Obama Administration Vows to Empower Individuals with
Disabilities
Editor: Here's the Obama administration's statement on empowering
people with disabilities. It all sounds great! Let's hope they're able to
make it happen!
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January 2009
"We must build a world free of unnecessary barriers, stereotypes, and
discrimination.... policies must be developed, attitudes must be shaped,
and buildings and organizations must be designed to ensure that everyone
has a chance to get the education they need and live independently as full
citizens in their communities." -- Barack Obama, April 11, 2008
Barack Obama and Joe Biden have a comprehensive agenda to empower
individuals with disabilities in order to equalize opportunities for all
Americans.
In addition to reclaiming America's global leadership on this issue by
becoming a signatory to -- and having the Senate ratify -- the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the plan has four
parts, designed to provide lifelong support and resources to Americans
with disabilities. They are as follows:
First, provide Americans with disabilities with the educational
opportunities they need to succeed by funding the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act, supporting early intervention for children
with disabilities and universal screening, improving college opportunities
for high school graduates with disabilities, and making college more
affordable. Obama and Biden will also authorize a comprehensive study of
students with disabilities and issues relating to transition to work and
higher education.
Second, end discrimination and promote equal opportunity by restoring
the Americans with Disabilities Act, increasing funding for enforcement,
supporting the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, ensuring
affordable, accessible health care for all and improving mental health
care.
Third, increase the employment rate of workers with disabilities by
effectively implementing regulations that require the federal government
and its contractors to employ people with disabilities, providing
private-sector employers with resources to accommodate employees with
disabilities, and encouraging those employers to use existing tax benefits
to hire more workers with disabilities and supporting small businesses
owned by people with disabilities.
And fourth, support independent, community-based living for Americans
with disabilities by enforcing the Community Choice Act, which would allow
Americans with significant disabilities the choice of living in their
community rather than having to live in a nursing home or other
institution, creating a voluntary, budget-neutral national insurance
program to help adults who have or develop functional disabilities to
remain independent and in their communities, and streamline the Social
Security approval process .
