Americans with Disabilities Act: 21 Years Later

An interesting video at the link--see Executive Director of the World Institute of Disability, Kathy Martinez (who was also nominated by President Obama as assistant secretary for the Office of Disability Employment Policy) discuss the Americans with Disabilitites Act.

Today, twenty one years ago, the “Americans With Disabilities Act” was signed, protecting the 36 million people with disabilities in the U.S.

This afternoon, a coalition of disability groups is rallying together to protest sub-minimum wage jobs for those with disabilities, which they say U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk supports. Disabled Americans Want Work Now (DAWWN) and the National Federation of the Blind will protest from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Federal Building in Chicago.

Funding for Employment Programs

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Labor Tuesday announced the availability of approximately $20 million to fund programs that will improve education, training and employment opportunities for adults and youth with disabilities. A solicitation for grant applications is published in Tuesday's edition of the Federal Register.
The Disability Employment Initiative is a joint project of the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration and its Office of Disability Employment Policy. Programs to be funded will serve individuals who are unemployed, underemployed and/or receiving Social Security disability benefits. The goals of the project are to improve coordination and collaboration across multiple service delivery systems, build effective partnerships that leverage public and private resources to better serve people with disabilities and, ultimately, improve employment outcomes of people with disabilities.