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Gordon County Government Title II ADA Transition Plan ---PAGE BREAK--- INTRODUCTION Title II of the “Americans with Disabilities Accessibility Act” (ADA) is the title that applies to public entities like state and city governments. The Americans with Disabilities Act or 1990 is divided into a number of titles. Title II requires nondiscrimination of the basis of disability, in state and local government services. These “public entities” including departments, agencies, or other instrumentalities are required to comply with then ADA. Title II of the ADA therefore requires that all Programs, Services, and Activities of public entities, including those considered “instrumentalities” of the government, assure that individuals with disabilities have access to all of their: . Programs . Services . Activities Program accessibility means that, when viewed in its entirety, each program is readily accessible to, and usable by, individuals with disabilities. Program accessibility is necessary not only for individuals with needs related to mobility disabilities, but also to individuals with needs related to speech, cognitive, vision, hearing disabilities. The following are simply a few examples of barriers to accessibility: PHYSICAL BARRIERS . Parking . Path of Entry/Travel . Doors . Services Counters . Restrooms OTHER BARRIERS . Building Signage . Customer Communication and Interaction . Participation opportunities for events sponsored by Gordon County Gordon County facilities, programs, services, policies, practices and procedures will continue to be surveyed on an on-going basic, and the ADA Transition Plan may be revised to account for changes to Gordon County activities. The most recent survey of building with access was completed in 2013 and will be reviewed for changes/updates. ---PAGE BREAK--- PURPOSE The purpose of the Plan is to ensure that the citizens of Gordon County are provided full access to Gordon County’s programs, service, and activities in as timely a fashion as is reasonably possible. Gordon County’s elected officials and staff believe the ability to accommodate disabled persons is essential to good customer service, the quality of life Gordon County’s residents seek to enjoy and to effective governance. This Plan has been prepared after careful study of all Gordon County’s programs, services, and activities. STATEMENT OF ACCESSIBILITY Gordon County shall make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability, unless Gordon County can demonstrate that making the modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program, or activity. Gordon County will not place surcharges on individuals with disabilities to cover the cost involved in making programs accessible. PHYSICAL BARRIERS Gordon County owns a limited number of properties and does not have many options on locations from which it can offer programs, activities and services without incurring significant financial cost. Attached is a list of Gordon County properties & facilities: See next page for attachment: A self-evaluation/assessment of each of Gordon County’s physical facilities will be conducted in conjunction with the execution of this Plan. Deficiencies in the Gordon County’s physical features of facilities that diminish the ability of disabled persons to benefit from Gordon County programs, services, and activities will be identified. A correction plan or other course of action will be noted for each deficiency. ---PAGE BREAK--- BASELINE CONDITIONS Each Gordon County facilities will be reviewed in light of several “baseline” conditions, including: . Access to parking and entry into the facilities themselves; . Access to a clear and distinct path of travel; . Access to programs and services themselves; . Access to public areas and restrooms; and . Access to related amenities. CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING EXISTENCE OF IMPEDIMENT Criteria will be established to determine whether corrective action needs to be taken at a particular facility. The criterion includes, but is not limited to: . The nature of unique programs or services: Some facilities and sites are the only location that a particular program or service may be provided. . Facilities already in compliance with ADA accessibility guidelines: None of Gordon County’s facilities were constructed or underwent major renovations after the effective date of the ADA. . Ability to relocate programs from one facility to another accessible facility: Because Gordon County offers special programs and services at more than one location, consideration will be given to distribution of the special programs and services when viewed in their entirety; . Current state of accessibility: The current condition of each facility in terms of barriers already removed, or planned to be removed, will be identified by Gordon County. . Cost: The cost of alternatives to physical barrier removal versus the cost of an alternative corrective action plan; and Public use. . The population served by a particular program or service and whether the public can obtain service from an alternative Gordon County location. OTHER BARRIERS Gordon County recognizes not all barriers County’s programs, services, and activities are physical in nature. Other administrative barriers exist that must be overcome to provide complete government services to those who are disabled. ---PAGE BREAK--- COMMUNICATIONS Gordon County Plan incorporates steps to ensure that communications with people with disabilities are as effective as communications with others. Effective communication means that whatever is written or spoken must be as clear and understandable to people with disabilities as it is for people who do not have disabilities. There are also other types of communications that Gordon County handles, including web site communications, communications relating to Gordon County administration and open public meetings, and other communication regarding County’s programs, services, and activities, the County is in the process of: . Identifying local resources for auxiliary aids and services, . Identifying ways of producing documents in Braille or acquiring other aids or services, including software that can convert text into speech, and . Contacting qualified interpreter services and other providers so that Interpreters and other aids and services may be available on short notice. Gordon County conducts all public meetings in ADA accessible facilities, and to the extent feasible will make specific accommodations, where necessary, to ensure that meetings among residents and Gordon County Staff can be held within ADA accessible facilities. ACCOMMODATION OF DISABLED PERSONS IN GORDON COUNTY SPONSORED PROGRAMS Gordon County committed to allowing persons with disabilities to participate in County sponsored programs. This includes recreation opportunities, community forums and other events hosted or sponsored by Gordon County. Gordon County will achieve this goal by integrating all of the steps outlined above into these programs, including providing for effective communications and ensuring meetings and events are, to the extent possible, held in ADA-accessible parks and facilities. CONCLUSION Gordon County will continue to work towards timely remedies to barriers to access in an effort to ensure that the disabled citizens of Gordon County are given access to County’s programs, services, and activities.