?
    

    These are three ways of measuring the level of institutionalization of inclusion of persons with disabilities.

Concluding Note:
Even if there are currently no persons with disabilities in your program, activities should still be conducted in accessible forums and in an accessible manner for two reasons. One, a clear message is sent to the general public and to the disability community that access and inclusion are important to AmeriCorps. Two, practice leads to improvement, knowledge, and preparation. An AmeriCorps program that considers accessibility a priority will be far more successful in recruiting and retaining individuals with disabilities.

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