employment for disabled persons

[Guest guest]

(Below is a press release from the Department of Labor. Last

Monday, Secretary Herman announced that the President's FY01 budget

includes the creation of a new Office on Disability Policy, Evaluation

and Technical Assistance, which was one of the recent recommendations by

the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities.

Significantly, this office would (if approved by Congress) be headed by

an Assistant Secretary, which would give high exposure and priority to

the issues of employment for people with disabilities.)

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The U.S. Labor Department's proposed 2001 budget includes funding

for a new Office on Disability Policy, Evaluation and Technical

Assistance. Secretary of Labor is M. Herman said the new office will

be charged with increasing the employment rate of people with

disabilities.

Secretary Herman discussed details of the department's proposed

budget for next year during a briefing in Washington Monday. She

requested $21 million to set up the disability office and said it would

be headed by an assistant secretary.

This new office will provide leadership in helping people with

disabilities enter, reenter and remain in the workforce,' Secretary

Herman said. 'With the recent passage of the Workforce Incentives

Improvement Act and the Workforce Investment Act, the stage is set to

achieve real change in the unemployment rate for people with

disabilities.

The Labor Department's new disability office would ensure that

people with disabilities get full consideration in all programs funded

or managed by the department; that the laws enforced by the department

are evaluated to remove any barriers that may exist for people with

disabilities; and absorb the President's Committee on the Employment of

People With Disabilities, which works with employers to develop

strategies to employ persons with disabilities.

The Work Incentives Improvement Act makes it possible for millions

of people with disabilities to take jobs without losing their health

care. The Workforce Investment Act establishes a system of one-stop

career centers throughout the country and funds job training programs.

The disability office also would be directed to make sure that all

services of the one-stop centers are accessible for people with

disabilities.

Currently only 29 percent of working age people with disabilities

are employed, though of those not working, 72 percent want to work. The

Presidential Task Force on the Employment of Adults with Disabilities

recommended that the Labor Department office be established to improve

opportunities for people with disabilities.

Task Force Executive Director Becky Ogle said that creating the

office demonstrates the commitment to put people with disabilities to

work. Secretary Herman chairs the task force.