2002 National Conference on Native American Rehabilitation
"Gathering of Wisdoms Through Partnerships"
Written Remarks By Gerrie Hawkins, Ph.D
Seattle, Washington

November 18, 2002

Good morning, President Treva Roanhorse, the distinguished Executive Board and the conference planning committee for the Consortia of Administrators for Native American Rehabilitation (CANAR). Thank you for the invitation to participate on this Keynote Panel. It is an honor to share this time today on behalf of the National Council on Disability (NCD). An NCD Policy Team goal for FY03 is to build strong working partnerships (public and private) among the federal government and grassroots, state, local, and tribal entities for implementing national laws and policies at the state and community level more effectively. Participation in this panel moves NCD toward that goal.

NCD is an independent federal agency representing all people with disabilities, regardless of severity, and from all cultural, racial and ethnic backgrounds. The 15 NCD council members are appointed by the President of the United States, confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and charged to make recommendations to the President, Congress and federal agency officials concerning ways to better promote equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities.

Prior to its designation as an independent federal agency under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, NCD operated under a different name as a part of the U. S. Department of Education and therein, issued what might have been considered a ground-breaking policy document in the early 1980s. A letter of response from President Ronald Reagan indicates that the document, National Policy for Persons with Disabilities - Executive Summary, January 1984, developed and disseminated nearly two decades ago also provided policy advice that has been repeated to subsequent Administrations and sessions of Congress.

Although the terms "culturally appropriate" or "culturally responsive" were absent from the 1980s paper, the document described a continuum of services to assist people with disabilities in the process of obtaining and retaining employment and self-sufficiency, awareness and recognition of underserved and unserved populations seemed evident. The paper also declared that the government and the private sector shall examine the unmet needs of all segments of society and must cooperate to ensure that adequate services and opportunities are available to all people with disabilities including rural residents, women, African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, veterans and members of other social, racial and ethnic groups.

During intervening years of dialogue and input via round table, forum, hearing, think tank, retreat and/or teleconference methods, NCD expanded its outreach and incorporated into its work and national recommendations more specific needs for culturally appropriate information dissemination, education and training opportunities, as well as services, providers, programs and supports. NCD continues to report grassroots perspectives on issues affecting more than 54 million Americans with disabilities in its reports to the President, Congress and the public.

On one hand, NCD's advice has been consistent on partnerships and effective coordination of efforts needed to improve the lives of all people with disabilities. On the other hand, as participants in this conference are aware, too many issues and concerns remain unresolved and needs remain unmet among people with disabilities from diverse cultures, including the more than 560 tribal communities of American Indian and Alaska Native people. Conference interests in rehabilitation and cultural diversity were considerations in the selection of examples used today from NCD reports of findings and recommendations related to partnerships. The selections include NCD's progress report released in July 2002, two reports on education, training and employment, and two on people with disabilities from diverse cultures.

Based on NCD's related research efforts of the past several years, effective partnerships, whether among entities such as children, parents or guardians, families, schools, business and industry, public and private sector agencies and organizations, have been included in NCD reports. In 1989 NCD published its first study of public education, The Education of Students with Disabilities: Where Do We Stand? It reported findings of insufficient partnerships between the business community and schools for the purpose of enhancing employment opportunities for students with disabilities. NCD's 1993 report, Meeting the Unique Needs of Minorities with Disabilities, underscored the challenge of partnerships needed to appropriately address unmet needs of people with disabilities from diverse cultures and rural communities. NCD continued to identify issues and develop federal policy regarding these needs during its 1997 rural communities roundtable in Atlanta, Georgia where participants stressed partnerships in natural support systems for meaningful and productive outreach. NCD heard from American Indian participants and included in its report the advice that ongoing education and training initiatives on disability issues must acknowledge sovereignty relationships and that many federal laws do not apply on tribal lands. NCD also recommended that federal agencies involve people with disabilities from tribal communities as partners in policy-making opportunities. Another NCD recommendation was (and remains) to expand service delivery systems to include models that work in communities of people from diverse cultures regarding support for cooperation, self-determination, shared decision-making, shared responsibilities, and cultural/tribal pride.

The late 1990's saw NCD's recommendations intertwined with the notion of effective partnerships aimed at closing the gaps to education and training, service and successful employment and independent living outcomes. Lift Every Voice: Modernizing Disability Policies and Programs to Serve a Diverse Nation (December 1999) provided comprehensive recommendations for eliminating access to service gaps experienced by people from diverse cultures and people who speak languages other than English. Ranging from employment to childcare to access to governmental services and information to diversification of human-services personnel and a host of other key areas, Lift Every Voice offers a viable and timely blueprint for action and change.

Just as the current Administration has undertaken a multi-agency review of access barriers in federal policy and law to the implementation of the Olmstead decision, NCD also recommends in its National Disability Policy: A Progress Report (July 26, 2002) that the Administration should use Lift Every Voice as a starting point and comprehensively address barriers that are specific to people at the intersection of disability and cultural diversity. American Indian and Alaska Native people with disabilities would be included in this analysis.

NCD's 2002 progress report also addresses partnerships for broadening culturally responsive outreach intended to increase public awareness. At the federal level, NCD recommends that an interagency team recruit, train, and contract with a core group composed of people with disabilities from diverse cultural backgrounds and their family members to help (1) develop the written materials and programs that will be used for the trainings; (2) translate materials into many languages, including accessible and alternative formats, with sensitivity to cultural appropriateness of terminology; and (3) sponsor or conduct the trainings once the appropriate materials are translated. NCD also recommends in this connection that Congress should provide funding support to the federal partners and sponsors of the trainings or other incentives to partners in order to eliminate potential financial barriers to participation by team members of limited means.

Partnership is also addressed in the 2002 NCD progress report's update on a five-year project research and youth leadership-training project involving the Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services, along with the SSA and NCD. Amid the new initiatives coming out of the current Administration, NCD believes it would be valuable for the Administration to review and comment on the status and results of the National Youth Leadership Network initiative and its viability and, more broadly, to comment on its relevance to the New Freedom Initiative. In this context, NCD hopes the Administration can further address the issues surrounding transition (from school to work and adult living) for youth with disabilities. This needs to include methods for identifying and targeting necessary specialized services, means for fully integrating youth with disabilities into the nation's employment training and placement systems, and ways for ensuring that economic trends and labor-demand forecasts will be appropriately used in the development of training programs, employment development, and job placement strategies. Such recommendations are in keeping with NCD's legislative mandate to assist the empowerment of individuals with disabilities to achieve economic self-sufficiency, independent living, inclusion and integration into all aspects of society.

Finally, NCD's testimony before the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel in New York (May14, 2002) restated needs for effective partnerships, including recommendations from the joint report with the Social Security Administration, Transition and Post School Outcomes for Youth with Disabilities: Closing the Gaps to Post-School Education and Employment. As the next rounds of reauthorization deliberations begin regarding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, NCD urges the President and the Congress to ensure that the tools necessary for obtaining education and employment goals are provided to today's youth who will shape our nation's future. Overall, NCD's recommendations for action at the state, local, and community level underscore parents and families' call for removing administrative disincentives for collaboration and coordination of efforts, documenting and sharing information about what works. This advice also echoes the youth with disabilities who have indicated to NCD their perspectives reflecting the need to integrate into daily school life early planning and preparation for secondary school transition, greater involvement of community resources at all levels, and innovation in ways of reaching diverse cultures, underserved and unserved populations.

Overall, NCD's evaluative reports on key disability laws recognize that all branches of the federal government must work together, as well as in cooperation with state and local government and the private sector, to eliminate barriers to full participation in civic life. Of course this paper provides an abbreviated account of NCD's ongoing work in the area of partnerships that can lead to full integration of people with disabilities into their communities. As this conference continues, I will be available for dialogue and can suggest a number of other NCD reports with relevance to rehabilitation and related issues such as Back to School on Civil Rights (January 2000) and The Well Being of our Nation: An Inter-Generational Vision of Effective Mental Health Services and Support (September 2002)--reports that also include advice about the role of key partnerships in improving the lives of people with disabilities. More information about NCD recommendations to the President and Congress on a variety of topics and issues can also be found at NCD's website: www.ncd.gov

Again, thank you for the opportunity to share this information with you today on behalf of the National Council on Disability. NCD stands ready to work in partnership with you in any appropriate way that might be useful as you continue important work to improve culturally responsive vocational rehabilitation opportunities, services, and outcomes for American Indian and Alaska Native people with disabilities.