d the provisions of the Civil Rights Act. Where the Civil Rights Act generally prohibits discrimination only in hotels, motels, restaurants, gas stations and places of public entertainment, the ADA covers an exhaustive list of entities that includes such establishments as dry cleaners, doctors' offices, zoos, schools, and sports arenas (Newburger, 1994, p. 181).
Obstacles and Constraints to Governmental Intervention
Of relevance to the disability issues facing all organizations in the context of compliance with the ADA, the Act essentially extends the provisions of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1977 to private businesses, non government funded accommodations and services, and state and local governments (Jarrow, 1991, pp. 26-31). Thus, all organizations must now provide full and equal access to all individuals regardless of disability under the ADA.
Catalyst For Governmental Intervention
Legislation designed to help and protect persons with disabilities first appeared in 1920 with the passage of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act (Evolution, 1989, p. 290). This Act created a temporary grant program for use by states to help physically disabled persons enter the work force as productive employees. This grant program became permanent when the provisions of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act were incorporated into the Social Security Act in 1935. Additionally, the Social Security Act provided for the furnishing of medical and therapeutic services for physically crippled children. The Barden-LaFollette Act in 1943 extended rehabilitative medical and surgical services to the physically disabled, and broadened the vocational rehabilitation provisions of the Social Security Act to cover blind and mentally handicapped persons. The definition of handicapped persons within the context of rehabilitation was broadened substantially again in 1974 (Evolution, 1989, p. 290).
The first legislation prohibiting discrim...