Nassau/Suffolk Law Services (N.S.L.S.) is a non-profit, community based poverty law program that provides legal assistance in civil (non-criminal) matters to low income persons throughout Long Island.  The Protection and Advocacy for Individual Rights (P.A.I.R.) Project provides advice and representation to disabled individuals in issues involving civil and/or human rights.  The P.A.I.R. Project constantly strives to empower Long Island's disabled population with information and tools for self-advocacy.

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (A.D.A.) requires that every public entity with fifty (50) or more employees both designates a coordinator to oversee compliance with the A.D.A. and maintains a grievance procedure for resolution of A.D.A. concerns.  We realized that these A.D.A. requirements could enable the swift, efficient resolution of many problems faced by Long Island's disabled population

.As a result, N.S.L.S. set out to compile a complete list of all A.D.A. Title II compliance coordinators on Long Island.  With this list, we can refer individuals with A.D.A. concerns to the appropriate government employee for speedy resolution of a problem.   Additionally,   N.S.L.S.   collected   A.D.A.   Title   II Grievance  procedures.     These  procedures  afford  individuals the advantage of articulating complaints concerning the A.D.A. without filing a complaint in court or with an administrative agency, often lengthy procedures.  We have included a copy of the Town of Smithtown's A.D.A. Grievance Procedure, which is similar to that of most other municipalities, in this publication on pages 6 and 7 in order to acquaint our readers with the grievance process.  In addition, these procedures allow individuals to advocate on their own behalf without any formal legal training.

N.S.L.S. collected data for this publication by sending letters to all local governments on Long Island requesting the names of their A.D.A. Compliance Coordinators and copies of their grievance procedures.  Those municipalities that provided no response were then contacted with follow-up letters and telephone calls.

N.S.L.S. welcomes your comments and suggestions regarding this publication.  We encourage reproduction and distribution of this booklet and will provide this information in alternate formats at your request.  This information can also be found on our website at www.nslawservices.org.

Notes: *     Municipality has more than fifty (50) employees
   N/R  Did not respond to our repeated requests