Welcome
Welcome to the second issue of the Disability Inclusive Employment Policy RRTC Newsletter. If you missed the first issue it is available online.
Today’s unprecedented health, social, and economic challenges raised by the coronavirus pandemic require a retrospective, present-day, and prospective view of U.S. employment policy for individuals with disabilities. Over the next five years, the goal of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on “Disability Inclusive Employment Policy” (DIEP) will be to design and implement a series of studies that produce new data and evidence on policy levers to increase employment rates of persons with disabilities with the objective of informing current and future policy and program development. This project is a collaboration between Syracuse, Harvard, and Rutgers universities.
Anticipated outcomes for the target populations over the next five years include the following:
- Policy makers will have new evidence-based options for employment-related policy development;
- VR and workforce development professionals will have increased strategies to support job seekers with disabilities;
- Businesses and HR professionals will have new evidence-based practices to enhance worker retention and quality of work experience;
- Employment service providers will have new evidence-based strategies to improve employment, job retention, and employment reengagement;
- Individuals with disabilities will have access to new knowledge to explore alternative paths to employment and career advancement;
- Researchers and students will have new data and evidence to support existing and next-generation research ideas; and
- Across targeted audiences there will be a next-generation disability policy framework to advance employment and economic self-sufficiency for working-age adults with disabilities.
Recent Publications
- Governors’ Role in Promoting Disability Employment in COVID-19 Recovery Strategies: Impacts of COVID-19 on People with Disabilities
Author: National Governor’s Association - Thirty Years of The Americans With Disabilities Act: Law Students And Lawyers As Plaintiffs And Advocates
Author: Peter Blanck - America in pain, the nation’s well-being at stake
Author: Nicole Maestasa - The Three Cs of Disclosing Serious Mental Illness at Work: Control, Conditions, Costs
Author: Marjorie Baldwin
Research Spotlight
Recommendations to Improve Collection and Dissemination of Disability Data: Recommendations to Help Implement Executive Order 13985
Authors: Nanette Goodman, Michael Morris, & Andrea Urqueta Alfaro
On January 20th, President Biden issued Executive Order (EO) 13985 to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities throughout the federal government. “Underserved communities” is defined as including “people with disabilities” as a group that has been “historically underserved, marginalized and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.” The EO asks each federal agency to assess whether and to what extent its programs and policies perpetrate systemic barriers to opportunities and benefits for people of color and other underserved groups, such as individuals with disabilities. Each agency is asked to make recommendations to change policies and practices to advance equity to the targeted underserved communities, such as individuals with disabilities. Such efforts could include pilot programs and engage community organizations to identify actions to be taken. The EO also calls for establishment of an Interagency Working Group on Equitable Data. The group will develop recommendations to expand and refine the data collected analyzed and disseminated to measure equity related to the targeted vulnerable populations.
The following brief sets out the current challenges of disability data collection and analysis and makes recommendations for changes across the federal government in the collection, analysis and dissemination of disability data to improve federal efforts to promote equity for people with disabilities.
DISCLAIMER The contents of this newsletter were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90RTEM0006). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this website do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.”
About BBI
The Burton Blatt Institute (“BBI”) at Syracuse University reaches around the globe in its efforts to advance the civic, economic, and social participation of people with disabilities. Through program development, research, and public policy guidance, BBI advances the full inclusion of people with disabilities. BBI builds on the legacy of Burton Blatt, a pioneering disability rights scholar. BBI has offices in Syracuse, NY; Washington, DC; Atlanta, GA; New York City, NY; and Lexington, KY. Learn More about BBI