[nfbmi-talk] misilc employment position statement

joe harcz Comcast joeharcz at comcast.net
Mon May 12 12:22:10 UTC 2014


People with Disabilities WANT to Work and Contribute to our Economy!!!

 

Summary: People with disabilities want to work and contribute to our community. We encourage policy-makers to support policies that promote employment for people with disabilities in competitive, integrated setting so that our citizens with disabilities have the opportunity to achieve economic self-sufficiency and reduce dependency on benefits.

 

Issue: Seventy percent (70%) of working age individuals with disabilities have expressed the desire to find employment, yet they face a higher unemployment rate than their non-disabled counterparts. According to the United States Department of Labor the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is 14.5%; versus 6.5% for people without disabilities.(usdol.gov, March 2014)

 

Barriers to employment typically are not related to the disability, but rather the disincentives and impact on Social Security and other benefits and lack of employer awareness about hiring people with disabilities. Many employers in Michigan have expressed a desire to hire more people with disabilities, however they need to support of community organizations, such as CILs, to help educate them about the Americans with Disabilities Act, disability awareness and resources to help with low-cost reasonable accommodations in the workplace. As an effort to increase knowledge about the benefit to hiring people with disabilities Governor Snyder has hosted the Michigan Disability Employment Summit in 2012 & 2013; where over 100 Michigan employers have participated each year.

 

Additional barriers to obtaining and maintaining employment also include the need for in-home personal assistance to help address in-home support needs for individuals to prepare for the work day. At this point there are very few financial resources to help off-set the costs of these valuable in-home supports. CILs have a small amount of funding, Personal Assistance Services Reimbursement for Employment Program (PASREP), that is appropriated to help off-set these costs, but due to the limited amount of money the program is currently able to assist 35-40 working adults with disabilities. 

 

Recommendations: 

·         Adopt a statewide policy, either through legislation and/or executive order, on employment that honors the choices and goals of the individual and includes a variety of appropriate options to achieve those goals. It is also recommended that the State of Michigan be a leader in adopting these employment practices within state government;

 

·         Expand the number of sites incorporating the Pathways to Potential model and ensure that each site includes access to employment and training services for students with a mental illness, substance use disorder or developmental disability;

 

·         Support the Independent Living Guide Pilot Project that is designed to help individuals achieve economic self-sufficiency;

 

·         Continue to invest adequate funding in Michigan Rehabilitation Services and the Bureau of Services for Blind Person to ensure people with disabilities have access to vocational rehabilitation services and Michigan’s businesses have a resource to find qualified job candidates with disabilities;

 

·         Increase support for Michigan’s CILs to ensure they have adequate financial resources to provide disability awareness and stigma reduction training to business’s and community members.

 

 

 

<continued on next page>

Closing:

 

Michigan’s network of Center’s for Independent Living (CILs) feel that public policy and resources in the State of Michigan need to empower people to live independent lives by working and contributing to our economy. Policies that deter people from working need to be amended to ensure we are not inadvertently perpetuating dependence.

 

 


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