Guidance on the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design

Section 35.151 -- Title II Regulation Section 35.151(k) The Department believes that the insuf- Detention and correctional facilities ficient number of accessible cells is, in part, due to the fact that most jails and prisons The 1991 Standards did not contain spe- were built long before the ADA became law cific accessibility standards applicable to and, since then, have undergone few altera- cells in correctional facilities. However, cor- tions that would trigger the obligation to pro- rectional and detention facilities operated by vide accessible features in accordance with or on behalf of public entities have always UFAS or the 1991 Standards. In addition, been subject to the nondiscrimination and the Department has found that even some program accessibility requirements of title new correctional facilities lack accessible II of the ADA. The 2004 ADAAG estab- features. The Department believes that the lished specific requirements for the design unmet demand for accessible cells is also and construction and alterations of cells due to the changing demographics of the in correctional facilities for the first time. inmate population. With thousands of prison- ers serving life sentences without eligibility for Based on complaints received by the parole, prisoners are aging, and the prison Department, investigations, and compliance population of individuals with disabilities and reviews of jails, prisons, and other detention elderly individuals is growing. A Bureau of and correctional facilities, the Department Justice Statistics study of State and Federal has determined that many detention and cor- sentenced inmates (those sentenced to more rectional facilities do not have enough acces- than one year) shows the total estimated sible cells, toilets, and shower facilities to count of State and Federal prisoners aged meet the needs of their inmates with mobility 55 and older grew by 36,000 inmates from disabilities and some do not have any at all. 2000 (44,200) to 2006 (80,200). William Inmates are sometimes housed in medical J. Sabol et al., Prisoners in 2006, Bureau units or infirmaries separate from the gen- of Justice Statistics Bulletin, Dec. 2007, at eral population simply because there are no 23 (app. table 7), available at http://bjs.ojp. accessible cells. In addition, some inmates usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=908 have alleged that they are housed at a more (last visited July 16, 2008); Allen J. Beck restrictive classification level simply because et al., Prisoners in 2000, Bureau of Justice no accessible housing exists at the appropri- Statistics Bulletin, Aug. 2001, at 10 (Aug. ate classification level. The Department’s 2001) (Table 14), available at bjs.ojp.usdoj. compliance reviews and investigations have gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=927 (last substantiated certain of these allegations. visited July 16, 2008). This jump consti- tutes an increase of 81 percent in prison- ers aged 55 and older during this period. 32 - Guidance on 2010 Standards: Title II Department of Justice