[Ohio-talk] Ohio Special Task Force on Employment

[Eric Duffy]

New Ohio task force: Deaf, blind woefully underemployed. Almost half of blind and deaf Ohioans recently queried for a special report said they don't have a job. Of those who did, about 35 percent don't get more than 31 hours a week. A new task force wants to help more of them find meaningful jobs. The Workforce Integration Task Force, a collaboration between Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, held its first meeting today to start brainstorming ways to reduce unemployment and underemployment among the blind and deaf. The task force was created as part of this year's off-year budget - also known as the Mid-Biennium Review - to address opportunities that businesses can offer those who are blind and deaf. "There are a lot of businesses across Ohio. What we want to get to is an understanding of what are the best practices," said Kevin Miller, executive director of Opportunities for Ohioans. People with impaired hearing or sight encounter hurdles when applying for jobs, such as being unable to read company websites or having to set up accommodations with a certified deaf interpreter. Before today's meeting, Opportunities for Ohioans and Job and Family Services collected information on employment and job skills from their constituents. In 2012, 2 percent of Ohio's population was blind, and another 2 percent was deaf, according to statistics from the National Federation for the Blind and from Gallaudet University in Washington, a school for deaf students. Several of the task-force members could speak from experience in the workforce, such as John Moore, who is CEO and executive director of the nonprofit Deaf Services Center Inc. and is deaf. Moore said he worries about the number of young college graduates who are deaf or blind and could face discrimination in the workforce because of their lack of experience combined with their disability. "There are so many young people graduating from Ohio who are not being hired," Moore said through an interpreter. "The goal is to get people the skills they need to work. Among some of the early recommendations are making all information on government and corporate websites accessible, creating a job-skills training center for the blind and the deaf, and mentoring and certifying employers to hire and accommodate the blind and the deaf. The task force is to begin making more-defined suggestions at its next meeting, in October, and it is to provide Gov. John Kasich with a set of recommendations on Jan. 1. Opportunities for Ohioans and Job and Family Services have worked together in the past to place job counselors who can serve disabled constituents in Job and Family Services offices. Kevin Holtsberry, Opportunities for Ohioans communication director, said his organization and the state agency can help each other through further collaboration. "As we've gone along, the business-engagement aspects are now working even more closely together, which will pay off for all populations. So I think there will be residual benefits for the larger disabled community," he said. Danielle Keeton-Olsen is a fellow in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism Statehouse News Bureau. dkeeton-olsen at dispatch.com @DanielleRose84 This article