Definitions
Emotional Support Animal: “While Emotional Support Animals or Comfort Animals are often used as part of a medical treatment plan as therapy animals, they are not considered service animals under the ADA. These support animals provide companionship, relieve loneliness, and sometimes help with depression, anxiety, and certain phobias, but do not have special training to perform tasks that assist people with disabilities. Even though some states have laws defining therapy animals, these animals are not limited to working with people with disabilities and therefore are not covered by federal laws protecting the use of service animals. Therapy animals provide people with therapeutic contact, usually in a clinical setting, to improve their physical, social, emotional, and/or cognitive functioning.” (https://adata.org/guide/service-animals-and-emotional-support-animals)
Service Animal: “Service animals are defined by the ADA as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform task for people with disabilities. The task(s) performed by the dog must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.” (https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html)
Psychiatric Service Dogs: “Psychiatric service dogs are service dogs that provide assistance to people with psychiatric disabilities, such as severe depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Examples of work or tasks that psychiatric service dogs perform include: Providing safety checks or room searches for individuals with PTSD, blocking persons in dissociative episodes from wandering into danger (for example, traffic), and preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors, such as self-mutilation. “(https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/psychiatric-service-dogs-emotional-support-animals-access-public-places-settings.html)
“If someone's dog calms them when having an anxiety attack, does this qualify it as a service animal?
“It depends. The ADA makes a distinction between psychiatric service animals and emotional support animals. If the dog has been trained to sense that an anxiety attack is about to happen and take a specific action to help avoid the attack or lessen its impact, that would qualify as a service animal. However, if the dog's mere presence provides comfort, that would not be considered a service animal under the ADA.” (https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html)
Client use of Service Animals in H3 Offices
“Under the ADA, State and local governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations that serve the public generally must allow service animals to accompany people with disabilities in all areas of the facility where the public is normally allowed to go.”
“When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only limited inquiries are allowed. Staff may ask two questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability, and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform. Staff cannot ask about the person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task.”
“Allergies and fear of dogs are not valid reasons for denying access or refusing service to people using service animals. When a person who is allergic to dog dander and a person who uses a service animal must spend time in the same room or facility, for example, in a school classroom or at a homeless shelter, they both should be accommodated by assigning them, if possible, to different locations within the room or different rooms in the facility.” (https://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm, https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdcr/FAQs-05-03-17_560688_7.pdf)
Client use of Emotional Support Animals (ESA) in H3 Offices
If a client would like to bring in ESAs, they must provide in advance to their therapist a letter stating the animal is an ESA (or the H3 therapist has made a determination that the animal qualifies as an ESA).
A determination will then be made based on office climate.
Employee use of Emotional Support Animals or Service Animals in H3 Offices
If the employee has a disability, they may be allowed to bring a service animal, ESA or service animal in training to work as a reasonable accommodation.
If the reason the animal is needed is not clear, H3 reserves the right to request documentation to establish the existence of a disability and how the animal helps the individual perform his or her job.
If H3 deems the animal a reasonable accommodation, the animal will be allowed to accompany the employee to work first on a trial basis.
Both service and emotional support animals may be excluded from the workplace if they pose either an undue hardship or a direct threat in the workplace.
“Laws prohibit employment discrimination because of a disability. Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodation. Allowing an individual with a disability to have a service animal or an emotional support animal accompany them to work may be considered an accommodation. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces the employment provisions of the ADA (Title I), does not have a specific regulation on service animals.7 In the case of a service animal or an emotional support animal, if the disability is not obvious and/or the reason the animal is needed is not clear, an employer may request documentation to establish the existence of a disability and how the animal helps the individual perform his or her job.
Documentation might include a detailed description of how the animal would help the employee in performing job tasks and how the animal is trained to behave in the workplace. A person seeking such an accommodation may suggest that the employer permit the animal to accompany them to work on a trial basis.
Both service and emotional support animals may be excluded from the workplace if they pose either an undue hardship or a direct threat in the workplace.” (https://adata.org/guide/service-animals-and-emotional-support-animals)
Emotional Support Animal (ESA) Letter
If a client is requesting an ESA Letter from their therapist, the therapist should complete this evaluation to make a determination:
Emotional Support Animal Evaluation.pdf
Psychiatric Service Dog: Note: Per the ADA, a letter is not required for the client to take the psychiatric service dog in public.
However, if a client wishes to take the dog into a housing facility (that otherwise does not allow pets) or a commercial airline, a letter from a licensed mental health professional is likely required. (https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/psychiatric-service-dogs-emotional-support-animals-access-public-places-settings.html)