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Meet The Met Council — Page 6
Inside Work Incentives Update — p. 3
Volume 10, Number 10
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SOURCES
October 10, 1999
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“Behold this day, it is your to make” — Black Elk
RESOURCES
October 10, 1999
EMPLOYMENT SURVEY Research Shows America Benefits When People With Disabilities Work by Charlie Smith, Editor
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Former Senator Bob Dole receives the National Courage Award.
Program Provides Flexible Employment by Amy Farrar
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inding and keeping a job can be a daunting, if not impossible, task for someone with a disability, when transportation, medical, and scheduling issues come into play. Local companies are working with Courage Center to change that through ‘Changing Futures,’ a new program that has become a separate business entity within Courage Center. Through the program, specific tasks from local companies are outsourced to people who have been screened and trained through Courage Center’s Vocational Services Department. All participants in Changing Futures undergo a training period (from one to three months) during which they learn computer and clerical skills and receive competitive employment assistance. Once someone is hired into the program, a supervisor job coach offers hands-on training and trains participants in multiple jobs. The job coach also visits participants in their homes
twice a month (or more), provides phone back-up and support, and offers other assistance, such as retraining. Requirements for participation in the program (aside from the prerequisite that an applicant has completed the center’s vocational assessment ) include: a typing speed of 20 words per minute, the ability to manipulate paper, cognitive abilities, and the availability to work a minimum of 15 to 20 hours per week (most employees work 15 to 30 hours per week). Pat Strachan, Changing Futures’ program manager, said participants in the program are paid competitive wages on an hourly basis, adjusted for productivity. Specific tasks participants are hired for include: resume scanning, data entry, and Internet research. Changing Futures currently employs 11 people and there is a waiting list of people being assessed by the Center. People either work from home
(where they use their own computer equipment) or at Courage Center, where they use the center’s equipment. Whether an employee works from home, at the center, or at a customer site depends on the work that needs to be completed and the employee’s abilities. The program not only offers educational assistance to participants, but serves as a device to jump-start their careers. Many participants express positive feelings about their work achievements and themselves. Cyndy Shober, who started doing data entry work through the program in May, summarized her experience so far, “It feels so good to get a pay check. It feels so good to be talking with other people and just be doing something, helping others, and being part of a group.” Shober, who has Multiple Sclerosis, said looking for jobs she could do from home was a
Futures - cont. on p. 8
ctober is National Employment Awareness Month for people with disabilities. In Washington, the Congressional Budget Office is telling Congress that the Work Incentive legislation they are considering (the Work Incentive Improvement Act or WIIA), will cost upwards of $5 billion dollars over the next 5 years. The high cost appears to be the biggest barrier to passing this important bill. As the debate over how to fund national work incentive legislation continues, many policy makers fail to consider the savings that will result when more people with disabilities are able to work. In the last nine months, the House Commerce Committee and Ways and Means Committee have held hearings and heard testimony from advocates, including people from Minnesota and many other states. Advocates have stated time and time again that while the bill will cost money, it will save money in the long run. Now, a research study confirms what many people have believed all along. The survey was recently released by NISH, and includes data on over 2000 federal employees with disabilities. People with Disabilities Work: America Benefits is believed to be the first survey to systematically calculate the actual impact of employment on a person’s dependence on various government entitlements. The survey was funded by NISH (formerly The National Industries for the Severely Handicapped). It is one of NISH’s goals to expand employment and personal
advancement of people with disabilities. Mathew Greenwald and Associates (MGA), a Washington, DC-based market research and survey firm, conducted the survey. It showed that once employed on food service projects through the federal Javits-Wagner-O’Day (JWOD) Program, people with disabilities reduced dependence on government entitlements by $4.18 million annually. In addition, JWOD employment resulted in a $2.89 million increase in annual contributions to the tax base. Approximately 30,000 people with disabilities are employed in NISH/JWOD programs — two thousand in the food service industry. “As indicated by the survey, employing people with disabilities makes economic sense and benefits all Americans. The most effective way to reduce dependence on government entitlements is to provide meaningful employment. Food service is a particularly good industry in which people with many disabilities can earn good wages and learn valuable job skills for both public and private sector employment,” commented Dan McKinnon, President and CEO of NISH. “The Javits-Wagner-O’Day Program is one that addresses the alarmingly high unemployment rate among people with disabilities in our country. However, with an estimated 30 million working age Americans with disabilities, the need for more jobs is still great,” stated McKinnon. Surveys show that while most people with disabilities want to work, most cannot
find jobs. According to a 1998 Harris Poll, 71% of people with severe disabilities are unemployed. This high rate of unemployment is in stark contrast to the overall national unemployment rate of 4.3%. “Look at the savings we identified among just 2000 individuals working in one program,” stated Greenwald. “Consider what would happen if we were able to reduce the number of unemployed people with severe disabilities to say, 20%, which is five times the national average. At that level the savings could be literally in the billions of dollars.” People With Disabilities Work: America Benefits surveyed workers employed through the federal government’s Javits Wagner O’Day (JWOD) Program on food service projects. They are employed at Community Rehabilitation Programs that have contracts with government agencies to provide food services. The largest number of the workers (44%) reported their primary disability to be mental retardation. The majority of the food service projects are with the Department of Defense. This survey is tangible proof of what advocates have been telling Congress for years. With WIIA rumored to be heading toward a vote in the next few weeks, Congress would do well to consider the results of this research, and move for passage of this legislation. Information for this article was provided by NISH.