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Demand to Stop the Unlawful Discrimination Against Individuals with Disabilities and Request for Reasonable Accommodation Page 8 of 11 B. Request for Reasonable Modifications We request the reasonable modifications because your City's Homeless Programs ensure services and care to homeless individuals with disabilities in Santa Ana.13 The closure of the South Main Street Site would directly affect all individuals with mental health disabilities and prevent individuals from treating for and maintaining their mental health disabilities. Therefore, as stated, we ask for reasonable modifications that the Site remain open until the City continues services as requested." This request for reasonable modifications is made under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") and all other applicable state and federal laws. "A public entity shall make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability, unless the public entity can demonstrate that making the modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program or activity." 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(7)(i). A failure to provide such modifications is an independent basis for liability under the ADA. Id.; Wis. Cmty. Servs. V. City of Milwaukee, 465 F.3d 737, 751 (7th Cir. 2006). Thus, government entities may be required to modify neutral policies if they bear more heavily on people with disabilities than on others, even if there are insufficient grounds for a disparate treatment or a disparate impact claim. See Crowder v. Kitagay, 81 F.3d 1480, 1484-1485 (9th Cir. 1996); Fry v. Saenz, 98 Cal. App. 4th 256, 264 (2002). Moreover, reasonable modifications of a policy may address the poverty and homelessness arising out of a disability, not merely the impairment itself. See Giebeler v. M & B Associates, 343 F.3d 1143, 1150-51 (9th Cir. 2003) (holding that reasonable accommodations may adjust for the practical impact of a disability, including financial limitations, not merely the immediate manifestations of the impairment giving rise to the disability). This can include the obligation to alter policies that can be barriers to nondisabled persons as well. Id. 13 See fir. 1. 14 The request for reasonable modification Is the City (1) establishes a Santa Ana location that allows homeless Indlvlduals with disabllities to obtain treatment for their mental health disabilities, (2) provides a center and services to enable individuals with disabilities to maintain their symptoms and regular services for life -sustaining needs, such as nutrition, hygiene, and respite, and (3) connects individuals to permanent housing options.