DIRECTIVE:

Any person who believes that a driver/employee of FRS Transportation has committed an ADA violation, or there is an ADA violation concerning company vehicles, equipment or facilities, or a policy or procedure of our transportation service that violates ADA regulations, they may submit a complaint to the ADA Coordinator. An ADA complaint may be made  stopping by the office of FRS Transportation located at 313 Chillicothe Avenue, Hillsboro, Ohio during business hours, or submit by mail to FRS Transportation, ADA Coordinator, P.O. Box 502, Hillsboro, OH 45133 or email the complaint to the ADA Coordinator at dlucas@familyrecoveryservices.org  Once the complaint is received and receipt acknowledged by the desired response form chosen by the complainant on the ADA Complaint Form, the ADA Coordinator will start the investigation process. The ADA Coordinator will track the following dates of the complaint resolution process:

• Date of receipt

• Date of assignment for investigation

• Date of any additional information requested from complainant

• Date of resolution

• Date of communication to complaint

ADA Coordinator will immediately notify the ODOT representative for FRS Transportation.

ADA Coordinator has 21 days to investigate the complaint. If more information is needed to resolve the case, the ADA Coordinator will contact the complainant per the response form chosen by complainant on their ADA Complaint form. The complainant has 10 business days from the date of contact to provide any additional information requested by the ADA Coordinator. If the ADA Coordinator does not receive the additional information that the complainant was contacted about within 10 business days, the ADA Coordinator can administratively close the case. A case can be administratively closed, also, if the complainant no longer wishes to pursue their case.

The ADA Coordinator will investigate all parties involved in the ADA Complaint (driver, pertinent operations staff, complainant, other riders if they were witnesses) as well as other informational sources such as; written communications (paper and electronic), system data (location tracking, dispatch records, scheduler/dispatcher notes and input) and any vehicles, vehicle equipment or company facilities involved in the complaint.

Upon conclusion of the ADA Coordinator's investigation, if the ADA complaint is found to be valid proper steps will be taken to correct the cause of the violation.

1. Driver/Employee ADA Violation Steps:

   • Proper disciplinary steps will be taken

   • Retraining and counseling will be given to the driver/employee to prevent any future violations on the driver/employees part

   • Supervisor monitoring and follow-up make sure employee understands and properly carries out job responsibilities and that the ADA violation does not reoccur

   • More punitive actions will be taken after repeat offenses

2. Vehicle/Equipment/Facilities cause of an ADA violation:

   • All accessible vehicles and equipment must be kept in perfect working order through consistent and regular maintenance and repair

   • Vehicles/Equipment involved in an ADA violation will be placed out of service until a thorough inspection of the vehicle or accessible equipment has been performed by a certified mechanic for that vehicle type or equipment. Any necessary maintenance or repairs that are found will be completed before the vehicle is placed back in service

   • Operating Procedures will be reviewed and changes made if deemed necessary

   • Maintenance Procedures will be reviewed and changed if deemed necessary

   • Technical specifications reviewed to identify any needed changes

3. Policies and Procedures:

   • If any transportation related policies or procedures are found to be the cause of the ADA violation, those policies and procedures in question will be changed to be in compliance with all ADA regulations.

At the end of the 21 day period or before, the ADA Coordinator will issue the results of the ADA complaint investigation to the complainant, in the response form chosen by the complainant, as well as a copy of the investigation results to the ODOT representative for FRS Transportation. The steps required to resolve the ADA complaint if found to be valid, will be included in the Investigative Report of the ADA Coordinator to the complainant and to FRS Transportation's ODOT Representative.

All complaints of ADA noncompliance received will be kept on file for one year by FRS Transportation.

A record of all such ADA noncompliance complaints will be kept in a summary form for a period of five years by FRS Transportation.

For transportation related ADA matters a person may also file a complaint directly with the Ohio Department of Transportation, at ODOT Office of Transit, Attention: Compliance Officer, 1980 West Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43223.

A person may also file a complaint directly with the Federal Transit Administration, at FTA, Attention: ADA Compliance Officer, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.