W. Roy Grizzard, Ed. D. Assistant
Secretary U. S. Department of Labor
EU-US Seminar 2003 "Access of People with
Disabilities to Employment"
Brussels, Belgium November 17, 2003
Thank you for the privilege and opportunity to deliver these
opening remarks. On behalf of the United States delegation, we are pleased to
be in Brussels with our European Union (EU) colleagues. Thank you for the kind
invitation to be present with you. And, we are pleased to help in celebrating
the EU's "Year of Disability, 2003."
I commend the EU's Directorate General for Employment and Social
Affairs, its leadership and staff, as well as the Directorate for Horizontal
and International Issues, for making visible the critical issue of increasing
the employment rate of people with disabilities.
I also commend the leadership of my colleagues in the Office of
Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), and especially those in the Bureau of
International Labor Affairs (ILAB), for their part in overseeing the
collaborative planning process with the EU, through its Working Group on
Employment and Labor Related Issues.
We look forward to learning from all of you as the seminar
unfolds. Together we hear about effective practices that can lead to the most
effective policies to increase the employment rate of people with disabilities.
ODEP's mission, as one agency within the U. S. Department of Labor, is to
identify and apply promising employment practices to public policy.
We are in full agreement with the EU that opportunities to share
knowledge and best practices can result in improved policies and
implementation.
The U. S. Department of Labor is charged with preparing the
American workforce for new and better jobs, and ensuring the adequacy of
America's workplaces. The Department is responsible for the administration and
enforcement of over 180 federal statutes. DOL programs, services and benefits
are intended for all employers and workers across the nation, including
individuals with disabilities.
In the words of the U. S. Secretary of Labor, Elaine L. Chao,
"America works best when all Americans work."
In the U.S., one in five Americans (nearly 50 million people) have
at least one disability. For those of working age, 49 percent of the women and
40 percent of the men are unemployed.
Just two weeks after taking office, President George W. Bush made
a commitment to "tearing down the remaining barriers to equality that face
Americans with disabilities" by putting forth a comprehensive set of proposals,
collectively known as the New Freedom Initiative (NFI). A key goal of the NFI
is "increasing the ability of Americans with disabilities to integrate into the
workforce."
On both sides of the Atlantic, we will face a jobs and skills gap
in five to seven years. Workforce trends in America indicate that total
employment opportunities will increase from 146 million in the year 2000 to 168
million by 2010. That increase will not be evenly distributed across the labor
market sectors. The gap in America between supply and demand will be catalyzed
by the anticipated retirement of "baby boomers."
New opportunities for employment are opening as scientific and
technological advances give rise to new industries and occupations unheard of
only a few decades ago. At the same time, many traditional job opportunities
are disappearing as industrial operations become increasingly automated and the
nation's economy as a whole becomes increasingly globalized.
Our collective challenge is to match employer demand in the
various labor market sectors with skilled supply. Working age people with
disabilities can help greatly to fill the gap.
We in America believe that the individual worker with a disability
should be afforded the right to choose what type of work to do, have technical
assistance to perform essential functions of a job, and have the chance to
advance and progress in work of choice. As such, individual worker needs must
be embedded in policies and comprehensively addressed in practical
implementations.
The United States has comprehensive employment policies related to
people with disabilities in the areas of access to communication and the built
environment, civil rights, housing, transportation, workforce development and
work incentives.
The NFI promotes federal interagency coordination to solve the
complex social policy issues that impact employment for people with
disabilities. The NFI recognizes that many aspects influence the ability of
people with disabilities to seek and keep meaningful employment. These issues
are broad-based, and involve many government entities.
For instance:
- The Department of Transportation needs to ensure that people
with disabilities have a way to get to work.
- The Department of Education needs to ensure that people with
disabilities have the requisite education and effective processes to transition
from school to work.
- The Department of Health and Human Services needs to ensure
that people with disabilities have access to health care.
- The Department of Housing and Urban Development needs to
ensure that people with disabilities have access to affordable and accessible
housing.
- And the Social Security Administration needs to ensure that
social security programs provide the flexibility and incentive for people with
disabilities to leave the public assistance roles and participate in the
workplace.
Under the strong leadership of Secretary Chao, the Department of
Labor, through the Office of Disability Employment Policy, has been given a
significant share of the responsibility for fulfilling the promise of the
President's New Freedom Initiative.
Established less than three years ago, ODEP has committed more
than $60 million to fund various experimental programs to eliminate employment
barriers. ODEP's mission is to provide leadership to increase employment
opportunities for youth and adults with disabilities.
We are a research and development agency focused on disability
employment. We recommend policy. Because we do not regulate, investigate or
adjudicate, we are able to work amicably with partners on both the supply side
and demand side of disability employment.
ODEP assesses and recommends policies that take into account both
stakeholders and environmental factors, such as the economy and legal and
regulatory issues.
Our policy development activities address five key elements in the
employment process:
- Pre-recruitment - This involves an understanding of workforce
needs and ensuring that people with disabilities are prepared to meet those
needs.
- Transition and Recruitment -This includes processes to ensure
that individuals with disabilities are work-ready and employers have knowledge
of where to find these work-ready individuals
- Active Employment - This includes developing
partnerships/relationships that lead to real jobs for qualified individuals
with disabilities.
- Career Development - This includes encouraging employers to
put in place employment policies and practices that ensure both retention of
the employee and promotion opportunities.
- Post Employment - This includes reintegrating people who have
acquired a disability into the workforce, as well as planning for retirement.
We know that linking with employers is key to achieving our
mission. We want employers not only to recruit and hire people with
disabilities, but we want to see those individuals retained in long-term work
opportunities and promoted on the basis of merit.
ODEP funds, therefore, are focused on finding ways to better link
employer demand with skilled labor supply.
For example, ODEP funds a service called the Job Accommodation
Network, or JAN.
- JAN provides free one-to-one, confidential telephone and
Internet technical assistance to employers, employees or job candidates.
- JAN provides information about job accommodations, and the
employability of people with disabilities.
JAN can be accessed on the web at
www.jan.wvu.edu.
ODEP also funds a service called the Employer Assistance Referral
Network (or EARN).
- EARN, too is a free service, available via telephone or
Internet.
- EARN connects employers to employment service providers who
have direct access to qualified job candidates with disabilities.
To learn more about EARN, visit their website at
www.earnworks.com.
ODEP has established the Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) which
places college students with disabilities into summer and permanent jobs in
both the public and private sectors. This is a source of skilled labor for the
federal government. ODEP itself has several employees from the WRP.
The President and the Secretary of Labor recognize and reward
those organizations, businesses and individuals who establish the most
effective policies and practices that increase the employment of people with
disabilities. In October Secretary Chao saluted 10 winners of the New
Freedom Initiative Award - including a company represented at this meeting
- IBM.
IBM was one of five corporations recognized, in addition to four
non-profit organizations and an individual. Each of the winners has established
programs that utilize assistive technology and effective personnel practices
resulting in significant employment for people with disabilities.
I cannot emphasize strongly enough the importance of technology
for creating an accessible work environment. A barrier-free environment must
include such things as ramps for building access, appropriate door widths, and
paths of travel free of impediments. Of equal concern is access to
communication.
The person who is blind or visually impaired, for example, must be
able to read the computer screen and documents. The person who is deaf or hard
of hearing must be able to participate in the discussion at a meeting or in a
telephone conversation.
ODEP's strategies include identifying physical, communication and
programmatic effective practices and sharing these widely with employers,
service providers, government agencies and others.
ODEP promotes policies that expand access to quality training,
education, employment support services and entrepreneurial development.
Our multi-year projects are focused to move policy to practice by
meeting employers' needs, transitioning youth from school to work, and
researching work options, such as customized employment and telework.
ODEP's work includes refining methods of supplying skilled labor
to the workplace.
ODEP also seeks partnerships with other agencies and organizations
to carry out its work. Allow me to cite several on-going collaborative efforts.
- One promising approach finds the Department of Labor
collaborating with the Social Security Administration and the Department of
Health and Human Services. We established a position named a "navigator" in the
One Stop Career Centers to help people with disabilities to find their way
through the maze of state and local services essential to living independently
in the community.
- Another significant effort that we have just launched with two
of our sister agencies in the Department of Labor and with the U. S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development is focused on chronically homeless disabled
individuals. Led by the White House, this interagency initiative is investing
more than $13 million to help people with disabilities who are chronically
homeless to achieve employment, permanent housing, and self-sufficiency.
The concept of customized employment is central to this effort.
Customized employment means individualizing the employment relationship between
employees and employers based on a determination of the strengths of the person
with a disability.
Improving the employment results of people with disabilities
requires the cooperation of the federal government, state and local
governments, the private sector, service providers, and advocacy organizations.
We must work together to develop strategies for success. We must
determine what barriers act as roadblocks-and we must remove them. As we move
further into the 21st century, we are faced with new challenges.
The transformation we are currently undergoing creates a great
opportunity in terms of employment for people with disabilities. Together we
must make sure that the result is a society -- a world -- that affords
opportunity for employment and community participation to all people.
Thank you for your kind attention. I will be happy to take
questions later in this session.
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