DBTAC: SOUTHEAST ADA CENTER A Project of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University
The Southeast ADA Leadership Network
Celebrates 21 Years of Facilitating Voluntary Compliance of the Americans with Disabilities Act 
July 26, 2011 marks the 21st anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  The Americans with Disabilities Act and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 give civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion.  The ADA and ADAAA guarantee equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities to access businesses, employment, transportation, State and local government programs and services, and telecommunications.
The DBTAC: Southeast ADA Center (Southeast DBTAC) is one of ten regional information centers on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that facilitate voluntary compliance via a broad and diverse network of partners across the Southeast.  The Center consists of a regional office, located in Atlanta, Georgia together with State and Local ADA Affiliates in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.  The Southeast DBTAC is a project of the Burton Blatt Institute: Centers of Innovation on Disability at Syracuse University (BBI).
The Affiliates—community-based organizations that work closely with the regional office to build local ADA knowledge and capacity—form the Southeast Region’s ADA Leadership Network.  The ADA Leadership Network strengthens each state’s ongoing efforts to facilitate voluntary compliance with the ADA by supporting local ADA activities and by collaborating with groups and individuals representing disability, business, and government entities dedicated to informing their constituents, people with disabilities, and the general public about the ADA.  
Since 1991, the Southeast DBTAC and its ADA Leadership Network have worked together to promote voluntary compliance with the ADA.  Some significant accomplishments achieved during this past year include:
•	Launching the TaxAccess Pilot project which was designed to develop a community for Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) programs in six (6) cities in the Southeastern United States The TaxAccess Community is as a safe zone in which to ask access and accommodation questions and to find helpful resources specific to tax coalitions. The TaxAccess Community focuses on disability issues including access to facilities, programs, and customer service http://sedbtac.org/taxaccess/; 
•	Facilitating a four-part, free webinar series sharing practical methods, experience, & success for promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace;
•	Continuing a five-year award from Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to operate the Region IV (Southeast) Training and Technical Assistance Center (TACE). The TACE Center covers the following states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The TACE mission is to provide technical assistance (TA) and continuing education (CE) activities to meet the training and organizational development needs of State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies and their partners. The TACE Region IV Center is a partnership of the Burton Blatt Institute, the Southeast DBTAC, and local, regional, and national leaders and experts.   For more information, visit: tacesoutheast.org. 
•	Offering an 8 week moderated version of the popular online course “ADA Basic Building Blocks” to vocational rehabilitation professionals and others who are interested in obtaining CEU and CRCC credits;
•	Publishing new information on the project’s website including: 
?	TIPS—Technical Information Perspectives and Solutions—a new series of publications that provides answers to challenging and often unique ADA hot line inquiries answered by the Southeast DBTAC Technical Assistance Team  http://www.sedbtac.org/ada/training/trainingTemplate.php?ref=FS 
?	CASE LAW ALERTS—easy to read summaries of ADA-related litigation in the Southeast Region’s circuit courts http://www.sedbtac.org/legalissues.php?idpg=14 
•	Continuing data collection activities as part of an innovative research project to reduce and eliminate barriers to employment and economic self-sufficiency and to increase the civic and social participation of Americans with disabilities. 
As the Southeast DBTAC and the ADA Leadership Network reflect on 21 years of notable accomplishments in the advancement of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we recognize the importance of continued efforts and look forward to positive changes in the future. A new year brings fresh and exciting challenges, new venues for conducting training programs and disseminating information, additional research to advance the inclusion of people with disabilities into all aspects of life, and new opportunities for increasing awareness and access for people with disabilities.
For more information about the Southeast DBTAC, the ADA Leadership Network, and/or the ADA, contact us toll free at 1-800-949-4232 (voice/tty) or send an email with your request to sedbtacproject@law.syr.edu. 
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1419 Mayson Street ? Atlanta, GA  30324
(404) 541-9001 ? (800) 949-4232 (v/tty) ? (404) 541-9002 (Fax)
sedbtacproject@law.syr.edu ? www.sedbtac.org
Funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education #H133A060094