Bio
Mr. Clifford Payne has worked to develop
the company's specialized skills and in-depth knowledge relevant to Titles II
& III compliance and Title I employment/reasonable accommodation issues,
including research surrounding the demographics and incidence of disability.
Beginning in 1993, Mr. Payne has attended numerous trainings provided by
the National Council on Independent Living, funded through the National
Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of
Education (NIDRR). In August, 1996, Mr. Payne was selected from a national
pool of applicants to participate in an advanced ADA training program offered
by the National Council on Independent Living National Training Project,
funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
This program extensively covered all aspects of Titles I, II, and III.
In April 1997, Mr. Payne was one of fourteen individuals chosen to attend a
3-day national training program offered by The National Council on
Independent Living, funded by the National Institute on Disability and
Rehabilitation Research. This training prepared participants to be Regional
ADA Trainers.
In October, 1998, Mr. Payne completed the necessary 40-hour course work to
become a Certified ADA Mediator through the Key Bridge Foundation. Mr. Payne
attended a special training session held March 5, 1999, by the Architectural
and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (the Access Board), concerning
the pending changes in the Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and
Facilities. This training was only available to staff members of the
Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers and selected
individuals.
Mr. Payne is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Pennsylvania ADA
Coalition. The Coalition is a clearinghouse for information about all aspects
of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and provides ADA trainers for
business and local government. The Coalition is funded by the Mid-Atlantic
Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center. Mr. Payne also served on
a special committee to offer comment on the proposed Statewide Building Code
for Pennsylvania, which provided information to the Pennsylvania House and Senate
committees drafting the legislation.
Mr. Payne's ADA training has been provided
under the auspices of the National Institute on Disability Research and
Rehabilitation (NIDRR), which was charged by Congress to operate the
Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers whose function is to
provide training and technical assistance about the Americans with
Disabilities Act. Other training has been provided by the Architectural and
Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (ATBCB), the Federal agency charged
with creating the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines.
The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) and the Disability Rights
and Education Defense Fund (DREDF) jointly provided Mr. Payne's
train-the-trainer training and other educational programs. These trainings,
all of which were 3 or 4 days in length, were funded by NIDRR.
The United States Department of Justice notes that there is no formal
accreditation for expertise in the Americans with Disabilities Act. Mr.
Payne's federally funded training has been the closest thing there is to
formal acknowledgment of expertise on the Americans with Disabilities Act
provided by the federal government.
The International Council of Building Officials (ICBO) does however provide
a certification program for a Building Accessibility/Usability Specialist.
As described by ICBO, "This certification is designed to show
satisfactory knowledge of relevant codes and standards necessary for
competence in the evaluation of both new construction and the retrofitting of
existing/adaptable buildings and associated plans examination. In general,
the scope of this category includes any structure except one and two-family
dwellings. Duties typically performed by a building code accessibility/usability
specialist include:
1. Examining architectural plans submitted for
new and retrofit
construction
for compliance with the appropriate accessibility/usability standards.
2. Assisting and advising the general public
in matters relating to building
code
accessibility/usability.
3. Inspecting new and retrofit installations
for compliance with the
appropriate
accessibility/usability standards.
4. Investigating complaints to determine if
there are any significant
deviations
from mandatory accessibility/usability standards.
5. Preparing written reports, issuing notices
to correct code violations and
testifying
in court regarding violations."
Clifford is certified as a Building
Accessibility/Usability Specialist by the International Council of Building
Officials.
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