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101.1 TANF MANUAL 10/18 Page 1a

101.1 NONDISCRIMINATION - Federal law and the Virginia Human Rights Act, Virginia Code §2.2- 3900 et seq., bar discrimination on the basis of age, race, sex, disability, religious creed, national origin, and political belief. The following civil rights laws apply in TANF:

1. The Age Discrimination Act of 1975, 42 U.S.C. §6101 et seq. 2. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. §794 3. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. §12101 et seq. 4. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §2000d et seq.

Virginia has established procedures for ensuring fair and equitable treatment of applicants and recipients of public assistance. The local department of social services must assure that no person shall, on the grounds of age, race, color, sex, disability, religious creed, national origin, or political belief be subjected to discrimination.

A. Key Principles - Compliance with these laws assures that equal opportunity exists for persons with disabilities to benefit from all aspects of public assistance programs, including access to the proper support services to enable such individuals to work and to keep their families healthy, safe and intact. There are two key principles underlying the bar on discrimination against people with disabilities:

1. Individualized Treatment. “Individualized treatment” requires that individuals with disabilities be treated on a case-by-case basis consistent with facts and objective evidence. Individuals with disabilities may not be treated on the basis of generalizations and stereotypes.

2. Effective And Meaningful Opportunity. “Effective and meaningful opportunity” means that individuals must be afforded meaningful access to the TANF program so that individuals with disabilities benefit from and have meaningful access to TANF to the same extent as individuals who do not have disabilities.

B. Legal Requirements - In order to implement these two principles, the following legal requirements must be met:

• Ensure equal access through the provision of appropriate services to people with disabilities. • Modify policies, practices and procedures to provide such equal access. • Adopt non-discriminatory methods of administration in the program.

C. Applicability to All Staff, Contractors, and Vendors at the State and Local Levels - In compliance with the federal laws, Virginia does not discriminate against people with disabilities in its TANF program. This applies to all Department of Social Services staff at both the state and local levels. It also applies to those agencies and entities with which we contract for services. State and county agencies must ensure that contractors and vendors do not subject recipients to discrimination.

TANF Transmittal 65