Promises to Keep: A Decade of Federal Enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act

June 27, 2000

SCOPE AND PURPOSE:

Promises to Keep looks at the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) enforcement activities from 1990 to 1999 of four key federal agencies: the Department of Justice, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Transportation, and the Federal Communications Commission. NCD’s findings reveal that while the Administration has consistently asserted its strong support for the civil rights of people with disabilities, the federal agencies charged with enforcement and policy development under ADA have, to varying degrees, been underfunded, overly cautious, reactive, and lacking any coherent and unifying national strategy. In addition, enforcement agencies have not consistently taken leadership roles in clarifying “frontier” or emergent issues.

This report provides a blueprint for addressing the shortcomings that have hindered ADA compliance and enforcement until now.