Lex Frieden, Chairperson
March 2006

The Bulletin, which is free of charge and at NCD’s award-winning Web site (www.ncd.gov), brings you the latest issues and news affecting people with disabilities. To subscribe to the NCD listserv, go to http://listserv.access.gpo.gov, click on Online mailing list archives, select NCD-NEWS-L, click on Join or leave the list, then complete the short subscription form. Please send your editorial comments to Bulletin editor Mark S. Quigley (mquigley@ncd.gov).

ADA 16th Anniversary—Save the Date

Save the date—July 26, 2006—for the 16th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), when NCD will hold a “National Dialogue on the State of Disability” at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. At the 15th ADA anniversary, NCD released NCD and the Americans with Disabilities Act: 15 Years of Progress (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2005/15yearprogress.htm).

Employment Project

NCD met with representatives from the Social Security Administration, the Department of Labor’s Office on Disability Employment Policy, Employment Training Administration, and the Rehabilitation Services Administration to discuss NCD’s report The Social Security Administration’s Efforts to Promote Employment for People with Disabilities (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2005/ssa-promoteemployment.htm). NCD’s employment project and the project’s Business Advisory Committee (BAC) were also discussed.

NCD has begun an assertive and systematic review of both public and private policies and initiatives aimed at improving the employment of people with disabilities. NCD’s employment project includes the following major components: a) a thorough, systematic examination or environmental scan of the nexus between employment and the following areas: transportation; housing; reasonable accommodations; education; health care; assistive technology; telecommunications; long-term services and supports; and telecommuting; b) a BAC and public forums to solicit information and input on employment issues and practices; c) informational issue briefs that examine the status and impact of existing employment strategies at the federal, state, and local levels; d) an expert advisory panel; and e) a cohesive final report with information drawn from the environmental scan, BAC, public forums, and informational briefs along with recommendations aimed at improving the employment status of people with disabilities.

The BAC, an essential and integral component of this project, will serve several functions. The BAC will be a primary source of information on current and ideal employment practices regarding legal, economic, environmental, cultural, and other issues related to employing persons with disabilities. The BAC will also provide information on types of employment, including modalities such as contingent employment or telework. The BAC will identify current policies and recommend future policies that will help employers to hire and retain employees with disabilities. Employment for persons with disabilities tends to be clustered in a few areas, so the BAC will help identify possible future growth industries and occupations. The BAC will also identify needs, gaps, and supports for employees with disabilities that they perceive as essential for finding and maintaining employment.

The first BAC meeting was held in New York City on March 23.

Asset Development Roundtable
NCD participated in an Asset Development Roundtable sponsored by the President’s Committee on People with Intellectual Disabilities (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/pcpid/index.html).

The primary goal of the Asset Development Roundtable was to heighten awareness of the various savings instruments, and to explore the availability and accessibility of these instruments to people with intellectual disabilities. The Roundtable sponsors and participants explored the following issues:

How asset-building strategies can enable people with intellectual disabilities and their families and caregivers to become economically self-sufficient;

The underlying needs, challenges, and implementation strategies that must be addressed to increase the availability of savings instruments to people with intellectual disabilities;

Specific recommendations for making the Assets for Independence (AFI) Program more accessible and useful for people with intellectual disabilities, particularly those who rely on SSI or SSDI;

The legislative, regulatory, or administrative changes that are needed to make the AFI Program more accessible to people with intellectual disabilities;

Current research needs of Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) for people with disabilities, and the development of potential research areas and issues of other asset-building strategies and programs for this population; and

Current asset-building vehicles for people with intellectual disabilities that are administered by federal and state agencies (e.g., the PASS program at the Social Security Administration (SSA), programs at the Department of Labor, the Florida SSA 1115 waiver project, the current AFI IDA project of Washington that focuses on people with disabilities, the new IDA project in Illinois designed for caregivers, and the National Cooperative Development Bank AFI IDA Project.

Institutionalization Hearing

NCD participated in an ADAPT-sponsored panel in Nashville, Tennessee, that heard testimony about institutionalization. The following NCD reports were distributed to attendees: Olmstead: Reclaiming Institutionalized Lives (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2003/reclaimabridged.htm), Livable Communities for Adults with Disabilities (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2004/LivableCommunities.htm), and The State of 21st Century Long-Term Services and Supports: Financing and Systems Reform for Americans with Disabilities (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2005/pdf/longterm_services.pdf).

Youth Advisory Committee

Congratulations Gina Semenza (CA)m the newly installed chair of NCD’s Youth Advisory Committee (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/advisory/youth/youth.htm). She provides the following update:

1) NCD is a member of a Federal Partners in Transition Workgroup, and this group has asked YAC to create an interagency "Fact Sheet" for transition-aged youth and their families about self-determination. Self-determination is believing you can control your own destiny through a combination of attitudes and abilities that lead people to set goals for themselves and take the initiative to reach these goals. It means making your own choices, learning to effectively solve problems, and taking control and responsibility for your life. Practicing self-determination also means experiencing the consequences of making choices.

2) The YAC policy work group is also working on the Transition and Technology paper, which will be brought to the full YAC by late May.

3) The Outreach/Networking work group is also working on some cool projects. The resource list has been a huge success—we developed a list that is larger than we initially planned! Don't forget, this list is an ongoing project, so anytime you come across a person or a specific organization that's interested in being a part of it, please pass their info on to the Outreach team at youth@ncd.gov. The Outreach/Networking work group is finalizing a YAC brochure to share through the new network and drafting an Assistive Technology Fact Sheet and a Youth Leadership Fact Sheet.

Legislative Update

On February 17, 2005, H.R. 951, the Video Description Restoration Act of 2005, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. On April 26, 2005, S. 900, the Television Information-Enhancement for the Visually Impaired Act, or the TIVI Act, was introduced in the U.S. Senate. These bills would reinstate the Federal Communications Commission's rules for the description of video programming. The video description rules required major networks and cable channels in the top 25 markets to present at least four hours of described programming per week and required such service in other markets where equipment was available to provide video description.

H.R. 951 was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and was subsequently referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. S. 900 was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

News from the Department of Justice

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on March 1 that it has filed suit against the State of New York alleging violations of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002.

The government’s complaint contends that the state has failed to comply with two of HAVA’s requirements governing federal elections. State voting systems must be fully accessible by voters with disabilities and capable of generating a permanent paper record that can be manually audited, and states must create a statewide computerized voter registration database. The lawsuit is the first filed to vindicate these important federal obligations.

For more information on voting accessibility, please see NCD’s 2001 paper Inclusive Federal Election Reform at http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2001/electionreform.htm.

On another front, Ollie Cantos has been appointed by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to serve as the special counsel to Assistant Attorney General Wan J. Kim, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice.

News from the Department of Education

On March 21, John Hager, Assistant Secretary of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education, announced the appointment of Alexa Posny as director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Troy Justesen had been serving as acting director of OSEP.

Note:

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Mark S. Quigley