The Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) shall ensure that no individual is excluded from participation, be denied the benefits, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under programs, services, and activities for which DFCS has responsibility on the grounds of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, or disability. 

DFCS shall not retaliate against, intimidate, threaten, coerce, or discriminate against any individual for the purpose of interfering with any right or privilege secured by Title VI, Section 504 or the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, or because the individual has made a complaint, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing. 

Under the ADA, as public entity the Division must take appropriate steps to ensure that communications with applicants, participants, members of the public and companions with disabilities are as effective as communications with others. The Division is required to make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability, unless the Division can demonstrate that making the modifications would result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of a service, program, or activity or undue financial and administrative burdens. 

The Division must therefore ensure that its policies, practices, and procedures adhere to the prohibition against discrimination as described in the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 as amended by the Interethnic Adoption Provisions of 1996 (MEPA-IEAP) and Section 471(1)(18) of Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, specifically Section 471(a)(18)(A)(B) which prohibits: 

• The denial of any individual the opportunity to become a foster or adoptive parent on the basis of race, color, or national origin of the parent or the child 

• The delay or denial of a placement of a child for adoption or into foster care on the basis of the race, color, or national origin of the adoptive or foster parent or child involved 

• The maintaining of any statutes, regulations, policies, procedures, or practices that, on its face, are a violation of this requirement However, compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 does not constitute a violation of the aforementioned requirements from Section 471(a)(18). DFCS shall ensure that all service recipients or potential service recipients who choose to file a complaint alleging discrimination are not denied their right to file a complaint. 

See Appendix A for additional information