[Nfbf-l] Fw: interview

Sat Mar 28 01:26:22 UTC 2009

Mark Tardif
You can't hug your loved ones with nuclear arms
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Sue Ellen 
To: Mark 
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 8:17 PM
Subject: interview

Here is the texst of an interview with the person on President Obama's staff who is his advisor on disability polacy. It's interesting.

Exclusive: Top White House Aide Talks Disability Policy By Michelle
Diament
Disability Scoop  March 24, 2009

In February Vice President Joe Biden announced the selection of Kareem
Dale

as the first ever special assistant to the president for disability
policy.

Now, in an exclusive interview with Disability Scoop, Dale defends the

president following his misstep on The Tonight Show last week and talks

about what's next in the administration's plans for people with

disabilities.

Disability Scoop: What is your role as special assistant to the
president

for disability policy?

Kareem Dale: I sit in the office of public liaison here at the White
House

and also sit in the Domestic Policy Council working on disability
policy.

I'm

responsible for disability outreach to the community, letting the
community

know what's going on and the administration related to disability issues
and

disability policy.

I'm also responsible for making sure that folks with disabilities are

included into what we do here at the White House in terms of public
events

like inviting people to participate in our regional health care summit
or

fiscal summit or (bill) signings such as the stem cell signing, SCHIP

legislation signing and things of that nature. Also, working from the
policy

angle and making sure the policy folks know about the real important
policy

issues as related to education and employment for people with
disabilities.

Disability Scoop: I understand that you have a visual impairment
yourself.

What does it mean to be a person with a disability serving the Obama

administration in this capacity?

Kareem Dale: To me it means that the president understands that in order
for

there to be really good representation for people with disabilities, it

generally starts with a person with a disability working at the White
House.

Now, that's not always the case. There are plenty of great advocates for

people with disabilities who are not themselves people with
disabilities.

But it says a lot that we have actually two people with disabilities
here at

the White House working on disability issues, a total of three but two
who

are with disabilities. And, it means a great deal that President Obama
has

shown faith in me to help drive his vision for the community for people
with

disabilities with the first time a person who is blind is working in the

White House at a senior level.

Disability Scoop: Does the government have a responsibility to people
with

disabilities? If so, to what extent?

Kareem Dale: Sure, the government should play a role and a
responsibility

for people with disabilities, just as the government has a role really
for

all Americans. It's not really different than it is for non-disabled
persons

than it is for persons with disabilities. And that's to make sure that

people with disabilities are integrated and included into the overall
effort

of the government across federal agencies and at the White House. That

really is the goal - to make sure that folks with disabilities are

integrated and included into what we're doing and not segregated out and

separated into silos. And so that is the responsibility of the
government to

make sure that what they're doing includes people with disabilities at
every

level.

Disability Scoop: President Obama's comment about Special Olympics on
The

Tonight Show last week brought stereotypes of people with disabilities
to

the surface. What should people with disabilities take away from that

episode?

Kareem Dale: To me, what people should take away from that is the
response

by President Obama and the administration. Number one, President Obama,

before the event even aired, personally called Tim Shriver (chairman of

Special Olympics) from Air Force One to personally apologize to Tim for
the

comments that he made. Obviously, there was no intent in the comments,
no

intent or ill will by President Obama. He quickly apologized.

There was a written statement that quickly went out from Air Force One
by

Deputy (Press) Secretary Burton apologizing for the comments. Number
three,

I think overall what's very interesting about that day is that earlier
that

day I think, there was a town hall out in California where the president
was

asked a question about disabilities and I think his answer is frankly
more

illustrative of his positions on people with disabilities. It was a

spontaneous question and a spontaneous answer. He talked about the whole

idea that folks with disabilities need to be included and integrated
into

all federal government agencies, across agencies and not siloed out.
And,

there needs to be a comprehensive plan for people with disabilities in
these

federal agencies related to employment and other key issues such as
health

care and education, etc.

And so when you look at the comments, they were off-handed comments. The

president certainly was sorry about it; he immediately apologized. But
when

you look at his overall record for people with disabilities in this

administration and things he's already done in terms of appointing three

people in the White House, in terms of the SCHIP legislation signing,
stem

cell research, what he's already done, I think his record speaks for
itself

and I think that's the message that folks should take away from it.

Disability Scoop: Do you think that President Obama's comments hint at
some

prejudices that still exist in society?

Kareem Dale: Well, in terms of society it's hard for me to speak for

society. But I think, yeah, there probably are still some prejudices in

society and some education that folks with disabilities have to do and

everybody in the country has to do. I mean there are prejudices I think
for

lots of different segments of the population and there are still some

prejudices towards people with disabilities. There are certainly no

prejudices by President Obama or his administration, but in society

generally I think there are prejudices that folks have to work towards

changing and changing the perception for people with disabilities.

Disability Scoop: Autism in particular has been singled out in the

disabilities agenda that's on the White House Web site in a pretty
prominent

way. Is that just a factor of current times?

Kareem Dale: No, we view it as a comprehensive approach. I'm on the
ground

dealing with the autism community just as I deal with the community
dealing

with physical disabilities, just as I talk to the blind community
everyday

or just as I talk to the community of folk s who are deaf everyday.
There's

legislation that we're going to be looking at for all different segments
of

the population and when I deal with the communities everyday I deal with

them all together. I talk with each individual community. I work with
them.

I bring them all in for meetings, different groups at different times
and

with other groups. Autism groups will come in with some of the mental
health

groups or vice versa and sometimes groups will come in alone. Or autism

groups may come in with the blind community. We view it all as a

comprehensive approach for the disability community.

Disability Scoop: During the campaign there was an emphasis on fully
funding

IDEA. Is that something that the administration is still committed to,

especially considering the current economic times?

Kareem Dale: The administration is still committed to funding and

enforcement of IDEA.

Disability Scoop: What about fully funding?

Kareem Dale: I think that once the budget comes out and we will
certainly be

looking at all of the options related to funding. The president has
released

some of the top line budget issues but we haven't released all of our
budget

issues so I would say stay tuned. I think people will see what our
funding

plan is for IDEA and all of the other important funding issues that
relate

to people with disabilities.

Disability Scoop: Right now there are a huge number of people on waiting

lists across the country for Medicaid waiver services. People qualify
for

services, but the tap has just run dry. Is the current system for
dispersing

these funds effective?

Kareem Dale: Well, I think that all of our systems have to be examined.
What

the president has said is that every facet of government needs to be

re-looked at and re-analyzed and determine where is there waste, where
are

there inefficiencies and figure out how we can best deliver services to
all

Americans and particularly for Americans with disabilities. We're going
to

be looking at all of these issues related to delivering of services and

efficiencies in the government, where there are not efficiencies,
whether

it's in Medicare, Medicaid, whether it's in Social Security and there
are

going to be changes to those if it's warranted.

Disability Scoop: Is the Medicaid waiver something that has been looked
at?

Kareem Dale: I don't know whether it's been looked at, you mean in the
first

two months, I don't know.

Disability Scoop: Is that something that you feel is a priority?

Kareem Dale: I think that all of the federal government systems whether

inefficiencies need to be explored and taken a look at if it's
appropriate.

Disability Scoop: Last month the Department of Labor began releasing

employment data on people with disabilities. The unemployment numbers
for

this population are quite extraordinary. What can be done to reverse
this

trend?

Kareem Dale: I think there are a lot of things that we're going to be

looking at. Honestly the president is still putting together a
comprehensive

team related to his administration across the federal government.
There's a

lot that can be done but I think that some of the things that can be
done is

a change of perception of hiring people with disabilities. I think that
the

president at least in the first few months has started to demonstrate
that

folks with disabilities should be and can be hired. Just by appointing
three

folks to deal with disability issues at the White House, I think he set
a

personal example. You start with an example and then others will follow.

There are many more things that can be done in terms of changing
perception.

There's an education component too in terms of educating companies and

corporations about the benefits of hiring people with disabilities in
terms

of diversity, in terms of some of the business credits and some of the
other

benefits that are out there for people with disabilities. But it's got
to be

an overall comprehensive effort across the government and I think there
are

going to be many good things to come from this administration for
employment

of people with disabilities. We're looking for ward to working on it.

Disability Scoop: There's a lot of talk of federal dollars going toward

research related to disabilities, but obviously people currently living
with

disabilities have day-to-day needs. Should money from the federal
government

be concentrated on research or the current needs of people living with

disabilities? What's the balance there?

Kareem Dale: There are lots of needs. There's certainly a need for
research

and looking at particular issues and investigating what's working and
what's

not working. There's certainly a need for day-to-day services for people
to

get jobs, to have health care on a day-to-day basis, to be able to put
food

on the table, send their kids to school. There are needs in all sorts of

those areas and we have to explore what the appropriate balance is. But

there's certainly a need for research. I don't think there's any
question

that there's a need for research. You look at the president signing the
stem

cell (bill) to open up federal dollars, federal funding for stem cell

research. There's a need for that type of research and other types of

research. There's also a need for day-to-day services when you look at
for

example the president putting an emphasis on health care. That's a

day-to-day need that people need good, affordable, quality affordable
health

coverage.

Disability Scoop: Going forward in the next couple of months what's top
on

your agenda?

Kareem Dale: Probably right there at the top is the overall integration
and

inclusion of people with disabilities into the administration and what
we're

doing because that's kind of where it all starts from is making sure
that

folks with disabilities are included into the administration's efforts
and

there are a lot of other people who play key roles in that. It's not
just

me. It's far from just me. It's more of a team. As more of the (federal)

agency folks get put into place by the president, I think that effort
will

blossom and continue to expand, but that's a big effort. And then I
think

not much more different from the president's overall agenda for the
whole

country. We are a part of the country and need to be included in the
country

so health care is a critical issue for people with disabilities. That's

right at the top of my list and the top of other folks' lists who work
on

disability issues. Education is a huge issue, something that we really
have

to focus on and then employment, making sure folks have jobs and
improving

the employment rate, which is not different than anything the president
is

talking about in the overall plan for the country.

Disability Scoop: Is there anything else that you would like people to
know?

Kareem Dale: I think in the disability community - from being a person
with

a disability and from working on the campaign and the transition - I
think

there is a tendency for people to believe that the glass is half empty
and

believe that the president or whatever government official is not going
to

do what they said they were going to do. I think in the first couple of

months we've seen the president's commitment to work hard on disability

issues. It's always hard to accomplish every single solitary thing by
the

letter that you say you're going to accomplish. But I think in the first
two

months we've accomplished an extraordinary amount and we're continuing
to

work hard. So I would just encourage the disability community, as hard
as it

is sometimes, to be patient with us and recognize the great
accomplishments

of the first two months and just look forward to other things to come
down

the road.

--
Sue Ellen
skipe: sueellen1964
live journal: roselee64.livejournal.com
msn roselee64 at hotmail.com

Books and imagination, the cheapest, safest way to travel to any time and any place.
Me

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