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Important to Understand Significance that Gray’s Disability had in Leading to his Death

Washington, May 23 – As the verdict comes down on the death of Freddie Gray in police custody in Baltimore, the first trial of his accused killers has come to an end. One of six officers charged in connection with the arrest and subsequent death of Gray last April was acquitted. However, more attention needs to be paid to the fact that Gray was an individual with a disability and the role disability played in his involvement with the justice system.

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IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT (WIOA)

To: The White House Administration, U.S. House, U.S. Senate, Governors, Workforce Boards & Agencies, VR, Disability Leaders, Presidential Candidates and others who care deeply about poverty reduction and jobs for people with obstacles to work
Re: Urgent update on WIOA implementation, reviewing state plans and jobs for people disabilities: problems that must be addressed
From: Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, Philip Pauli and Lauren Appelbaum, RespectAbility

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which was overwhelmingly passed by Congress and signed into law by the President, holds huge promise for our nation’s workforce system, employers and people with barriers to work. This law provides states with the opportunity to dramatically reduce poverty and economic injustice. However, we are deeply concerned that too many of the state plans required by WIOA are missing key factors needed to empower people to overcome barriers to employment such as a disability.

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New Data Shows People with Disabilities In Some States Twice as Likely to be Working as in Other States

Washington, D.C., March 11 – New data from the Disability Compendium’s 2015 Disability Statistics Annual Report shows that nationally only 34.4 percent of U.S. civilians with disabilities ages 18-64 living in the community were employed in 2014, compared to 75.4 percent for people without disabilities – a massive gap of 41 percentage points in the labor force participation rates. This leads to poverty, prison and poor health outcomes.

The new report shows a huge variation in the rates of employment for persons with disabilities between the states.

“The 2016 presidential campaign is largely a reflection of how much the American people are hurting economically. No group is hurting more than people with disabilities, whose gap in labor force participation rates from people without disabilities has increased dramatically,” said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, president of RespectAbility.

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RespectAbility is asking all presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle to fill out a questionnaire on disability issues. 

During this presidential campaign, we have had the pleasure of covering all the candidates and their views on disability issues. Coverage of all the candidates can be found here: www.TheRespectAbilityReport.com. We have large email lists of thousands of people in each of the early primary and caucus states who have disabilities and/or a family member with a disability. As you probably know, 20 percent of the U.S. population has a disability, coupled with all of the family members, that percentage increases exponentially to include one in every three households in America.

We are preparing a questionnaire for all presidential candidates on a variety of disability issues. The #PwDsVote Presidential Campaign Questionnaire will be electronic and thus it is vital for candidates to put their positions on their website and give us the specific links to the places you want us to share with the disability community. Candidates may choose to answer each question individually for people with disabilities (PwDs), or to mention PwDs within a larger plan (i.e., jobs, national security and crime plans) for the entire public.

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Slingshot Guide Highlights the Best of Non-Profit World

Bethesda, Maryland – RespectAbility, a new national, non-profit, non-partisan organization working to enable people with disabilities to achieve the American dream – including full inclusion in religious life, has been named one of North America’s top innovative organizations in the tenth annual Slingshot Guide. Slingshot is a creation of Jewish philanthropists and non-profit experts who are focused on results-driven non-profit organizations. The Slingshot Guide has become a go-to resource for volunteers, activists and donors looking for new opportunities and projects that are truly innovative. Groups chosen for the guide went through a deep vetting process.  RespectAbility was selected from among hundreds of finalists reviewed by 112 professionals with expertise in grant-making and communal life. Slingshot 2014-15 was released today.

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Fully 70 percent of working-age people with disabilities in America are not working. This leads to poverty, powerlessness and prison. So how can we, who care about people with disabilities, change that? [continue reading…]