PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: OVERVIEW Michael Morris, Director,

1. Disability Program Navigator TrainingA Joint Initiative of theU.S. Department of Laborand theSocial Security Administration PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: OVERVIEW Michael Morris, Director, Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Workforce Investment and Employment Policy for Persons with Disabilities

2. People with Disabilities • I - Facts and Figures • II - Disability Policy: The New Paradigm • III – The Lives of People with Disabilities: Multiple Support Systems

3. 54 million Americans – one in five - have disabilities. • Over 30 million working age Americans (between ages 21 – 64) have a disability.

4. The prevalence of disabilities in working age Americans varies by racial/ethnic group: • Native American - 27% • African-American - 21% • Caucasian - 18% • Hispanic - 17% • Asian-American - 10%

5. Type of disability: • Sensory: (vision and hearing) over 15 million • Cognitive: over 14 million • Mobility: over 8 million • Learning: over 3 million

6. Over 10 million Americans currently receive disability benefits through the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and/or Supplemental Security Income programs (SSI).

7. Of these, fewer than 1 percent ever stop receiving benefits because they start or return to work and earn income at a sufficiently high level.

8. Adults living in households with a combined annual income of $15,000 or under: • adults with disabilities – 34% • adults without disabilities – 12%

9. Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Recipients: • Up to 30 % - work-related disabilities • From 25 to 40 % - learning disabilities.

10. Educational Levels High School: One-third of students with disabilities do not finish high school. Post-Secondary Education Programs: Enrollment is at half the rate of the general population.

11. The unemployment rate of working-age Americans with disabilities - may be as high as 70 %.

12. 72 percent of working-age Americans with disabilities want to have jobs. Source: National Organization on Disability

13. Part II - Disability Policy: The Changing Paradigm

14. The Old Paradigm • Policies of Exclusion and Segregation • The Medical Model of Treatment, Fixing, and Restoration

15. The New Paradigm • New Definition of Disability • Focus on Relationship between the Individual and the Environment • Passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act – 1990.

16. “The Nation’s Proper Goals regarding Individuals with Disabilities are to Assure Equality of Opportunity, Full Participation, Independent Living, and Economic Self-Sufficiency …” --ADA, Section Two.

17. From the enactment of the ADA in 1990 to the present, there have been unprecedented public policy developments to advance social and economic freedom for Americans with disabilities.

18. ADA • Protection Against Discrimination • Effective and Meaningful Participation • Access and Accommodation Workforce Investment Act • Universal Access • Streamlined and Integrated Services Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act • Work Incentives • Medicaid Buy-In • New Consumer Choices • Benefits Counseling

19. Olmstead Supreme Court Decision (1999) “Community Imperative” • States Must Allocate Resources to Expand Community Choices • President’s Executive Order 13217

20. New Freedom Initiative (2001) “Americans with Disabilities should have every freedom to pursue careers, integrate into the workforce, and participate as full members in the economic marketplace. The New Freedom Initiative will help tear down barriers to the workplace, and help promote full access and integration.”

21. Federal Grant Initiatives • Work Incentive Grants – DOL ETA • Medicaid Infrastructure Grants – CMS • Real Choice Systems Change Grants – CMS • Olmstead Action Grants – DOL ODEP • Customized Employment Grants – DOL ODEP • Youth Demonstrations – SSA, DOL • Disability Program Navigator - SSA and DOL • Homelessness -- Housing and Employment – DOL and HUD • Research and Training Centers – Employment – NIDRR • Benefits Planning, Assistance and Outreach – SSA

22. Common Themes • Focus on Systems Change • Reduce and Eliminate Public Barriers to Economic Advancement • Collaborate Across Agencies • Increase Customer Choices • Produce Improved Outcomes

23. Part III -- Orientation to Systems • Devolution of Decisionmaking • Federal Funds – State and Local Decisions • Vocational Rehabilitation and the Workforce System

24. Navigating the Disability Maze • Beyond Mandated Partners • Medicaid • Housing • Transportation • Social Security • Mental Health • Other

25. Linking Disability Specific and Generic Resources • Special Education – Youth Services • Medicaid Funded Support Services and Housing • Benefits Counseling and Financial Education • Public, Faith-Based and Community Resources

26. Key Players’ Investment • Local Workforce Investment Board (LWIB) • Staff • Mandated Partners • Generic and Disability Specific Resource Systems

27. Collaborator LWIB Staff Mandated Partners Other Systems Role Leadership – Values Policy Development and Oversight Front Line Performance Service Delivery Capacity Expanded Capacity Key Players’ Investment

28. “The underlying notion of One-Stop is the coordination of programs, services, and governance structures so the customer has access to a seamless system of workforce investment services.” --WIA Final Regulations.

29. This training has been designed and developed by theLaw, Health Policy & Disability Center (LHPDC)of theUniversity of Iowa College of Lawdisability.law.uiowa.edu