The proposed guidance explains when it may be a reasonable accommodation for Personal Care Assistants (PCA) to receive free or discounted admission, ensuring that individuals with disabilities have equal opportunity to participate in public life. While the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) does not guarantee free admission for PCAs in every case, the Commission explains that it may be required in certain circumstances, such as admission to museums, amusement parks, outdoor events, or venues with accessible seating areas.
Under the PHRA, individuals seeking accommodations must demonstrate that they have a disability and that the requested accommodation is reasonable and necessary. Covered entities may only deny accommodations if they can show that providing them would create an undue hardship or fundamentally alter the nature of their program.
The guidance also clarifies what information entities may request when considering accommodation: While documentation of a disability and disability-related need may be requested if not readily apparent, entities may not require disclosure of a diagnosis or demand certification or licensing of the PCA.
How to provide feedback
The PHRC will accept public comments on the proposed guidance via an online survey from October 3 through 31, 2025. Individuals, advocacy groups, businesses, and other stakeholders are encouraged to participate. Before submitting comments, please access the guidance here and read it in full.
In addition, a virtual public meeting to solicit feedback on the guidance will be held November ??, & ???. To attend, please register in advance for either the afternoon session [add link] or evening session [add link]. If you would like to be heard at this meeting, we ask that you indicate that when you register so that we can allocate enough time for each speaker. We anticipate that each speaker will be allocated up to minutes to speak.
