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Accessibility

Five-Year Accessibility Plan

Local Law 12 of 2023 requires agencies to develop and implement a five-year accessibility plan. DCAS' Five-Year Accessibility plan can be found below.
DCAS Five-Year Accessibility Plan 2024 - 2028 (PDF)

Notice of Rights Under the Americans with Disabilities Act

In accordance with the requirements of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"), the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (“DCAS”) will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability in its services, programs, or activities.

If you need an accommodation to take part in a DCAS program, service or activity, please contact the DCAS Disability Services Facilitator as soon as possible and at least 72 hours before the scheduled event.

DCAS Disability Services Facilitator
Belinda French
1 Centre St, 17th Floor North, New York, NY 10007
Phone: 212-386-0256
Accessibility@dcas.nyc.gov

Effective Communication: DCAS will, upon request, provide appropriate aids and services leading to effective communication for qualified persons with disabilities so they can participate equally in DCAS programs, services, and activities. Aids may include qualified sign language interpreters, documents in Braille or other ways of making information and communications accessible to people who have speech, hearing, or vision impairments.

Modifications to Policies and Procedures: DCAS will make reasonable modifications to policies and programs to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all of its programs, services, and activities. For example, individuals with service animals are welcome in DCAS offices, even where pets are generally prohibited.

The ADA does not require DCAS to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services, or impose an undue financial or administrative burden.

DCAS will not charge individuals with disabilities or groups of individuals with disabilities for the cost of providing auxiliary aids/services or reasonable modifications of policy, such as retrieving items from locations that are open to the public but are not accessible to persons who use wheelchairs.

DCAS Grievance Procedure under the Americans with Disabilities Act

This grievance procedure may be used by any member of the public who wishes to file a grievance alleging discrimination on the basis of disability in the provision of services, activities, programs or benefits by DCAS. Members of the public may choose to go through formal or informal procedures depending on the nature of the incident and their own wishes. Employment related complaints for employees and applicants for employment seeking a reasonable accommodation are covered under New York City's Diversity and EEO Policy.

Informal Grievance Procedure

If a member of the public feels that they have been discriminated against based on their disability or wishes to inform the agency of a particular issue or experience, they can follow an informal procedure for reporting.

Please contact the DCAS Disability Services Facilitator (DSF) to discuss your concerns. The DSF will document any informal discussion of issue and resolutions that may follow.

Formal Grievance Procedure

If a member of the public has gone through an informal process and is not satisfied with the resolution, they can file a formal grievance. You do not have to go through an informal grievance procedure in order to file a formal grievance. The formal procedure is:

The grievance should be filed in writing containing information about the alleged discrimination including the name, address, and telephone number of the grievant, as well as the location, date, and description of the complaint or alleged violation of the ADA.
The written grievance should be submitted as soon as possible but no later than sixty (60) calendar days after the date of the alleged violation of the ADA to:
DCAS Disability Services Facilitator
Belinda French
1 Centre St, 17th Floor North, New York, NY 10007
Phone: 212-386-0256
Accessibility@dcas.nyc.gov
Within thirty (30) calendar days after receipt of the grievance, the facilitator or his or her designee will contact the grievant to discuss the grievance and any possible resolutions.
Within fifteen (15) calendar days of this contact with the grievant, the facilitator or his or her designee will respond to the grievance in writing or, where appropriate, in a format accessible to the grievant, such as large print, Braille, or audio recording. This response will explain DCAS’ position and offer options for substantive resolution of the grievance, where applicable.
All written grievances, appeals, and responses received in connection with a grievance made to DCAS will be retained for at least three (3) years.

Please note:

Alternative means of filing grievances, such as in-person interviews or an audio recording of the grievance may be made available upon request.

The resolution of any specific grievance will require consideration of varying circumstances, such as the specific nature of the disability; the nature of the access to the programs, services, activities, or facilities at issue and the essential eligibility requirements for participation; the health and safety of others; and the degree to which an accommodation would constitute a fundamental alteration to the program, service, activity or facility, or cause an undue hardship to DCAS. Accordingly, the resolution by DCAS of any one grievance does not constitute a precedent upon which DCAS is bound or upon which other complaining parties may rely.

Appeals Process

The grievant or their designee may appeal the agency’s decision within fifteen (15) calendar days after receipt of the response by mail to:
Commissioner Dawn M. Pinnock
NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services
1 Centre St, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10007

The appeal should be submitted in writing. Alternative means of filing an appeal, such as an in-person interview or an audio recording of the grievance may be made available for persons with disabilities upon request.

External Filing

Members of the public may also file ADA complaints with external agencies including:

New York City Commission on Human Rights: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/cchr/community/equal-access.page
Set-up and appointment to file a complaint:
Phone: 311 or 718-722-3131
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/cchr/enforcement/complaint-process.page
New York State Division of Human Rights: https://dhr.ny.gov/complaint#file
Grievance Form: https://dhr.ny.gov/site/default/files/pdf/complaint-form-fill-in.pdf
Email grievance to: complaints@dhr.ny.gov
Fax grievance to: 718-741-8322

Mail grievance to: Nearest Regional Office: https://dhr.ny.gov/contact-us

Contact for more information and Accessibility issues:
NYS Division of Human Rights ADA Coordinator
John Herrion, Director, Disability Rights
NYS Division of Human Rights
One Fordham Plaza, Fourth Floor
Bronx, NY 10458
Voice: 718-741-8332
TTY: 718-741-8300
e-mail: john.herrion@dhr.ny.gov
e-mail: accessibility@dhr.ny.gov
U.S. DOJ: https://www.ada.gov/filing_complaint.htm
Online submission: https://www.ada.gov/complaint/

Mail grievance to:
US Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Civil Rights Division
Disability Rights Section – 1425 NYAV
Washington, D.C. 20530

Fax grievance to: 202-307-1197

DCAS Website Accessibility Statement

The Department of Citywide Administrative Services is committed to ensuring its digital content is accessible to and usable by people with disabilities. We are continually improving the user experience for everyone and applying the relevant accessibility standards.

Conformance Status

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. Our digital content is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 level AA. Partially conformant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to this accessibility standard.

Feedback

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of our digital content. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility issues by using the Website Accessibility Feedback Form.

If you need assistance accessing a particular program or service, please reach out to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services Disability Services Facilitator at 212-386-0256 or
Accessibility@dcas.nyc.gov.

Assessment Approach

The Department of Citywide Administrative Services assesses the accessibility of its digital content through self-evaluation.

Date

This statement was created on 02/16/2023.