By Lance Robertson, ACL Administrator and
Assistant Secretary for Aging
Throughout the month of October, our nation has been
celebrating National
Disability Employment Awareness Month and the many
contributions of workers with disabilities.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of NDEAM and the 30th
anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA). These milestones offer us an opportunity to
recognize the great progress we have made towards advancing competitive
integrated employment for people with disabilities and to reflect on the
work that still needs to be done to knock down the barriers that continue
to keep far too many people with disabilities out of the workforce.
Research and on-the-ground implementation of evidence-based
approaches and interventions are critical to knowing what works, arming
the field with the information needed to address the employment
disparities experienced by people with disabilities.
On Wednesday, ACL's National Institute on Disability,
Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR)
led a virtual NDEAM
celebration focused on the past, present, and future of
disability employment research.
NIDILRR currently administers around 47 grants
that focus on employment. These range from postdoctoral grants
and small business innovation research grants to Rehabilitation Research and
Training Centers and Rehabilitation Engineering
Research Centers. NIDILRR's work includes both
cross-disability research and research on increasing opportunities for
people with specific types of disabilities—such as psychiatric
disabilities, intellectual and developmental disabilities, physical
disabilities, and sensory disabilities.
This week’s event featured lessons and take-aways from
decades of research and touched on many topics, including the importance
of substantive early work experiences, the role of bias and expectations
in employment outcomes, the shift from one-size-fits-all to
individualized work supports, and how different policies can expand or
hinder employment opportunities.
In addition to this event, ThinkWork! at the University of
Massachusetts Boston Institute for Community Inclusion hosted a
webinar earlier this month to highlight findings from a
five-year NIDILRR grant on advancing employment opportunities for people
with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Investments in research and translating knowledge into
action are just some of the ways ACL is working to close the employment
gap for people with disabilities.
ACL is also investing in rapid innovation by reaching out to
the business community. Last fall, we launched the Inclusive Talent
Pipeline for American Businesses prize challenge, because we knew there
were great ideas out there that could help modernize employment
recruitment, training, and retention for Americans with disabilities. The
challenge offers $380,000 in prize money to be awarded in three phases.
We received more than 50 creative proposal submissions, and we are
currently working with the five finalists:
- The
ARC of Southwest Indiana,
- FALA
Technologies,
- Kennesaw
State University,
- KPMG,
and
- Mentra
In addition, just a few weeks ago, ACL’s Administration on
Disabilities launched
the Employment Training and Technical Assistance Center. The
center will provide an array of disability employment tools and resources
tailored to the needs of our grantees.
While ending employment disparities has always been
important, the COVID-19 pandemic has added new urgency to this work.
We cannot let this pandemic shake our resolve—and we
haven’t. I am in awe of the determination and creativity with which our
networks and partners on the ground have adapted to maintain critical
disability employment services.
For example, TURN
Community Services in Utah helped individuals receiving
supports assess and understand their risk level so they could make
informed choices about their employment, helped individuals access
personal protective equipment and adopt safety measures, and worked with
employers to adjust hours in order to reduce potential risks associated
with taking public transportation. Many providers around the country also
are using technology to continue coaching and other employment supports.
Since the pandemic began, ACL's Self Advocacy Resource and
Technical Assistance Center worked with Green Mountain Self-Advocates to
create plain-language resources for people with intellectual and
developmental disabilities, including a
new plain language booklet for employees. The guide describes
many of the federal rules in place to protect workers from COVID-19 and
offers information and tools to guide decisions about going out in public
during the pandemic.
As difficult as the pandemic has been, it has also forced us
to innovate
and do things differently. For businesses and service
providers alike, it has created a runway for change and we know that many
of these changes will outlast the virus itself.
With employers around the country rethink where and how work
happens, we have an opportunity to create workplaces that are more
inclusive and allow people of all abilities to contribute their skills
and talents.
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