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Social Welfare Policy Paper: Americans With Disabilities Act

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Social welfare Policy Paper: Americans with Disabilities Act
As social workers we have the opportunity to work with different populations of people. The population that I have decided to pursue are individuals with mental illness. Legislation can have a major impact on my career as well as the individuals we serve. In this paper I am going to discuss the Americans with Disabilities Act and how it relates to Social work values.
The population
The population of individuals the Americans with Disabilities Acts seeks to serve is anyone who has a disability. Mackelprang (2013) described the current view of a person who is disabled as atypical characteristics in the individual. The Americans with Disabilities Act has a more elaborate definition and …show more content…

Through time different policies have been put in place to protect the human rights of individuals living with disabilities. Mackelprang (2013) pointed out that one policy that was put in place to protect individuals with disabilities is the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 that established federal and state veteran rehabilitation programs. Another policy to help individuals with disabilities is Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 which stated that federally funded buildings must have parking for individuals with disabilities. Furthermore, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 authorized free education and services for children with disabilities. More recently, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 seeks to help individuals who have a disability and experience discrimination in employment, public transportation, telecommunications and services (Mackelprang, …show more content…

Title II requires state and local government agencies to make these programs, services, and activities accessible by individuals with disabilities (ADA National Network, 2015). This includes planning and adjusting for individuals with disabilities. This could include public transportation such as bus services. Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 forbids discrimination in access to public services or accommodations ran by private entities (ADA National Network, 2015). These private entities can include hotels, clubs, movie theaters and much more (ADA National Network, 2015). This title makes sure these agencies are taking necessary steps to accommodate for all individuals including those with disabilities. This could include private transportation such as cabs.
Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires telephone and internet companies to have accommodations for individuals with disabilities to use a telephone (ADA National Network, 2015). Title V includes the rest of the accommodations for individuals with disabilities including insurance

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