NCD letter to SourceAmerica about NCD inaccuracies in their social media posts

October 13, 2026

Richard Belden
President and CEO
SourceAmerica
8401 Old Courthouse Rd.
Vienna, VA 22812

Dear Mr. Belden,

As Acting Chairman of the National Council on Disability (NCD), I am requesting you issue corrections to errors and inferences in recent social media posts and your press release of October 5, 2026; and to reaffirm NCD’s historic and current positions on AbilityOne to dispel any confusion these errors may have caused.

Specifically, in a September 15 post to X, Source America notes that it heard “words of support” from NCD Council Member Brian Patchett at its recent Grassroots Advocacy conference. In your October 5 press release, which focuses on your goals to “expand” AbilityOne jobs, Source America notes that NCD was “represented” at the conference and only later disclaims that “References to federal officials or agencies do not imply endorsement by the federal government” at the end of the press release which otherwise implies support from NCD. Moreover, NCD is noted as a “key organization,” which obscures our important distinction as a federal advisory body. I am concerned that taken in total, these and similar references has created confusion regarding NCD and its positions.

To be clear, Mr. Patchett was not representing NCD at the conference. Therefore, though Mr. Patchett is an NCD Council Member, all descriptions and inferences of Mr. Patchett representing NCD at this conference are false and require immediate public correction.

NCD’s position on AbilityOne has remained unchanged since our 2020 Policies from the Past in a Modern Era report – that the program is a policy relic out of step with modern disability policy, and that it should be phased out and replaced with a requirement of federal contractors to employ a certain percentage of people with significant disabilities. ¹ Just last week, we renewed that conclusion and recommendation in our 2026 Progress Report. ²

As independent, bipartisan policy advisers to the President and Congress, it is imperative that these corrections are public-facing, and through the same channels in which the errant statements were delivered. I respectfully but firmly request these corrections be made at your first opportunity and that confirmation of their correction be made to our Executive Director, Ana Torres-Davis, at atorresdavis@ncd.gov.

Respectfully,

Neil Romano
Acting Chairman