Economic Justice

Independent work experience may improve autistic symptoms.  That’s the finding of a recent study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

153 adults aged 19 to 53 participated in the study, which followed them for 5½ years.  Representing the range of the autism spectrum, some had average or very high IQ scores, while about 70% also had intellectual disabilities.

Most of the participants worked in sheltered workshop environments; others had no job, were strictly volunteering or worked with some level of support in the community.  About 20% worked independently in competitive employment or sought a degree.

The researchers found that those who had greater independence in their work activities exhibited more and measurable improvements both in their behaviors and in their daily living skills over the years of the study.

The new scoring system removes collection agency accounts, based on medical debt, whether the account was settled for less than what was owed or if it was paid in full. The new system also discounts overdue medical payments helping improve the median FICO score for consumers with disabilities who mainly have unpaid medical debts. The new scoring system reportedly can increase a consumers’ score by as much as 25 points. According to industry analysis, only 10% of medical debt is paid in full; often do to errors in billing, coverage, and miscommunication rather than consumers inability to pay.

Employers often don't have the necessary information on how to deal with employees who require assistance dogs. In addition to needing to understand how to integrate the dog into a work setting, employers have concerns about how other employees will react. What if someone is allergic? Fearful of dogs? What if the dog is too distracting?

These issues and more were discussed in a live webinar produced by the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a service of the Office of Disability Policy, U.S. Department of Labor on August 5, 2014.

The purpose of the webinar was to explain best practices (and legal rights of both employer and employee) of integrating a service dog into the workplace. Interest was high: 500 locations signed up in advance, completely filling the live event.

The President signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which replaces the outdated Workforce Investment Act of 1998. This new law represents a renewed commitment to workforce development with an eye to the future through innovation and support for individual and national economic growth. It is aimed at increasing opportunities, particularly for those facing barriers to employment, and invests in the important connection between education and career preparation. It looks to the prosperity of workers and employers and focuses on the economic growth of communities, regions, and states to enhance our global competitiveness as a country. While some research services and resources for those with disabilities will be transferred from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), we expect a seamless transition with minimal disruption, and we express our continued strong commitment to grantees and all key stakeholders.

The new law states that the amendments that it makes to the Rehabilitation Act, as well as the transfer of certain programs from ED to HHS, took effect when President Obama signed the bill. However, WIOA also gives the Secretaries of ED and HHS authority to ensure an orderly transition as they implement these changes so they are carried out in a manner that minimizes disruption. ED and HHS, after working with the Office of Management and Budget, have determined that ED will continue to administer the affected programs until the orderly transfer can be completed as soon as reasonably possible. We will continue to engage and inform grantees and key stakeholders as specific plans for the transfer of these programs are developed and implemented. We appreciate your continued support as we realign and strengthen our programs for people with disabilities.

President Barack Obama signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) into law on July 22, 2014. WIOA is designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy. Congress passed the Act by a wide bipartisan majority; it is the first legislative reform in 15 years of the public workforce system.

A bill that would significantly limit young people with disabilities from entering sheltered workshop programs is headed to President Barack Obama’s desk.

Specifically, the measure would prohibit individuals age 24 and younger from working jobs that pay less than the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour unless they first try vocational rehabilitation services, among other requirements.

What’s more, the legislation would require state vocational rehabilitation agencies to work with schools to provide “pre-employment transition services” to all students with disabilities. And, such agencies must allocate a minimum of 15 percent of their federal funding to help individuals with disabilities in transition under the measure.

Though it was not on the call agenda, one of my colleagues from the Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination (CPSD), Ari Ne’eman, president of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN), asked whether federal contractors paid less than the federal minimum wage would be included in this executive order. Ari was referring to the fact that thousands of federal contractors are paid subminimum wages because they have disabilities, due to an arcane provision that exempts businesses holding special wage certificates from the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. This allows these businesses to pay workers with disabilities subminimum wages, sometimes as low as mere cents an hour.

Perez replied that the White House did not have the authority to prevent subminimum wages for workers employed by employers with 14(c) certificates. We challenged this suggestion during the call, and immediately began to craft an advocacy campaign to educate the administration about the archaic law it was defending and urge it to include workers with disabilities in the executive order. As the former Department of Justice civil rights division chief who enforced the 1999 Supreme Court decision Olmstead v. L.C., which mandated that Americans with disabilities must receive services in the “most integrated setting,” we knew we had a champion in Perez.

Our approach was twofold: first, to build a broad coalition of disability, social justice, civil rights and labor advocacy organizations. This served two purposes: to get the administration’s attention and to prevent the infighting that too often plagues individual constituencies, including disability groups. By preventing these internal quarrels over technical issues, we were able to focus on confronting the main issue of unequal rights for people with disabilities. Our first step to achieve this was to produce an organizational sign-on letter that was distributed across a wide network of potential supporters.

Our second tactic was to craft a simple message – one of fairness and decency – that appealed to all audiences: that the president’s executive order was wrong to exclude disabled workers simply because they are disabled. As Obama himself stated during the State of the Union, “If you cook our troops’ meals or wash their dishes, you shouldn’t have to live in poverty.” Though he may not have realized it, many of the workers who perform these jobs are employed through a network of providers that receive federal contracts for goods and services, and are able to profit by paying workers with disabilities less than the minimum wage.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is interested in revising the regulations implementing Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which directly “governs employment of individuals with disabilities by the federal government.” The EEOC is looking to the public for input on how to improve federal hiring of people with disabilities. Under the current law, federal agencies are obligated to serve as model employers of people with disabilities, but there are no set rules they must follow by which to achieve this result.  The EEOC hopes to remedy this through the provision of specific rules that address topics such as employment goals, workplace accommodations, and hiring, retention and advancement practices.