W. Roy Grizzard, Ed. D.
Assistant Secretary U.S. Department of Labor
OECD Conference
Transforming Disability into Ability
Vienna, Austria
March 6, 2003

Thank you for the kind invitation to present at this event sponsored by the OECD and the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research. The U. S. Department of Labor appreciates the important role of both organizations, the diversity of OECD membership, and the role of research to advance policy options across various important areas of activity.

I especially commend the leadership of both organizations for recognizing the importance of new knowledge informing the development of new disability policy.

I will look forward to learning from all of you as the conference unfolds. The diverse states of Europe harbor valuable lessons, as do the 50 states and 4 territories of the United States of America. Our countries will share valuable information that will hopefully lead to the most effective employment policies for people with disabilities.

The sovereign states on both sides of the Atlantic face a jobs and skills gap in the coming years of the 21st Century. Our collective challenge is to match employer demand in the various labor market sectors with skilled supply. Working age people with disabilities can help greatly to fill the gap.

We in America and in the United States Department of Labor place the highest value on the premise that people with disabilities are able to work. We agree with you, as stated in the OECD policy conclusions, that the term "disabled" should no longer be automatically equated with "unable to work."

We applaud the policy conclusion that disability and benefit receipt should be unbundled. I will later provide examples of work programs meeting individual's needs in different work situations.

We further believe that the individual worker with a disability should be afforded the right to choose what type of work to do, have technical assistance to perform essential functions of a job, and have the chance to advance and progress in work of choice. As such, individual worker needs must be embedded in policies and comprehensively addressed in practical implementations.

I want to speak about the opportunity we all have to create meaningful policy regarding people with disabilities. The word "opportunity" has an especially important meaning to me, for I have retinitis pigmentosa, and have been declared legally blind.

But that did not stop me from earning three degrees, or from serving in the field of education for over 25 years. It did not keep me from running a large state agency, or from being appointed as the first Assistant Secretary on disability employment issues in the history of the United States.

A large part of my success continues because I have come in contact with people who focus on my abilities - not on my disability. They give me opportunities to succeed, and I rise to the challenges.

Public policy, and the structures and systems which emanate from such policy, are in many ways a reflection of societal beliefs and values.

The key value on which the United States of America was founded is that of freedom. And one of the key definitions of freedom is: "the right of enjoying all of the privileges of membership or citizenship." The best form of economic security, the best pathway to full participation in citizenship, is employment.

The history of U.S. policy impacting people with disabilities is a long and winding road -- moving from isolation and segregation to inclusion, empowerment and disability rights. History tells us that, as a group, people with disabilities were hidden from society, and viewed as a class of dependent people who would always require segregation, protection, charity and care.

But American policies have helped change this view. They have shaped the movement of people with disabilities from segregation to integration - from being hidden away to becoming full participants of an inclusive community, including the employment community. United States policy now clearly recognizes that people with disabilities can work and should be afforded the services and supports they choose to make that happen.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed into law July 26, 1990, is the "lens" for disability policy in the United States. Enactment of this landmark civil rights legislation struck a statutory and regulatory blow to discrimination against individuals with disabilities in employment, state and local government services, public accommodation, and telecommunications.

The ADA serves as the framework for government-wide actions to end discrimination against people with disabilities in the United States.

As with any significant civil rights legislation, later questions raised as to the scope and intent of this Act are further defined through implementation. An American freedom is the opportunity to raise questions. We have an environment of checks and balances established by our founding fathers to ensure refinement of policy and practices.

We are fortunate to have a President who is fully committed to extending the opportunity to succeed to people with disabilities. He believes that the ADA has been an integral component of the movement toward full integration of people with disabilities into every aspect of American life. But he also recognizes that there is far more to be done to integrate people with disabilities into the workforce.

Two weeks after taking office, President George W. Bush launched the New Freedom Initiative, or NFI, as we call it. This Presidential Administration understands well the integration and synergies across government.

The President charged federal agencies in February 2001 to assess their programs and policies relating to people with disabilities, and to identify how they would support the objectives of the NFI. The objectives include:

Increasing access to assistive technologies
Expanding educational opportunities
Promoting increased access into the community, and
Increasing access to employment.

The NFI promotes federal interagency coordination to solve the complex social policy issues that impact employment for people with disabilities. The NFI recognizes that many aspects influence the ability of people with disabilities to seek and keep meaningful employment. These issues are broad-based, and involve many government entities.

For instance, the Department of Transportation needs to ensure that people with disabilities have a way to get to work. The Department of Education needs to ensure that people with disabilities have the requisite education and effective processes to transition from school to work. The Department of Health and Human Services needs to ensure that people with disabilities have access to health care. And the Social Security Administration needs to ensure that social security programs provide the flexibility and incentive for people with disabilities to leave the public assistance roles and participate in the workplace.

The Department of Labor is charged with preparing the American workforce for new and better jobs, and ensuring the adequacy of America's workplaces. The Department is responsible for the administration and enforcement of over 180 federal statutes. DOL programs, services and benefits are intended for all employers and workers across the nation, including individuals with disabilities.

Under the strong leadership of Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao, the Department of Labor, through the Office of Disability Employment Policy, has been given a significant share of the responsibility for fulfilling the promise of the President's New Freedom Initiative.

Established just two years ago, ODEP has committed millions of dollars to fund various experimental programs to eliminate employment barriers in the public and private sector.

The workforce development system, which links people looking for jobs with available jobs, does its work in nationwide programs named One Stop Career Centers. ODEP's funds help these one stop centers to use effective methods to link people with disabilities and jobs. Such methods benefit both young people and adults with disabilities coming from all ethnic and racial backgrounds.

ODEP funds are focused on finding ways to better link employer demand with skilled labor supply. I offer you several examples of our work.

JAN - the Job Accommodation Network

• Provides free telephone and Internet technical assistance on making workplace accommodations.
• Is used both by employers and employees to determine effective accommodations.
• Provides personalized attention to approximately 32,000 workplace accommodations in any given year.

EARN - the Employer Assistance Referral Network

• Provides free telephone and electronic assistance to employers seeking to hire people with disabilities.
• Connects employers to local resources that have qualified job candidates with disabilities.
• Worked with some 2,000 employers in its first year.

The President and the Secretary of Labor recognize and reward those organizations, businesses and individuals who establish the most effective policies and practices increasing the employment of people with disabilities. For the first time in November 2002, the Secretary of Labor saluted winners of the New Freedom Initiative Award.

Our work includes refining methods of supplying skilled labor to the workplace. I again offer you several examples.

Telework/Telecommuting Research

• This project is intended to test and assess the feasibility of telework or telecommuting for persons with severe disabilities. The research is using federal agencies as pilot sites.

Customized Employment

• Customized employment means individualizing the employment relationship between employees and employers based on a determination of the strengths, needs, and interests of the person with a disability. It may include job development or restructuring strategies. Customization of employment is especially important for people with severe disabilities.

Youth

• We support programs that develop effective school to work strategies. In addition, we help launch and expand programs that provide mentoring and work experience for young people with disabilities interested in technology fields.

Technical Assistance

• ODEP also funds three national technical assistance centers. Two provide technical assistance to One Stop Career Centers in order to assist them to serve youth and adults with disabilities more effectively. Another center provides technical assistance to community rehabilitation providers.

Collaborative Efforts

• One promising approach finds the Department of Labor collaborating with the Social Security Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services. We established a position named a "navigator" in the One Stop Career Centers to help people with disabilities to find their way through the maze of state and local services essential to living independently in the community.

Perhaps you have heard of Social Security's "Ticket to Work." It provides incentives for people with disabilities to return to work by:

Allowing people with disabilities to choose their own support services, including vocational education and rehabilitation

Extending health coverage for Social Security pension beneficiaries (people with a former workforce attachment) so they can return to work without the fear of losing health benefits, and

Expanding health coverage for certain people with severe disabilities who decide to go to work. They will continue to receive health benefits at the same time income rises or medical condition improves.

Improving the employment results of people with disabilities requires the cooperation of the federal government, state and local governments, the private sector, service providers, and advocacy organizations.

The President has said, "Government likes to begin things -- to declare grand new programs and causes. But good beginnings are not the measure of success. What matters in the end is completion. Performance. Results."

We must work together to develop strategies for success. We must determine what barriers act as roadblocks-and we must remove them.

As we move further into the 21st century, we are faced with new challenges.

New opportunities for employment are opening as scientific and technological advances give rise to new industries and occupations unheard of only a few decades ago. At the same time, many traditional job opportunities are disappearing as industrial operations become increasingly automated and the nation's economy as a whole becomes increasingly globalized.

The transformation we are currently undergoing creates a great opportunity in terms of employment for people with disabilities. Together we must make sure that the result is a society -- a world -- that affords opportunity for employment and community participation to all people.

Thank you for your kind attention.