SR-121085-6I
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C/ED:NS:BJS:AP:sh
CouncIl MeetIng December 10, 1985
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DEe 1 0 1985
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Santa MonIca, CalIfornIa
TO: Mayor and CIty CouncIl
FROM: CIty Staff
SUBJECT: ReCOITill~ndatlon to Adopt Federal 504 GrIevance Procedure
INTRODUCTION
ThIS report tranSffilts lnfor~atlon concernIng a proposed CIty
Grievance Procedure as reqUIred by the Federal OffIce of Revenue
SharIng and other Federal DepartThents' 504 RegulatIons. It
contal ns a br lef explana tl on of the requ 1 renLen ts, tranSIT,l ts the
proposed Gr levance Procedure, and recoITLIl,ends that CouncIl adopt
thIS Grievance Procedure.
BACKGROUND
Pursuant to SectIon 504 of the 1973 RehabIlitatIon Act, as
amended, the Federal OffIce of Revenue SharIng, as well as other
Federal OffIces and Departments, has placed reqUIrements upon all
reCIpIents
of
Federal
funds
relatIng
to
dIsabIlIty
d I ser In,l na tl on.
Included In the regulatIons are adn,lnlstratlve,
progranUT,a tIC and structur al requI renlents.
An InformatIon Item to Council dated January 10, 1985 summarlzed
the
above
rr,a nda ted
requ 1 reo,en ts
IncludIng
those
In
the
adn.l nl stra t 1 ve ca tegory.
One of the adoil n1 stra t1 ve order s was
for ree Ip 1ents to adopt a 504 Gr levance Procedure.
Our i ng the
past year, staff put In place a teIT~orary, Informal 504 GrIevance
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prepared for possIble
COIT,plalnts.
Subsequently, staff contlnued to research avaIlable naterlals and
developed a forThal 504 GrIevance Procedure for the CIty'S
adoptIon.
The CIty Attorney's OffIce has revIewed thIS document
(see AttachIT,ent I) along WI th proper adoptIon procedures.
DISCUSSION
Many of the regulatIons for SectIon 504 reqUIre recIpients to
adopt grIevance procedures that Incorporate approprIate due
process standards and that provIde for the pron~t and equItable
resolutIon of cOITtplalnts allegIng any actIon prohIbIted by the
regulatIons.
The grIevance procedure requlreITLent was Included to help speed
SectIon 504 lIl,plenLentatIon, thereby effICIently establIshIng a
s ys ten,
to
protect
dIsabled
persons'
CIVIl
rIghts.
The
regulatIons do not reqUIre that grIevance procedures be exhausted
before recourse IS sought on a federal level.
However, IT.ost
federal agenCIes belIeve that It IS desireable and effIcient, In
ITlany cases, for corr.pl al nants to seek fIrst resolu tlon of theI r
complaInts
and disputes at the
local
level and therefore
encourage CItIes to develop and use grIevance procedures.
The
CIty
has
an
employee-orIented,
Job-related
grIevance
procedure WhICh IT,ay be used by persons' WIshIng to resolve a
dIsabIlIty dlSCrlrr.lnatlon cOITlplaInt related to CIty enLployrrLent.
In addItIon, the attached grIevance procedure IS to be used by
the publIC for (but not lImIted to) the follOWIng:
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o prograrriTI,atic problerrls (progranls that are Cl ty sponsored
such as recreatIon classes, publIC hearIngs, and lIbrary
book revIews).
o serVIce problen,s (serVIces such as water bill payn.ents,
beach parkIng passes, and bUIldIng code aSSIstance).
o benef 1 t-rel ated problen.s (benef i ts such as an en,ployee
associatIon outings).
Every atten,pt wIll be nlade to ensure that the City'S GrIevance
Procedure accon.n,odates all persons WIth dIsabIlIties, Including
those WIth n.obIllty, hearing, vIsual and learnIng lInpalrTI,ents,
and that Interpreters, brallled, large prInt or taped n.aterlals
are provIded If needed at any stage of the process.
ThIS
InformatIon IS Included on a forffi that wIll be gIven to a
con~laInant to fIll out In order to begIn the grlevance process.
BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT
ThIS actIon does not have a prOJected budget or fIscal Impact.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recon.nlends that CouncIl adopt the attached 504 GrIevance
Procedure to p,eet SectIons 51.52{a) (b) 51.52 (b) (2), and 57.55 of
the OffIce of Revenue SharIng 504 RegulatIons and to meet other
Federal OffIces' and Departffient's S@4 RegulatIons.
Prepared by: Barbara StInchfIeld, Con.nlunIty Developn,ent Manager
Audrey Parker, OffIce for the DIsabled
Departrr,ent of Con,n,unI ty & Econon,Ic Developnlent
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AttachIllent I
City of Santa MonIca
SECTION 504 GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
The CIty of Santa MonIca has adopted an Internal grIevance
procedure provl dl ng for proIT,pt and equ 1 table resolutIon of con,-
plaInts allegIng any actlon prohIbIted by Revenue SharIng regula-
tIons ImplementIng sectIon 504 of the RehabilitatIon Act of 1973,
as all,ended (29 U.S.C. 794). SectIon 504 states, In part, that
"no otherWIse qualIfIed handIcapped IndIVIdual... shall, solely
by reason of hIS handIcap, be excluded fro~ the partICIpation In,
be denIed the benefIts of, or be subJected to dIscrImInation
under any program or actIVIty receIVIng federal fInanCIal
assIstance....."
ComplaInts should be addressed to or made verbally by ap-
pOlntIl.ent to:
Coordinator
OffIce for the DIsabled
1685 MaIn Street
Santa MonIca, Ca. 90401
who has been deSIgnated to coordInate SectIon 504 complIance
efforts.
1. A complaInt should be flIed In wrItIng or verbally, contaIn
the name and address of the person fIlIng It, and brIefly
describe the alleged VIolation of the regulations.
2. A con.plalnt should be flIed WIthIn 10 days after the con,-
plalnant becomes aware of the alleged VIolatIon. (Process-
Ing of allegatIons of dlSCrlThlnatIon which occurred before
thIS grIevance procedure was In place WIll be conSIdered on
a case-by-case baSIS.)
3. An InvestigatIon, as ~ay be approprIate, shall follow a
fIlIng of a complaInt. The InvestIgatIon shall be conducted
by the CoordInator of the CIty'S OffIce for the DIsabled.
These rules conten.plate 1 nforn,a 1 bu t thorough 1 nvestiga-
tlons, affordIng all Interested persons and theIr represen-
tatives, If any, an opportunIty to SUb~lt eVIdence relevant
to a complaInt.
Under the Revenue SharIng regulatIons, the CIty of Santa
MonIca need not process cOIttplalnts froIl. applIcants for eIlI-
ployn,ent or fron, applIcants for adn,lSSIon to post-secondary
educatIonal InstItutIons.
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4. A wrItten deterffilnatIon as to the valIdIty of the con~lalnt
and a descrIptIon of the resolutIon, If any, shall be Issued
by the CoordInator of the CIty'S OffIce for the DIsabled and
the DIrector of the CIty'S Con~~nIty and EconO~IC Develop-
rr,ent Departn.ent. A copy shall be forwarded to the cOmplalrl-
ant no later than 30 days after Its fIlIng.
5. The CoordInator of the CIty's OffIce for the DIsabled shall
maIntaIn the files and records of the CIty of Santa MonIca
relatIng to the con~laInts flIed.
6. The complaInant can request a reconSIderatIon of the case In
instances where he or she IS dIssatIsfIed WIth the resolu-
tion. The request for reconSIderatIon should be fuade WIthIn
10 days to the CIty Manager's OffIce.
7. The rIght of a person to a pron~t and equitable resolutIon
of the con.pla lnt f lIed hereunder shall not be In.pai red by
the person's purSUIt of other remedIes such as the fIlIng of
a SectIon 504 co~plaInt WIth the responSIble federal depart-
ffient or agency. UtIlizatIon of thIS grIevance procedure IS
not a prerequ ISl te to the pur SUI t of other renLedles.
8. These rules shall be construed to protect the substantive
rIghts of Interested persons, to meet approprIate due pro-
cess standards, and to assure that the CIty of Santa MonIca
COThplleS WIth SectIon 504 and IThplementlng regulatIons.
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