Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Transportation Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act”.
Transportation Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a program to provide grants to protection and advocacy systems to advocate for individuals with disabilities to access transportation, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings
The Congress finds the following:
Transportation is significantly more difficult for Americans with disabilities. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 3.6 million Americans with travel-limiting disabilities do not leave their homes because of a lack of accessible transportation.
According to the American Association of People with Disabilities, people with disabilities are twice as likely to struggle with procuring transportation than those who are not disabled, which limits access to medical care, employment, and everyday activities.
The Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (in this section referred to as the “DD Act”) assures that “individuals with developmental disabilities and their families participate in the design of and have access to needed community services, individualized supports, and other forms of assistance that promote self-determination, independence, productivity, and integration and inclusion in all facets of community life”.
The DD Act requires States and territories to establish a protection and advocacy system that protects and advocates the rights of individuals with disabilities.
Even though the Americans with Disabilities Act requires all State and local governments to make public services accessible for people with disabilities, protection and advocacy systems continuously receive reports of ineffective and inadequate services from county and city paratransit services. These systems work to address these issues by providing legally based advocacy resources for those impacted.
In 2017, protection and advocacy systems received over 550 individual transportation related cases and in 2020 received over 2000 individual cases.
Currently, there are 9 established protection and advocacy programs administered by several Federal agencies, including the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Social Security Administration.
There is currently no similar program administered by the Department of Transportation to ensure that protection and advocacy systems have dedicated funding to serve individuals who face issues related to transportation access.
Sec. 3 Establishment of grant program to improve access to transportation
Establishment— The Secretary of Transportation shall establish a program to award grants to protection and advocacy systems to advocate for individuals with disabilities to access transportation.
Grants—
Award— In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary shall select 10 protection and advocacy systems to receive a grant under this section.
Grant term— The term of a grant awarded under this section shall be 5 fiscal years.
Amount— During the 5-year term of a grant awarded under this section, the Secretary shall distribute $110,000 for each fiscal year to the recipient of such grant.
Carryover— Any amount distributed under paragraph (3) to a grant recipient for a fiscal year that remains unobligated at the end of a such fiscal year shall remain available to such recipient for obligation during the subsequent fiscal year.
Sunset; termination of grants—
Sunset— The authority of the Secretary to award grants under this section shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
Termination of grants—
In general— The Secretary may terminate a grant awarded under this section before the end of the grant term under subsection (b)(2) if the Secretary determines there is good cause to terminate such grant, including—
misuse of grant funds; and
redesignation of the recipient of such grant pursuant to section 143(a)(4) of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000.
Award of new grant— If the Secretary terminates a grant under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall award a new grant under this section to a different protection and advocacy system.
Authority— A protection and advocacy system that receives a grant awarded under this section shall have the same authorities, including access to records, as such system would have under subtitle C of title I of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15041 et seq.).
Selection— In selecting the protection and advocacy systems to receive grants under this section, the Secretary shall—
select at least 3 protection and advocacy systems located in States in which at least 1 persistent poverty county (as defined by the Secretary of the Treasury) is located; and
select at least 3 protection and advocacy systems that are located in States in which—
the percentage of individuals aged 65 or older is greater than 18 percent; and
the percentage of individuals with a disability is greater than 16 percent.
Reports— Each recipient of a grant under this section shall submit to an office designated by the Secretary an annual report documenting the work such grant recipient has done to address the barriers to accessing transportation for individuals with disabilities.
Program income— Any income generated from advocating for individuals with disabilities to access transportation with a grant under this section for a fiscal year shall—
remain available to the grant recipient until expended and be considered an addition to the grant; and
only be used to provide advocacy to enable individuals with disabilities to access transportation.
Training grant—
In general— During each fiscal year in which a protection and advocacy system advocates for individuals with disabilities to access transportation with a grant under this section, the Secretary shall award a grant to 1 eligible organization to provide training and technical assistance to such protection and advocacy system.
Grant amount— Each grant awarded under paragraph (1) shall be in the amount of $100,000.
Eligible organization defined— In this subsection, the term “eligible organization” means a national organization with extensive knowledge of protection and advocacy systems.
Authorization of Appropriations— There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this Act $1,200,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2028.
Definitions— In this Act:
Protection and advocacy system— The term “protection and advocacy system” means a protection and advocacy system established under subtitle C of title I of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15041 et seq.) that has—
demonstrated monitoring experience; and
demonstrated knowledge of accessibility barriers facing individuals with disabilities in accessing transportation.
State— The term “State” means the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory or possession of the United States.