WASHINGTON—U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced today that a record 368 college students and recent graduates with disabilities were placed in summer and permanent job openings in the federal government under the department's Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP).

Each year, WRP gives many students with disabilities the break they need to launch successful careers. They acquire valuable work experience, gain confidence, and make important job connections, Secretary Chao said. The WRP also fulfills President Bush's New Freedom Initiative pledge to promote employment opportunities for people with disabilities throughout the nation.

The 2004 placements increased in part because of a joint memorandum that Secretary Chao and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld issued on May 24 urging federal decision makers to consider the candidates referred through this program for career development opportunities and permanent employment. Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and the Defense Department manage the WRP.

ODEP Assistant Secretary of Labor Roy Grizzard said: As a former educator, I find the WRP is an important resource for employers to find an exceptional pool of talented applicants with disabilities who are eager to prove their abilities in the workforce.

At 47 placements, Virginia led the nation in the total number of their college students with disabilities placed in employment through WRP, followed by New York (45), Maryland (42), Texas (29), California (27), Washington, DC (25), Pennsylvania (20), Florida (17) and Illinois (11). Leading institutions whose students were placed included the Rochester (NY) Institute of Technology/NTID (26), Gallaudet (DC) University (20), Montgomery (MD) College (16), George Mason (VA) University (11) and Tidewater (VA) Community College (10). Also according to WRP statistics, about 42 percent of the students placed in jobs under the WRP program identified themselves as minority.

Through WRP's complimentary CD-ROM database, employers were able to search for potential applicants by field of study, state or school, in disciplines ranging from computer sciences and business to communications, engineering and office administration. Searches generated candidate profiles, academic and demographic data and contact information from applications recruited by the program from more than 180 colleges and universities in over 40 states and territories. Each spring, the CD-ROMs and additional information are made available at www.wrpjobs.com, or by request from ODEP at (202) 693-7880.

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WASHINGTON—Five businesses, three non-profits, and one National Football League player have been selected by U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao as recipients of the Secretary of Labor's Annual New Freedom Initiative Awards.

The Secretary of Labor's New Freedom Initiative Award recognizes exemplary and innovative efforts to train, recruit, and hire people with disabilities, and to incorporate the principles of President George W. Bush's New Freedom Initiative. The New Freedom Initiative is a comprehensive set of proposals designed to give people with disabilities the opportunity to fully participate in all aspects of community life, including employment. Awardees will be honored by the Secretary at a November 17 departmental ceremony. Biographies on the awardees and additional information can be found at www.dol.gov/odep/newfreedom/nfi04.htm.

"President Bush wants all Americans to have the opportunity to develop skills and engage in productive work,” said Chao. “Recipients of the Secretary of Labor's New Freedom Initiative Award recognize the value that persons with disabilities bring to the workplace and that wisdom is reflected in their daily actions and operations."

The awardees are:

INDIVIDUAL

• Michael John Maslowski Kansas City Chiefs, Overland Park, Kansas

NON-PROFITS

• Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities Washington, DC
• Project SEARCH Cincinnati, Ohio
• Salt Lake Community College Skills Center Projects With Industry Salt Lake City, Utah

BUSINESSES

• A & F Wood Products Howell, Michigan
• Hewlett-Packard Company Palo Alto, California
• MBNA America Bank, N.A. Wilmington, Delaware
• Microsoft Corporation Redmond, Washington
• SunTrust Banks, Inc. Atlanta, Georgia

Today's announcement comes during National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Secretary Chao selected "You're Hired! Success Knows No Limitations" as the official theme for October to continue to bring focus and awareness to solutions that ensure the full inclusion of persons with disabilities into the 21st Century workforce.

BACKGROUND: President Bush introduced the New Freedom Initiative within the first 30 days of his Presidency, on Feb. 1, 2001. The New Freedom Initiative represents a comprehensive set of proposals designed to ensure that Americans with disabilities have the opportunity to learn and develop skills, engage in productive work, make choices about their daily lives, and participate fully in their communities. The department's Office of Disability Employment Policy has the key responsibility for implementing the employment-related aspects of the President's New Freedom Initiative.

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WASHINGTON— U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today hailed the 2nd anniversary of DisabilityInfo.gov—a comprehensive web site with one-stop access to governmental disability informationas an example of President George W. Bush's deep commitment to making government easily accessible to all Americans.

DisabilityInfo.gov provides Americans with disabilities a direct connection to information and resources they need to become full participants in the 21hast Century workforce, Secretary Chao said. Part of President Bush's New Freedom Initiative, this user-friendly site provides a single online portal for information related to education, employment, health, housing and other valuable topics to people with disabilities.

Assistant Secretary Roy Grizzard, who heads the department's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), the managing agency for the site, said: In the past two years, DisabilityInfo.gov has had almost 3.5 million unique visitors from 180 countries. This site is a valuable resource for people with disabilities.

Since its October 16, 2002, launch, DisabilityInfo.gov has averaged almost 5,800 visitors per day, with the most popular content topics accessed including education, employment, health, housing, income, technology and transportation. Each visit averages almost 11 minutes in duration, according to site statistics, and visitors have come from as far away as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Korea, Germany and China. In all, the site has achieved over 45 million hits over two years of operation.

Background: As part of the New Freedom Initiative, and in an effort to remove barriers for people with disabilities, President George Bush on August 28, 2002, issued an Executive Memorandum directing federal agencies to work together and develop a comprehensive federal web site with one-stop access to governmental disability information. Two months later, DisabilityInfo.gov was launched. The site is a collaborative effort across multiple federal agencies and contains information on civil rights, education, employment, job accommodations, housing, technology, transportation, Medicaid and Medicare, and even emergency preparedness.

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WASHINGTON— U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao officially kicked off the 6th annual Disability Mentoring Day by delivering the keynote address at the department's ceremony today.

Disability Mentoring Day is an opportunity for young people with disabilities to gain firsthand exposure to the many career options available to them, Secretary Chao said. It increases awareness among employers and the public that people with disabilities are a highly talented and largely untapped resource.

Disability Mentoring Day is held on the third Wednesday of October, during National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Secretary Chao selected You're Hired! Success Knows No Limitations! as the official theme for 2004 to focus on the full inclusion of people with disabilities into the 21st Century workforce.

Disability Mentoring Day also supports the President's New Freedom Initiative by increasing the opportunity of Americans with disabilities to integrate into the workforce said Secretary Chao.

This year's ceremony, held in the department's Great Hall, also included remarks from Dr. Roy Grizzard, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and Ms. Carrie Griffin Basas, a 2002 Harvard Law School graduate with a disability.

Launched in 1999, Disability Mentoring Day enhances internship and employment opportunities for young people with disabilities by bringing them together with employers from public, private, federal, non-profit and educational sectors for a day of job shadowing and hands-on career exploration. It represents a collaborative partnership between ODEP and the American Association of People with Disabilities.

ODEP is the nation's first assistant secretary-led agency that specifically addresses policies that impact employment of people with disabilities. It acts as a catalyst by guiding economic and social policy, building collaborative networks, developing evidenced-based employment solutions, and developing credible data on employment of people with disabilities. For more information, please visit www.dol.gov/odep.

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Minneapolis, Minn., Richmond, Va., and Bridgeport, Conn. Receive Telework Grants

WASHINGTON U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today awarded more than $2.4 million in grants to help fund initiatives that will increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities in Connecticut, Minnesota and Virginia.

“As part of our continuing effort to increase access for workers with disabilities, today’s grant of nearly $2.4 million will provide necessary training, so that these workers can acquire the skills that will empower them to become more fully integrated in our workforce,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “Today’s grants will help expand telework employment opportunities for newly returning veterans with disabilities as well as others with disabilities in Minnesota, Virginia and Connecticut. The grants will also fund research to help individuals with disabilities get the training they need to find meaningful employment in telework positions,” said Secretary Chao.

According to the Office of Personnel Management, telework (also called telecommuting) is the ability to do your work at a location other than your “official duty station.” President George W. Bush, through his New Freedom Initiative, has directed agencies to undertake activities such as telework and assistive technology to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

The three winners selected for departmental grants were Resource Inc., Minneapolis, MN, ($829,526);Virginia Commonwealth University, Office of Sponsored Program, Richmond, VA, ($829,925); and The Workplace Inc., Bridgeport, CT, ($755,423).

The more than $2.4 million of telework grants are being funded through the Department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) to operate the three projects for the next 36 months. The work will include investigating, developing and validating strategies likely to yield the largest number of telework positions for people with disabilities in cooperation with federal and state agencies.

The research will focus on:

• Using telework as a return-to-work strategy specifically for people with disabilities receiving federal and state workers’ compensation.
• Using telework as an alternative strategy for increasing competitive employment for disabled veterans returning from tours of duty.
• Surveying federal and state agencies and private employers to identify supporting conditions and strategies that are necessary to effectively implement and sustain telework for people with disabilities.

For more information, visit ODEP’s Labor Department Web site at www.dol.gov/odep.

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WASHINGTON—Human service agencies in California, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts and Oklahoma have been selected to take part in training and technical assistance programs for people with disabilities, the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) announced today.

The five agencies were chosen under the Training and Technical Assistance to Providers (T-TAP) national technical assistance center, which is funded by ODEP. T-TAP helps community rehabilitation providers apply customized employment strategies for people with disabilities who are seeking competitive jobs within their communities. Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, and the Institute for Community Inclusion, located at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, partner with ODEP on this project through a cooperative agreement.

Today's Training and Technical Assistance to Providers agreement in these five states will help build effective partnerships between employers and employment service providers that will result in better jobs and career advancement opportunities for people with disabilities, said ODEP Assistant Secretary Roy Grizzard.

The five sites selected to participate are:

• Humboldt Community Access & Resources Center—Eureka, Calif.
• Hi-Hope Service Center—Lawrenceville, Georgia
• Magic Valley Rehabilitation Services—Twin Falls, Idaho
• Charles River Industries—Needham, Mass.
• Home of Hope, Inc.—Vinita, Okla.

Each site will receive an individually developed technical assistance plan, guidance from a mentor agency from the Community Rehabilitation Provider Leadership Network, on-site consultation from project staff and consultants and access to online courses, web casts and discussions with other providers who have successfully assisted individuals with disabilities in achieving competitive employment outcomes.

Additional information about the T-TAP project is available at www.t-tap.org. Information on ODEP programs is available on www.dol.gov/odep.

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WASHINGTON— U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao today awarded a $1.5 million technical assistance grant to the Corporation for Supportive Housing as part of a Bush Administration initiative to end chronic homelessness among persons with disabilities.

This grant will help chronically homeless people with disabilities get the comprehensive support they need to find meaningful employment and turn their lives around, said Secretary Chao, who is also Vice Chair of the government's Interagency Council on Homelessness. Employment is the crucial step in connecting with the community and breaking the cycle of dependency and despair.

The department has been addressing the needs of homeless Americans through a number of model targeted intervention and prevention programs including the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, the Incarcerated Veterans Transition Program and the Job Corp Foster Care Recruitment Initiative. Information for service providers on the department's homeless programs can be accessed at: www.dol.gov/dol/audience/aud-homeless.htm.

Today's grant award, known as the Chronic Homelessness Employment Technical Assistance (CHETA) Initiative, is a cooperative effort between the department's Office of Disability Employment Policy, the Employment and Training Administration and the Veterans Employment and Training Service. The Corporation for Supportive Housing, with offices in ten states, is a national non-profit organization dedicated to helping local communities develop services that support the homeless.

The grant will provide intensive employment-related technical assistance to the five September 2003 awardees of the department's Ending Chronic Homelessness Through Employment and Housing grants. Those 2003 awardees were Worksystems, Inc., Portland, Oregon; the Boston Private Industry Council, Boston, Massachusetts; the Private Industry Council, San Francisco, California; the Indianapolis Private Industry Council, Indianapolis, Indiana; and the Workforce Development Division of the Community Development Department, City of Los Angeles, California.

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WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) today celebrated the 14th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

“On the 14th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Labor Department salutes the contributions of people with disabilities and recognizes the achievements of President Bush’s New Freedom Initiative,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “The Labor Department is proud to take the lead in ensuring that people with disabilities have full access to the workplace so they can realize their dreams and our country can benefit from this talented pool of workers.”

Through the New Freedom Initiative, the Department of Labor works to increase and improve access to employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The Department has pioneered a number of new initiatives, including emergency preparedness for people with disabilities, as well as small businesses and employment service programs to ensure that people with disabilities have full access to all available opportunities.

In December 2003, DOL hosted the first seminar on emergency preparedness for federal employees with disabilities and issued comprehensive recommendations on ensuring a safe and secure environment for people with disabilities. The Labor Department is also working with the Small Business Administration to increase self-employment and business ownership among people with disabilities.

DOL is working with the Department of Housing & Urban Development to provide people with disabilities new access points to customized employment services that match the unique strengths, needs and interests of job candidates with the needs of employers. One of the projects focuses on meeting the needs of chronically homeless individuals by strengthening customized employment and permanent housing services.

Another major Labor Department initiative focuses on improving access for people with disabilities to the nationwide network of One-Stop Career Centers. More than 200 program navigators are working in 17 states to ensure the comprehensive and seamless delivery of employment services to people with disabilities.

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao today announced the availability of a $2.5 million grant through her Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), which is aimed at increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities through telework positions.

“President George W. Bush believes that the ability to telework increases available employment options for all workers, including individuals with disabilities, and his New Freedom Initiative directs activities such as telework and assistive technology be undertaken to promote the employment for people with disabilities,” said Secretary Chao.

The Telework/Telecommuting Pilot Research solicitation will fund up to three pilot research projects designed to investigate, develop and validate strategies likely to yield the largest number of telework positions for people with disabilities. Each project award will range from $600,000 to $830,000 and will be for a 36-month period of performance.

“Workers with disabilities are an untapped resource for employers. As such, ODEP supports the creative use of alternative employment strategies and employment supports such as assistive technology, housing and transportation for people with disabilities,” said Roy Grizzard, ODEP’s assistant secretary.

Questions about the telework solicitation (SGA 04-12), which appeared in the July 8, 2004 Federal Register, should be directed to the US Labor Department Procurement Services Center, Room N-5416, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210, Telephone (202) 693-4570. Grant applications may be downloaded from the Federal Register at www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/.

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

WASHINGTON—A three-month-old jobs program that places college students with disabilities in summer employment has already exceeded last year’s placement totals, U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao announced today.

“The Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) gives many students with disabilities the break they need to launch successful careers. They acquire valuable work experience, gain confidence, and make important job connections,” Secretary Chao said. “The WRP also fulfills President Bush’s New Freedom Initiative pledge to promote employment opportunities throughout the nation for people with disabilities.”

Virginia (45), New York (38), Maryland (31), California (28), Texas (23), Washington, DC (22), Pennsylvania (21), Florida (19), Illinois (11), and Utah (8) represent states and areas of the country with the most students hired through the WRP. Twenty-one percent of WRP students are African American, with 10 percent Asian American and 10 percent Hispanic.

The WRP, unveiled March 30, has already placed 331 college students with disabilities in summer and even some permanent positions within the federal government. The 2004 placement number is expected to increase because of a joint memorandum that Secretary Chao and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld issued on May 24 urging government selecting officials “to consider the candidates referred through this program for career development opportunities and permanent employment.”

“WRP applicants are valuable to employers because they can undertake special projects postponed for lack of time or resources, assist permanent staff with key projects, share innovative technical skills, or assume responsibilities of staff on vacation or leave,” said Roy Grizzard, assistant secretary for the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP).

Colleges with the most WRP students placed include: National Technical Institute for the Deaf/Rochester Institute of Technology (25), New York; Gallaudet University (18), Washington, DC; Montgomery College (13), Maryland; George Mason University and Tidewater CC (11 each), Virginia; Ventura College (7), California; University of West Florida (7), Florida; St. Joseph’s University (5), Pennsylvania; and, Brigham Young University (5), Utah.

ODEP, in cooperation with the Defense Department, offers a WRP database of almost 1,600 job seekers with disabilities on a complimentary CD-ROM. Employers can search applicants by field of study, state or school, in various disciplines. Searches generate candidate profiles, academic and demographic data and contact information from applications recruited by the program from more than 180 colleges and universities in over 40 states and territories. WRP information is available from www.wrpjobs.com, or www.dol.gov/odep, or by contacting ODEP at (202) 693-7880.

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