|
The Committee
The
amended JWOD Act of 1971 also created the Committee for Purchase
From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, the independent
Federal agency that administers the AbilityOne Program. The
Committee is comprised of 15 Presidentially-appointed members,
11 of whom represent Governmental agencies (Departments of Agriculture,
Air Force, Army, Commerce, Defense, Education, Justice, Labor, Navy
and Veterans Affairs, and the General Services Administration).
The remaining four members are private citizens knowledgeable about
the employment problems of people who are blind or have other severe
disabilities, including those employed by nonprofit agencies affiliated
with the AbilityOne Program.
Among its many responsibilities, the Committee:
- Determines
which products and services purchased by the Federal Government
must be procured from AbilityOne-participating nonprofit agencies;
-
Establishes the fair market prices for these products and services,
and revises the prices when appropriate;
- Ensures
that nonprofit agencies comply with Committee rules and regulations
(through on-site reviews of agency operations, annual certifications
and other means);
- Assists
entities of the Federal Government in expanding their AbilityOne procurement;
and
- Designates
one or more distributors for AbilityOne products and services.
To help carry out its mandate, the Committee has a full-time
staff located in Arlington, Virginia. The staff reviews proposed
products and services to ensure that the Committee has adequate
data to determine their suitability for addition to the Procurement
List. Information compiled by the staff is submitted to Committee
members for consideration in deciding whether to add the products
and services to the Procurement List.
Click
here to see the Committee's calendar of meetings scheduled for FY
2008.
2008 Committee Meeting Minutes
2007 Committee Meeting Minutes
|