DJ XX

XX
XX
XX
Lakeland, Florida XX

Dear XX

This is in response to your letter regarding the application

of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) to a life-
care non-profit retirement home sponsored by a church.

The ADA authorizes the Department of Justice to provide

technical assistance to individuals and entities that have rights
or responsibilities under the Act. Pursuant to that authority,
this letter provides informal guidance to assist you in
understanding the ADA. However, this technical assistance does
not constitute a legal interpretation of the statute, and it is
not binding on the Department.

Your letter notes that the retirement home is sponsored by a

church. Title III of the ADA exempts religious organizations or
entities controlled by religious organizations from coverage. If
the retirement home is operated by a religious organization, it
would be exempt from the requirements of title III.

Your letter specifically questions whether the retirement

home's policy of excluding wheelchairs from the common use dining
room violates the ADA. Title III of the ADA prohibits
discrimination on the basis of disability by places of public
accommodation. Strictly residential facilities are not places of
public accommodation under the ADA. Instead, such facilities may
be required to meet nondiscrimination and accessibility
requirements under the Fair Housing Act. However, the retirement
home addressed by your letter may be covered by the ADA if it
constitutes a social service center establishment. The home may
be considered a social service center establishment if it
provides a significant enough level of social services such as
medical care, meals, transportation, and counseling. No one of
these services will automatically trigger ADA coverage. Rather,
the determination of whether an entity provides a significant
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01-03490

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enough level of social services will depend on the quantity,

quality, and combination of these services.

If the retirement home is a social service center

establishment covered by the ADA, it may be required to
reasonably modify its policies regarding the services it provides
in order to afford those services to individuals with
disabilities, unless it can demonstrate that such policy
modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the
services. 28 C.F.R. S 36.302. Therefore, the dining room may
need to modify its policy of excluding wheelchairs. In addition,
the dining room may be required to remove physical barriers to
wheelchair access to the extent that such barrier removal is
readily achievable, i.e., easily accomplishable and able to be
carried out without much difficulty or expense.

I hope this information is helpful to you.

Sincerely,

John L. Wodatch
Chief
Public Access Section

01-03491