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NCD Brochure: [English
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Background and Mission
The National Council on Disability (NCD) was initially
established in 1978 as an advisory board within the Department of
Education. The council is composed of 15 members, appointed by the
President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
The Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1984 transformed NCD into an
independent agency.
The overall purpose of the agency is to promote policies,
programs, practices, and procedures that guarantee equal opportunity
for all people with disabilities, regardless of the nature or severity
of the disability, and to empower them to achieve economic self-sufficiency,
independent living, and inclusion and integration into all aspects
of society.
Specific Duties
The statutory mandate of NCD includes the following
duties:
- Review and evaluate federal policies, programs,
practices, and procedures concerning people with disabilities,
including programs established or assisted under the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973, as amended, and the Developmental Disabilities Assistance
and Bill of Rights Act.
- Review and evaluate all statutes and regulations
pertaining to federal programs that assist people with disabilities,
to assess their effectiveness in meeting the needs of these people.
- Review and evaluate emerging federal, state, local,
and private sector policy issues that affect people with disabilities,
including the need for and coordination of adult services, access
to personal assistance services, school reform efforts and the
impact of these efforts on persons with disabilities, access to
health care, and policies that operate as disincentives for individuals
to seek and retain employment.
- Make recommendations to the President, Congress,
the Secretary of Education, the Director of the National Institute
on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and other officials
of federal agencies regarding ways to promote equal opportunity,
economic self-sufficiency, independent living, and inclusion and
integration into all aspects of society for Americans with disabilities.
- Provide Congress with advice, recommendations,
legislative proposals, and other information that NCD or Congress
deems appropriate.
- Gather information about the implementation, effectiveness,
and impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.
- Advise the President, Congress, the Commissioner
of the Rehabilitation Services Administration, the Assistant Secretary
for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department
of Education, and the Director of the National Institute on Disability
and Rehabilitation Research on the development of programs to
be carried out under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.
- Advise the Commissioner on the policies and conduct
of the Rehabilitation Services Administration.
- Make recommendations to the Director of the National
Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research on research
affecting people with disabilities.
- Advise the Interagency Disability Coordinating
Council on priorities for its activities and review the recommendations
of the council for legislative and administrative changes.
- Prepare and submit to the President and Congress
an annual report, National Disability Policy: A Progress Report.
Population Served and Current Activities
Many government agencies deal with issues and programs
that affect people with disabilities, but NCD is the only federal
agency charged with addressing, analyzing, and making recommendations
on issues of public policy that affect people with disabilities
regardless of age, disability type, perceived employment potential,
economic need, functional ability, veteran status, or other individual
circumstance.
NCD recognizes its unique opportunity to facilitate
independent living, community integration, and employment opportunities
for people with disabilities by ensuring an informed and coordinated
approach to address their concerns and eliminate barriers to their
active participation in community and family life.
NCD plays a major role in developing disability policy
in America. In fact, the agency originally proposed what eventually
became ADA.
Key issues include personal assistance services, health
care reform, the inclusion of students with disabilities in high-quality
programs in typical neighborhood schools, equal employment opportunity,
community housing, monitoring the implementation of ADA, improving
assistive technology, and ensuring that persons with disabilities,
including minorities, fully participate in society.
National Council on Disability
1331 F Street, NW, Suite 850
Washington, DC 20004-1107
(202) 272-2004 Voice
(202) 272-2074 TT
(202) 272-2022 Fax
http://www.ncd.gov |
