1973 Rehabilitation Act
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The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 () is a United States federal law, codified at et seq. The principal sponsor of the bill was Rep.
John Brademas Stephen John Brademas Jr. (March 2, 1927 – July 11, 2016) was an American politician and educator originally from Indiana. He served as Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives for the Democratic Party from 1977 to 1981 a ...
(D-IN-3). The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 replaces preexisting laws (collectively referred to as the Vocational Rehabilitation Act) to extend and revise the authorization of grants to States for
vocational rehabilitation Vocational rehabilitation, also abbreviated VR or voc rehab, is a process which enables persons with functional, psychological, developmental, cognitive, and emotional disabilities, impairments or health disabilities to overcome barriers to access ...
services, with special emphasis on services to those with the most severe disabilities, to expand special Federal responsibilities and research and training programs with respect to individuals with disabilities, to establish special responsibilities in the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare for coordination of all programs with respect to individuals with disabilities within the
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...
, and for other purposes. The Rehabilitation Act requires affirmative action in employment by the federal government and by government contractors and prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by federal agencies, in programs receiving federal financial assistance, in federal employment, and in the employment practices of federal contractors. The standards for determining employment discrimination under the Rehabilitation Act are the same as those used in title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act. President
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
signed into law on September 26, 1973 after he had vetoed two previous versions.


Section 501

Section 501 requires affirmative action and nondiscrimination in employment by Federal agencies of the executive branch. To obtain more information or to file a complaint, employees must contact their agency's Equal Employment Opportunity Office.


Section 503

Section 503 requires affirmative action and prohibits employment discrimination by Federal government contractors and subcontractors with contracts of more than $10,000.


Section 504

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act created and extended civil rights to people with disabilities. Section 504 has also provided opportunities for children and adults with disabilities in education, employment and various other settings. It even allows for reasonable accommodations such as special study area and assistance as necessary for each student.


Section 505

Section 505 contains provisions governing remedies and attorney's fees under Section 501.


Section 508

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act establishes requirements for electronic and information technology developed, maintained, procured, or used by the Federal government. Section 508 requires Federal electronic and information technology to be accessible to people with disabilities, including employees and members of the public. An accessible information technology system is one that can be operated in a variety of ways and does not rely on a single sense or ability of the user. For example, a system that provides output only in visual format may not be accessible to people with visual impairments, and a system that provides output only in audio format may not be accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Some individuals with disabilities may need accessibility-related software or peripheral devices in order to use systems that comply with Section 508.


Operational administration of the disability civil rights laws

Court cases occur because operational administration of the laws may be faulty in individual or related to classes (e.g., restaurant industry, sensory impairments), or there is disagreement about the law itself (e.g., definition of reasonable accommodation), in addition to other reasons (e.g., disagreement that citizens are entitled to civil rights). Experts in civil rights laws are involved in education of governments, Americans with disabilities, citizens, special interest groups (e.g., disability classes), non-profit and for-profit agencies, and community groups on the "application of these federal laws" in daily lives, including workplaces. In the area of employment law, Syracuse University's Peter Blanck, currently Executive of the Burton Blatt Institute, has offered detailed advice on the implementation of central concepts of the employment-rehabilitation laws. While the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 is the current base law, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, amended in 1978 is also cited in these legal cases, including accommodations for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Hearings at the local levels often do not recognize experts in practice, and thus legal cases repeatedly must be appealed through the federal systems. Personal assistance in the workplace has also been supported as a reasonable accommodation, a central concept in employment and disability law (Sections IV &4.8, 4.11; XI & 11.6, 11.8, 11.10; XVI & 16.7, 16.8). The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities has indicated that supported employment is considered to be a workplace accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Sections IV & 4.7, 4.11; XI & 11.6, 11.8, 11.10: XVI & 16.7,16.8).


Significant amendments

Significant amendments were made to the Rehabilitation Act in 1974. The most important was the expansion of the definition of "handicapped individual." The original 1973 Act defined a "handicapped individual" as The 1974 amendments substituted a much broader definition of "handicapped individual" applicable to employment by the federal government (Section 501), modification or elimination of architectural and transportation barriers (Section 502), employment by federal contractors (section 503) and to programs receiving federal financial assistance ( Section 504) that was not related to employability through vocational rehabilitation services. The 1974 amendments provided a handicapped individual meant Congress adopted that definition in the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...
, substituting the term "disability" for "handicapped."Section 3(2), , July 26, 1990. In 1986, Public Law 99-506 helped the Rehabilitation Act to refine and focus services offered to those with the most severe disabilities. Supported employment was also defined as a "legitimate rehabilitation outcome". Title four of the
Workforce Investment Act The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA, ) was a United States federal law that was repealed and replaced by the 2014 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Purpose The Workforce Investment Act is a federal act that "provides workforce investm ...
of 1998 amended the Rehabilitation Act in order to work with the WIA to accomplish the goal of helping people return to the workforce. Title four created a national council on disability, appointed by the president, to link rehabilitation programs to state and local workforce development systems. However, the Workforce Investment Act was repealed and replaced by the 2014
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is a United States public law that replaced the previous Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) as the primary federal workforce development legislation to bring about increased coordination amo ...
.


See also


List of court cases

*''
Coleman v. Schwarzenegger ''Coleman v. Schwarzenegger'', docket no. 2:90-cv-00520-LKK-JFM ( E.D. Cal.), is a federal class action civil rights lawsuit under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and the Rehabil ...
'' *'' Plata v. Schwarzenegger'' *''School Bd. of Nassau County v. Arline'', 480 U.S. 273 (1987)


Related laws

* Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, 1980 *
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...
*
ADA Amendments Act of 2008 The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–325, ADAAA) is an Act of Congress, effective January 1, 2009, that amended the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and other disability nondiscrimination laws at the Federal level of th ...
* Civil Rights Act of 1964 *
The Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 There are two pieces of legislature in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 state ...
*
Education for All Handicapped Children Act The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (sometimes referred to using the acronyms EAHCA or EHA, or Public Law (PL) 94-142 was enacted by the United States Congress in 1975. This act required all public schools accepting federal funds to p ...
*
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a piece of American legislation that ensures students with a disability are provided with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that is tailored to their individual needs. IDEA wa ...
* Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act * Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act * Family Support Law of New York, * Health and Human Services Policies for the Protection of Research Subjects, 2005 * Maternal and Child Health Act of 1935, Amended 2013 * Social Security Act of 1935 * Title XIX of the Social Security Act * Technology-Related Assistance Act for Persons with Disabilities *
Ticket to Work The United States Social Security Administration's Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program is the centerpiece of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999. This free and voluntary program supports career development for ...
* Ticket-to-Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 * Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1974


Related organizations

* American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities * Beach Center on Families, University of Kansas * Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities-US *
World Institute on Disability In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...


References


Sources

* * OCR Senior Staff Memoranda, "Guidance on the Application of Section 504 to Noneducational Programs of Recipients of Federal Financial Assistance," January 3, 1990. * Lynch, William, "The Application of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act to the Internet: Proper E-Planning Prevents Poor E-Performance," 12 CommLaw Conspectus: Journal of Communications Law and Policy 245 (2004).


Further reading

* * {{Authority control Special education in the United States United States federal civil rights legislation United States federal disability legislation Anti-discrimination law in the United States 1973 in American law 93rd United States Congress