HOW TO OBTAIN FURTHER ASSISTANCE/INFORMATION

If you would like more information about FAPE and the other laws enforced by the Office for Civil Rights, how to file a complaint, or how to obtain technical assistance, you may want to contact the enforcement office that serves your state or territory. For further information, please contact our Customer Service Team at the toll free number: 1-800-421-3481. You may also visit our web site at http://www.ed.gov/ocr/.

504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. 794.

[2] Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12131 et seq., prohibits state and local governments from discriminating on the basis of disability. ED enforces Title II in public elementary and secondary education systems and institutions, public institutions of higher education and vocational education (other than schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and other health-related schools), and public libraries. The requirements regarding the provisions of a free appropriate public education (FAPE), specifically described in the Section 504 regulations, are incorporated in the general non-discrimination provisions of the Title II regulation. Because Title II does not change the requirements of FAPE, this pamphlet will refer only to Section 504.

[3] The Section 504 regulation uses the term "handicap." However, Congress has amended the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and has replaced the term "handicap" with the term "disability." The terms "handicap" and "disability" have the same meaning. This pamphlet will only use the term disability.

[4] A recipient responsible for providing FAPE may not require parents to use private insurance proceeds to pay for required services where the parents would incur financial loss.