W. Roy Grizzard, Jr.
Assistant Secretary, U. S. Department of Labor
Office of Disability Employment Policy
7th Annual National Council on Rehabilitation Education Conference
San Diego, California
February 23, 2007
Americans with Disabilities: Ready for the Global Workforce is the official theme selected by U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao for National Disability Employment Awareness Month - 2006. The theme echoes President George W. Bush’s New Freedom Initiative which has been in the lead, recognizing the need to promote greater job opportunities for workers with disabilities.
The Secretary selected this theme to highlight the fact that we live in an economy with strong competition beyond our borders. The risks in this new economy are great, as are the rewards. One has only to look at the returns of mutual funds that have invested in overseas stocks to see that value is being generated beyond our borders. We believe that success in this economy will be the reward to only those who take full advantage of every resource at hand. Workers with disabilities, trained and ready for the global workforce are that resource!
Last year’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month poster was designed to clearly reflect this theme. As many of you may recall, the poster depicts a young man with Down syndrome wearing a telephone headset. Dressed in a white shirt and a brightly colored tie, this young man was shown doing his job and a backdrop of the world globe appeared behind him. In an office or at a Call Center, he could be fielding calls or taking orders from anywhere in the world.
I would like to commend the National Council on Rehabilitation Education (NCRE) for the work you are doing. Your 52-year history gives clear evidence of your quest for quality education, training and professional standards. Your literature tells the story well. You began because you felt voiceless and now look at your success-- 75 percent of graduates working in related state/Federal VR programs. Congratulations on your emergence as the leading professional association for rehabilitation educators.
In fact, it was your Washington D.C. representative, Dr. Donald Dew, who served as NCRE President for two terms, who urged members to think globally and to learn from the world community in his 2000 annual report
Many of you may know that ODEP provides leadership in developing policy and practice to eliminate employment barriers to people with disabilities. What you may not know is that ODEP is the only Federal agency that serves this purpose. To accomplish this complex and substantial task, ODEP acts in three ways:
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ODEP identifies, documents and analyzes the barriers to employment faced by people with disabilities
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ODEP develops policy and strategies that reduce and remove those barriers, and
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ODEP fosters the adoption and implementation of policy and strategies throughout Federal, state, and local non-government and government systems and private and public sector employers where the barriers are located.
Preparing people with disabilities to meet the demands of a global workforce requires extensive planning and coordination within service delivery systems. As America faces a constant challenge to gear up to compete in a global environment, it is our responsibility to see that people with disabilities are not left behind. Each of us here today is part of the process of preparing people with disabilities to meet these changing requirements. Together, I believe we can make this happen.
We are on a mission – a great and honorable mission! We are responsible to those who pay us to be successful, to the citizens of this great country, and to those who will most directly benefit – our customers, workers with disabilities and their employers. I can see that day coming in my mind’s eye – that day when all people with disabilities who want to work, will be working.
Because workforce systems are driven by policies and practices, I would like to share three ODEP approaches with you that can be readily adopted to enhance the preparation we are discussing. The three ODEP approaches are: First – Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Initiative, Second – Universal Design, and Third – Customized Employment.
The Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Initiative is the result of a research study conducted by the National Collaborative on Workforce & Disability for Youth funded by ODEP. Specific knowledge, skills and abilities are identified for those who work with young people, both with and without disabilities.
Improving the competencies of youth service practitioners through ongoing professional development is critical to shaping the workforce we envision. Ensuring that these workers have the skills they need to do their job well, will lead to better practices with youth, which in turn will produce positive youth outcomes such as staying in school, graduating from high school, seeking an advanced degree, or getting a job.
This is particularly important in light of a recent report by leaders of a consortium of organizations that have vested interests in ensuring that employers have access to a world-class supply of American workers; The Conference Board, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Corporate Voices for Working Families, and the Society for Human Resource Management. The report, Are They Really Ready to Work? Employers’ Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century Workforce, released October 2, 2006, found that new entrants to the workforce were severely lacking in applied skills such as teamwork, collaboration and critical thinking.
The second approach is universal design or UD. UD is an integral part of the world community that is evolving. I spoke recently at a forum on accessibility in the corporate environment at the International Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA). Attendees at the ATIA conference were taking a strategic look at a world where products and environments can be used by all people without the need for adaptation or specialized design. Creating products and services with the greatest variety of individuals in mind from the outset eliminates costly after-the-fact modifications.
When we speak of universal design in the context of workforce development, we must strive to ensure that our programs, services, and activities are designed to be useable to the greatest extent possible by all job seekers. Achieving universal design within the workforce development system may involve changes in four key areas: policy, the physical environment, program design, as well as practices. Making these changes creates an environment for maximum inclusion of all people—particularly those with multiple barriers to employment
For those experiencing multiple employment barriers, ODEP offers a third approach: a competitive edge through Customized Employment. Customized employment is a set of strategies that result in a job being individually tailored to meet the needs of an employee or job seeker and the identified needs of the employer. It is a win-win situation. Let’s face it, everybody begins to customize their jobs after being hired, reflecting personal preferences, contributions, or strengths. ODEP’s Customized Employment initiative has demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach not only with people with disabilities, but with others who have complex life circumstances that impact their success in securing or maintaining employment.
I am pleased to tell you that thousands of workforce investment system professionals now use Customized Employment approaches in training, academic books, curriculum, and national rehabilitation journals. And individuals with disabilities, employed as a result of customized employment demonstration projects, earned on average $9.35 per hour, while 54% remained on their jobs at least 12 months.
ODEP is currently identifying ways to expand understanding and use of this customized approach. Within the Department of Labor, ODEP recently initiated a Customized Apprenticeship Collaboration with the Division of Wage and Hour and the Office of Apprenticeship to create intermediate levels of certification in the Culinary Arts Apprenticeship Program so that persons with significant disabilities can choose to complete intermediate levels of certification according to their abilities. Through this collaboration, persons with significant disabilities will be able to obtain community-based food service jobs starting at minimum wage or above.
ODEP has five new publications on Customized Employment including documents on Employment Supports, Youth Opportunity, a “How To” booklet on the elements and principles of CE and our newest publication on employment successes using the customized approach. I would encourage you to visit ODEP’s Web site at www.dol.gov/odep to review all of our publications. And while you are on the site, be sure to register to receive regular notifications of what’s new at ODEP.
"Forging New Alliances", your title selected for this great conference, is exactly what ODEP is doing. This spring, ODEP will be rolling out its new Alliance Initiative. ODEP’s Alliance Initiative will enable organizations committed to improving disability employment to work with ODEP to develop and implement model policies and initiatives that increase recruiting, hiring, advancing, and retaining workers with disabilities. ODEP and Alliance participants will work together to reach out to, educate, and lead the nation’s employers, employees and organizations in advancing disability employment. Groups that can form an Alliance with ODEP will include employers, labor unions, trade or professional groups, government agencies and educational institutions.
ODEP’s Alliance Initiative came to mind when I first saw the logo you are using for this conference—four distinct puzzle pieces aligned together. This logo speaks volumes about what NCRE is doing and what you hope to accomplish during this conference. As I perused the conference agenda, the thread of collaboration, partnership and alliance became apparent to me. Putting the relationship pieces together not only enhances trust and extends networks but also leverages resources as we, together, champion a workplace that looks like America.
You may have heard of the first Alliance we completed on October 26, 2006 when Susan Meisinger, President and CEO of the Society for Human Resources Management (or SHRM as it is more commonly known) and I signed the documents in my office. As many of your know, SHRM is the world’s largest association devoted to human resource management with a growing membership of more than 217,000 HR professionals including members in more than 100 countries. Together, SHRM and ODEP are actively focusing on training and education, outreach and communication, technical assistance, and fostering a national dialogue. Our respective staffs are hard at work to complete the goals we have set for this Alliance.
In parallel with our Alliances, we actively exchange information with the business recipients of the New Freedom Initiative Award. This group is known as the NFI Circle of Champions. A key theme of our exchanges is recognizing the importance of public-private partnerships and then acting. To date, best practices identified through these exchanges include:
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Securing commitment from top levels of leadership within a company.
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Making the commitment to employees with disabilities intrinsic to a company's culture.
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Developing ways to measure success and holding managers accountable.
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Offering flexible and adaptable work practices.
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Building active relationships with disability employment groups.
To this point, I have addressed some of our alliance work and the work we do with youth and adults. As a policy office with no regulatory authority, ODEP engages in collaboration as well as research demonstration projects to achieve its goals. ODEP’s success requires the involvement, cooperation, and collaboration of multiple agencies and private-sector partners. ODEP’s mission is to provide national leadership by developing and influencing disability-related employment policy and practices affecting the employment of people with disabilities. Evidence-based policies and practices that are developed are being readily adopted by Federal, state, and local service delivery systems and their partners, including public and private employers.
Key to affecting the employment of people with disabilities is knowing how to gain the attention of employers in order for them to learn about the talents of people with disabilities. I would like to share three findings from ODEP’s employer research that supports a strong Business Case for Hiring People with Disabilities. Please feel free to use this information.
Employers’ top concern is finding qualified employees. Faced with a continuing labor shortage, employers are seeking yet untapped resources. When employers found out that more and more young people with disabilities are graduating from high school and college, and that people who experience a disability have creative problem solving skills, employers recognized that many candidates with disabilities do have the talents, skills, and experiences that they are recruiting for.
Employers are concerned with performance and retention. When employers learn that workers with disabilities have comparable performance and retention ratings as employees without disabilities, they see that hiring, retaining and promoting people with disabilities positively impacts their bottom line.
And third, employers say accommodations are costly. When employers hear that almost half of the accommodations that are needed actually cost nothing, and that the typical cost for an accommodation is $500, then they see that accommodations can be made cost effectively.
This business case demonstrates that investing in workers with disabilities is a sound investment—and believe me, that will get you the employer’s attention! This is particularly important now since such a large percentage of the workforce is nearing retirement, and there are too few skilled workers available in the next generation to replace them. Employers are eager to learn about untapped skilled labor pools they can use.
Before I end my remarks, I would like to call your attention both to an announcement that just appeared in the Federal Register and also an afternoon breakout session you should consider attending.
In 2001, Secretary Chao created the New Freedom Initiative Award. Annually, non-profit organizations, small businesses, corporations and individuals are recognized for increasing access to assistive technologies; utilizing innovative training, hiring and retention strategies; and instituting comprehensive strategies to enhance the ability of Americans with disabilities to enter and participate fully in the 21st century workforce. To date, 39 businesses, individuals, and non-profit organizations have received the award.
The 2007 NFI Awards announcement appeared in the Federal Register on February 12. The period for nominating awardees is now open! I hope each of you will encourage individuals, non profit organizations and employers you work with to apply to receive this prestigious recognition. I expect that there are many of you in this audience who should be nominated or nominate others for this award. The deadline for submitting your nomination is April 30. For more information including information on past awardees, please visit ODEP’s Web site at www.dol.gov/odep.
The second point I want to make is to direct your attention to Breakout session 63 in Salon A at 3:50 p.m. today. That session features the Florida High School High Tech Program with Mary Ellen Young and Donna Mundy--a real success story of forging alliances and a former ODEP grantee site. HS/HT programs expose youth with disabilities (ages of 14 and 22) to comprehensive transition services incorporating The Guideposts to Success. Developed jointly by ODEP and the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth, the Guideposts reflect key educational, youth development, and career development interventions which research indicates, all youth, including those with disabilities, need to succeed in post-secondary education and/or employment.
ODEP research shows that using the Guideposts improves school drop out rates and post-secondary and employment outcomes. In fact, forty-six states are now using the Guideposts to develop better state-level transition improvement plans for thousands of school districts and their students.
In closing, let me say that as you embrace the opportunities of collaboration, partnerships and alliances, please visit ODEP’s Web site at www.dol.gov/odep and DisabilityInfo.gov to tap the many resources that support your efforts to promote the improvement of rehabilitation services available to persons with disabilities.
Thank you very much. I know you will make the most of this great conference.
