News Release
NCD #00-290
May 15, 2000
Contact: Mark S. Quigley
202-272-2004
202-272-2074 TTY
mquigley@ncd.gov
National Council on Disability Says Important
Disability Policy Issues Remain Unsolved
WASHINGTON--The National Council on Disability (NCD)
has found that despite the enactment of laws and federal government
regulations designed to enable individuals to engage more fully
in our nation's economy, far too many individuals with disabilities
continue to face daunting life obstacles. While the national unemployment
rate is the lowest it has been for over a quarter of a century,
that rate remains above 70 percent for people with disabilities.
In addition, a majority of the nation's six million students with
disabilities are not receiving special education and related services
in regular education environments. NCD's findings are contained
in its report: National
Disability Policy: A Progress Report.
"NCD believes that Americans with disabilities
have witnessed incremental expansion of self-sufficiency and inclusion
this past year," said NCD chairperson Marca Bristo. "However, far
too much of our time is spent in sustaining the bedrock civil and
human rights protections of the past 30 years against attempts to
weaken laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that are indeed civil
rights laws."
NCD noted that the change in responsibility for the
development of disability-related policy and program implementation,
from the Federal Government to state governments, adds complexities
to policy for people with disabilities, who rely on access to programs
such as Social Security benefits, vocational rehabilitation, Medicaid,
Medicare, special education, and employment.
NCD concludes that:
- Solid leadership and commitment by enforcement
agencies, as well as adequate investment to enforce our civil
rights laws, are needed to help make sure that protections in
law are protections in fact; and
- A strong Patients' Bill of Rights must be enacted
to allow people with disabilities to have a real choice about
where they receive certain types of Medicaid long-term services
and supports.
In this election year, in which Americans will vote
for representatives and leaders at all levels of government, NCD
encourages candidates for office to establish their agendas to facilitate
inclusion of individuals with disabilities, with policies supporting
the bipartisan principles of independent living, economic self-sufficiency
and civil rights protections in law that are protections in fact.
NCD is an independent federal agency representing
all people with disabilities, regardless of severity, from all cultural
backgrounds. NCD makes recommendations to the President and Congress
on disability policy. For more information, contact Mark S. Quigley
at 202-272-2008 or visit NCD's award-winning Web site (http://www.ncd.gov).
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