Policy

RespectAbility’s federal policy advocacy is often done in coalition, ensuring the input of people with disabilities and the power of the disability community at large is appreciated at the federal level. Check out our latest advocacy highlights working in partnership with the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities:

Designating People with Disabilities as a Health Disparity Population

We urged the National Institutes of Health to formally designate people with disabilities as a health disparity population. This proposal would help to reduce health disparities and promote health equity for people with disabilities. This would also align with broader efforts to promote equity for those who are multiply marginalized. [continue reading…]

Spotlight on Service Dogs

September is National Service Dog Awareness Month. Did you know that 500,000 service dogs are tasked with helping their disabled partners every day in the United States? This month and every month, we celebrate the service animals that help our community live more independently and fully participate in all aspects of community.

Monthly Employment Update for People with Disabilities

According to the latest National Trends In Disability Employment (nTIDE) report:

In August 2023, the labor force participation rate for people with disabilities continued to surge to an all-time high of 41.2% compared to 37.6% in August 2022. This continues the substantial growth from last year in the labor force participation rate for people with disabilities as we work towards closing the gap between workers with and without disabilities. Workers without disabilities also increased their labor force participation rate, which was 77.5% in August 2022 and rose to 78.2% in August 2023. [continue reading…]

Advocating for the disability community takes our policy team all over the country and the Indianapolis State Capitol is only the latest stop for State Policy Manager Jimmy Fremgen!

Jimmy was in Indy for the 2023 Legislative Summit of the National Conference of State Legislatures and met with legislators and potential policy partners from across the United States, in addition to spending time with the Indiana legislature’s host delegation, where he raised top priorities:

Nothing about us, without us.

Our policy team is pushing hard for every legislative decision that impacts the disability community to include those with disabilities in the decision-making. [continue reading…]

According to the Pew Research Center, 46% of Americans 75 or older and 24% of Americans aged 65 to 74 report having a disability.

On August 21st each year, Americans recognize the contributions of older adults in all aspects of society as part of Senior Citizens Day. Older adults contribute significantly to the American economy, with around 22% donating $1,000 or more each year. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that seniors account for 20-25 hours of unpaid labor in the home every week. Seniors also vote historically at a rate higher than other groups. We celebrate the contributions of older adults with disabilities to society on this awareness day and every other day of the year. [continue reading…]

Veterans with Disabilities

According to the U.S. Census, veterans who served after September 11th have a 43% chance of acquiring a disability. At the same time, only 27% and 16% respectively of Gulf War and Vietnam War Veterans had a service-connected disability. Veterans serving in “peacetime” had a 9% chance of acquiring a service-related disability.

Our former Policy Fellow Roy Payan is a proud veteran with a disability. Roy acquired a visual impairment overseas, and when he returned, he learned to be independent with a new set of skills. Roy sought his independence through education, where he would face new challenges and barriers, including discrimination and ableism while completing his degree. Roy fought discrimination by taking his case to the courts for resolution.

Roy is not alone. Nearly two in three student veterans share that they have a disability and have faced barriers. It is essential to ensure that all people with disabilities have a path to the life they want. [continue reading…]

Suad Bisogno

RespectAbility is proud to be a member of the Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE), a national organization that promotes the importance of community-integrated employment for people with disabilities. In early June, Wally Tablit, Senior Director for Leadership and Workforce Development, and I attended APSE’s annual conference in Columbus, Ohio, where we met with leaders from across the country. After the conference, I was able to follow up with APSE board member and disability employment leader, Suad Bisogno, CEO of Integrated Resources Institute. Explore our conversation about employment first policy and some of the crucial issues facing Suad’s home state of California. [continue reading…]

George H.W. Bush signs the ADA into law.

Almost everyone has seen a different, more prosperous world because of the ADA. 33 years in, we know this journey is long and not yet over. Inaccessible programs and businesses still exist. People with disabilities still languish in congregate care settings for lack of funding for home-based programs. The employment rate of people with disabilities still lags far beyond our non-disabled peers, even in this era of full employment. Below, read reflections from our Policy team about what the ADA means to them.

“The ADA is a representation of the willingness of people with disabilities to seek justice for themselves and for those who came after them. Without those people willing to painstakingly push for the passage of the ADA, I would not have the privilege to be employed and do the work we do here at RespectAbility. For a visually impaired person growing up with the rights I had because people before me were willing to fight, the ADA is a reminder that I not only have the honor of pushing forward the work, but I have the responsibility to continue to build upon that work.” Rostom Dadian, Policy Associate [continue reading…]

Celebrating Pride Month

In recognition of Pride Month, RespectAbility celebrates the diversity and positive impact the LGBTQ+ community adds to the United States. At the same time, we recognize that the data shows that full equity for the LGBTQ+ community in public life has yet to be achieved. This is of particular importance to the disability community, because there is tremendous intersection between the disability and LGBTQ+ communities.

According to a Gallup poll, the number of adults identifying as LGBTQ+ in America is 7.1% (approximately 23.5 million people), double what the data showed in 2012. At the same time, only 13 members of the U.S. Congress identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community: 2 senators out of 100, and 11 out of the 435 (2.5%) members of the House of Representatives. This means that the LGBTQ+ community is markedly underrepresented in the halls of power.

Even as we wait for and work toward better representation, we must also work to ensure that those in power right now represent and listen to the needs of communities historically left out of the conversation. This applies especially to those who are multiply marginalized, like people at the intersection of the disability and LGBTQ+ communities. According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), 36% of LGBTQ+ adults self-report as having a disability, and 52% of transgender adults in particular self-report a disability, compared to 24% of non-LGBTQ+ adults who self-report a disability. [continue reading…]

The heart of RespectAbility’s self-employment project is a collaborative gathering of best practices and resources. Like most collaborative processes, the project has many moving parts, but that doesn’t mean that we need to wait to start sharing the information with our readers. RespectAbility Policy Fellow Audrey Bayne has invested significant time and energy learning about state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) self-employment programs. Below, she briefly describes how Texas is leading the way.

The national Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) argues that the inherent flexibility of self-employment is often a better match for people with disabilities than traditional “nine to five” employment, making them more likely to retain their employment status. VR clients whose cases end in self-employment make an average of nearly 80% more income than their peers who obtain traditional competitive integrated employment (CIE). Despite self-employment providing significantly more flexibility and income than traditional CIE, many states’ VR offices are not adequately equipped to assist their clients in pursuing this kind of employment.

In fact, despite its significant benefits, nationally only 1.7% of VR cases end in self-employment. Virginia Commonwealth University’s Rehabilitation Research and Training Center surveyed several hundred VR employees and found that a majority of those employed by state Vocational Rehabilitation offices did not feel adequately equipped to assist their clients in seeking self-employment. RespectAbility’s self-employment project is looking at the successes of different states, in the hopes that we can all learn from each other.

One standout state in the area of self-employment for VR clients is Texas. In 2019, 9.1% of Texas clients’ cases closed in self-employment, more than five times the national average. There appear to be some secrets to Texas’ success. [continue reading…]