Public Review: Title VI and ADA Plans

The Town of Kennard invites residents and interested members of the public to review its proposed Title VI Implementation Plan and ADA Transition Plan.

These plans describe how the Town works to provide fair access to its programs, services, activities, meetings, communications, and facilities. This web page presents the plans as readable text so visitors are not required to open a PDF.

Need help or another format? Contact the Town Clerk's office at (765) 785-2331, clerk@kennardin.com, or Town of Kennard, 100 Main St, Kennard, IN 47351. The Clerk's office will route the request to the appropriate Town official.

Proposed for adoption September 24, 2026

Title VI Implementation Plan

The plan is part of the Town's continuing effort to meet and exceed the minimum compliance requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 49 CFR Part 26, and related nondiscrimination laws and regulations. It provides transparency, guidance, and accountability for the Town's Title VI program.

Nondiscrimination notice and policy

The Town of Kennard values each person's civil rights and seeks to provide equal opportunity and equitable service. No person will be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under a Town program or activity on the basis of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, national origin, religion, income status, or limited English proficiency.

The Town will make every effort to ensure nondiscrimination in all programs and activities, whether or not a particular program or activity receives federal funding. The Town also will take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access for people with limited English proficiency and will include required Title VI language when it distributes federal-aid funds to a subrecipient.

Administration and oversight

The Town has not yet identified the individuals who will serve as its Title VI Coordinator and ADA Coordinator. Until those appointments are made, the Town Clerk's office is the public contact and will route questions, requests, and complaints to the appropriate Town official. The designated coordinators will initiate and monitor compliance activities, prepare reports, receive complaints, and perform other responsibilities required by federal regulations. The Town Council adopts the plans by resolution, and the plans will be reviewed annually and updated as needed.

Program monitoring and data

The Town collects information appropriate to each program area to evaluate compliance and identify possible unequal or disproportionate effects. Current records include:

  • Complaints received, logged, processed, and investigated;
  • Environmental justice analyses and reports for federal-aid projects; and
  • Meeting minutes and discussions related to Title VI.

Future collection may include limited-English-proficiency reports, voluntary public-involvement surveys, Title VI training records, and program-specific information used to evaluate disparate or disproportionate impacts.

How to file a Title VI complaint

A complaint may initially be submitted by mail or email through the Town Clerk's office for routing to the designated Title VI Coordinator or appropriate Town official. A signed original must be mailed to officially begin the complaint process. A person with a disability may request an alternative format. Use of a Town complaint form is not required.

A complete complaint must be written and signed and include:

  • The complainant's full name and address;
  • The full name and address of the person, agency, department, or program alleged to have discriminated; and
  • A description of the alleged discriminatory act, including the date it occurred.

Complaints should be filed within 180 days of the alleged act. The Coordinator reviews jurisdiction and completeness, investigates appropriate complaints, notifies the parties, consults the Town Attorney and Town Council, and provides notice of the outcome. A person dissatisfied with the result will be advised of the right to appeal; an appeal must be filed within 180 days after the Town's final resolution.

Environmental justice

The Town is committed to avoiding, minimizing, or mitigating disproportionately high and adverse health, environmental, social, and economic effects on minority and low-income populations; ensuring full and fair participation by affected communities in transportation decisions; and preventing the denial, reduction, or significant delay of benefits.

Limited English proficiency and language assistance

The Town follows Executive Order 13166 and U.S. Department of Transportation guidance to provide meaningful access to eligible people who have limited English proficiency. The Town evaluates:

  1. The number or proportion of people with limited English proficiency who may be served or encountered;
  2. How frequently those individuals come into contact with Town programs;
  3. The nature and importance of the program, activity, or service; and
  4. Available resources and the cost of language assistance.

Reasonable language assistance may include oral interpretation, written translation of vital documents, bilingual assistance, or other appropriate support. The Town will monitor community needs, train staff, notify the public that assistance is available, and update its approach when circumstances change.

Training, public involvement, and annual review

Town officials and employees whose duties affect the public will receive appropriate Title VI and accessibility information. The Town seeks meaningful public involvement through accessible meetings, notices, outreach, voluntary demographic information when appropriate, and reasonable accommodations. Each year, the Town will review complaints, demographic information, public participation, language needs, training, and program areas for potential discriminatory effects.

Title VI assurances

The Town provides federal assurances that its programs, agreements, property interests, contracting activities, and federally assisted projects will comply with Title VI and related nondiscrimination authorities. These obligations extend to appropriate successors, subrecipients, contractors, and other participants as required by law.

Proposed for adoption September 24, 2026

ADA Transition Plan

The Americans with Disabilities Act protects people with disabilities and provides equal access in employment, public accommodations, transportation, state and local government services, and telecommunications. The Town of Kennard is a Title II public entity and must make its programs, services, and activities accessible when viewed in their entirety.

The Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan document the Town's continuing commitment to accessible policies, programs, services, communications, meetings, and facilities. This is a living plan that will be updated as barriers are identified, removed, or changed.

How the ADA applies to the Town

The Town is covered by Title I, concerning employment, and Title II, concerning public programs, services, and activities. Qualified people with disabilities may not be excluded from participation in or denied the benefits of Town services. The Town will make reasonable modifications and provide appropriate aids or services unless doing so would fundamentally alter a program or create an undue burden under applicable law.

Kieser Consulting Group LLC is assisting the Town with a comprehensive evaluation based on the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Facility-specific evaluations will identify barriers, recommend corrections, assign priorities, and support future scheduling and budgeting.

Self-evaluation and program access

The Town's complete Title II ADA Self-Evaluation may be requested from the ADA Coordinator and is available in alternative formats. The Town's review addresses the following areas:

  1. Transition planning: Maintain a list of physical barriers and methods for removal, with work scheduled and funded according to available resources and legal requirements.
  2. Program access: Identify and modify eligibility rules, policies, and practices that limit participation by qualified people with disabilities.
  3. Communication: Give employees guidance for effective, respectful communication with people with disabilities.
  4. Auxiliary aids and services: Establish procedures and resources for aids such as interpreters or note takers when needed for effective communication.
  5. Emergency preparedness: Include accessibility in emergency planning, response, and staff training.
  6. Respectful language: Use person-first and otherwise respectful language in Town publications and training.
  7. Historic properties: Apply appropriate accessibility requirements if the Town operates a program in a governed historic building; the current plan reports no such Town program.
  8. Fundamental alteration or undue burden: Base any determination on all available municipal resources, document it in writing, and obtain approval from the designated ADA Coordinator or appropriate Town official.
  9. Public meetings: Hold meetings at Town Hall, post nondiscrimination notices, provide reasonable accommodations upon request, and pursue assistive listening devices.
  10. Employment: Prevent disability discrimination throughout recruitment, hiring, compensation, training, advancement, leave, benefits, and other employment practices.
  11. Construction and renovation: Review projects for compliance with federal accessibility requirements, including the 2010 ADA standards and applicable public-right-of-way guidance.
  12. Staff training: Provide continuing accessibility information to new staff, public-facing staff, supervisors, emergency responders, and meeting organizers.
  13. Former alcohol and drug users: Protect rehabilitated individuals who are no longer engaging in illegal drug use, as required by the ADA.

Facilities, sidewalks, curb ramps, and action items

The Town will arrange for a future sidewalk and curb-ramp inventory. Digital mapping will identify noncompliant locations and help the Town prioritize repairs on an annual, ongoing basis. The completed mapping will be available from the ADA Coordinator.

Facility assessments planned for 2026-27 will identify physical barriers and recommended corrections. Each item will be prioritized under applicable ADA requirements, assigned a projected completion date and responsible person, and recorded when completed. Assessments will be available to the public for three years and in alternative formats upon request.

Action items will be maintained as the Town completes its evaluations. Work will be prioritized and scheduled based on accessibility needs, legal standards, available funding, and the Town's responsibility to provide access to programs as a whole.

Public involvement

The Town will invite the public to identify known areas that limit access to Town programs, services, or activities. Public comments will be recorded and considered as part of the Transition Plan. The current public hearing is scheduled for September 24, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at Kennard Town Hall, 100 Main St, Kennard, IN 47351.

Comments, requests, and accommodations

Comments, additions, or suggestions about either plan may be directed to:

Town Clerk's Office
Interim contact for Title VI and ADA matters
Town of Kennard
100 Main St
Kennard, IN 47351
Phone: (765) 785-2331
Email: clerk@kennardin.com

To request a reasonable accommodation, auxiliary aid, language assistance, the ADA Self-Evaluation, a facility assessment, or another accessible format, please contact the Clerk's office. The Clerk's office will route the request to the appropriate Town official. The Town will make reasonable efforts to accommodate requests.