WASHINGTON—U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao today announced the availability of a $1.5 million technical assistance grant designed to help fulfill the Bush Administration’s ten-year goal of ending chronic homelessness among persons with disabilities.

“In keeping with the promise of President Bush’s New Freedom Initiative and his goal of ending chronic homelessness, this $1.5 million grant from the Department of Labor will strengthen customized employment and permanent housing services so that chronically homeless people with disabilities may live, work and fully participate in their communities,” said Secretary Chao, who is also Vice Chair of the government’s Interagency Council on Homelessness.

The grant, known as the Chronic Homelessness Employment Technical Assistance (CHETA) Initiative, is a $1.5 million award over a 36-month period of performance with additional option years and funds available depending on performance and future funding availability.

Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) Assistant Secretary Roy Grizzard noted that the grant is a cooperative effort between ODEP, the department’s Employment and Training Administration and its Veterans Employment and Training Service. “This grant will help bring together the workforce development system with organizations serving the homeless to provide customized employment and permanent housing for people with disabilities who are chronically homeless,” said Dr. Grizzard.

The CHETA is designed to 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.

Questions about the CHETA grant solicitation (SGA 04-07), which appeared in the June 10, 2004 Federal Register, should be directed to the U.S. 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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WASHINGTON—Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao and Small Business Administration Administrator Hector V. Barreto today signed a Strategic Alliance Memorandum (SAM) designed to help people with disabilities pursue small business ownership and to also increase their employment opportunities in small businesses.

The SAM, entitled “The New Freedom Small Business Initiative,” is designed to assist adult workers in acquiring the skills and resources they need to successfully begin and operate a small business and to educate small business owners about hiring people with disabilities. It will accomplish this by encouraging people with disabilities to pursue small business ownership, provide them with technical assistance, and encourage small businesses to hire people with disabilities. The Initiative will also build the capacity of the workforce system to serve people with disabilities and support their entrepreneurship through economic development and greater coordination of small business activities among Federal departments.

“Today we celebrate another milestone that builds upon the President’s New Freedom Initiative,” said Secretary Chao. “This strategic alliance memorandum creates a new partnership that will benefit small business employers and employees, people with disabilities and ultimately, our country as a whole.” She added, “The timing for this initiative is important. More Americans, especially women, are launching themselves on the road to entrepreneurship than ever before. We want to ensure that people with disabilities have full access to this path to financial independence, which has proven so rewarding for so many Americans.”

SBA Administrator Barreto said, “Today is an important step forward in an ongoing mission to ensure that the door to the American Dream is wide open to all Americans. The small business community can’t afford to be without this group of Americans, and encouraging people with disabilities to become part of the most powerful segment of our economy is more than just the right thing to do, it’s the smart business thing to do.”

Assistant Secretary Roy Grizzard, who heads DOL’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, said “Through this collaboration, people with disabilities will be able to launch successful entrepreneurial careers and also be recognized as an exceptional pool of talent available to small business owners.”

Copies of the Initiative are available by accessing www.dol.gov/odep or www.sba.gov.

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WASHINGTON—Today U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao delivered the keynote address at the two-day Labor Department event entitled “Emergency Preparedness For People With Disabilities: An Interagency Seminar Of Exchange For Federal Managers.”

“Every single day, more than 120,000 employees with disabilities go to work in the national headquarters buildings, regional offices or field locations that are owned by or leased by the federal government. Their safety, and the safety of all federal workers, is a top priority,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao in the keynote address.

“At the Department, we have always taken the safety requirements of our over 1,000 employees with disabilities very seriously. We are constantly revising and fine tuning our emergency preparedness plans,” said Secretary Chao.

The Secretary also noted that the seminar would help to advance President Bush’s New Freedom Initiative, which has the goal of fully integrating people with disabilities into the workforce.

“There is no one size fits all when it comes to emergency preparedness,” said Roy Grizzard, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy, the host agency for the Seminar. “By sharing what we know with each other and asking the critical questions, we will be able to create thorough and comprehensive emergency preparedness plans for all federal employees in an emergency situation.”

Over 200 people from 90 different federal, state and local agencies and outside organizations will discuss effective strategies for building, implementing and maintaining an emergency preparedness plan that involves people with disabilities in the workforce. In addition to Secretary Chao and Assistant Secretary Grizzard, other speakers at the December 2-3 event will include Daniel Sutherland, Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, US Department of Homeland Security, and Pamela Butler, Defense Intelligence Agency, U.S. Department of Defense.

All aspects of the two-day Seminar are open to accredited media except for breakout sessions. Copies of the agenda and additional information for the media are available from Michael Volpe of the Department’s Public Affairs Office at (202) 693-7909.

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WASHINGTON—Noting “inadequate transportation can inhibit employment for all people, but is an even greater barrier to people with disabilities,” Dr. Roy Grizzard, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) said today, “Government at all levels is working to coordinate transportation policies and programs for those people with disabilities who need it the most.”

Dr. Grizzard made his remarks at a Fairfax, Va., news conference announcing “United We Ride,” an initiative to assist states and communities in coordinating human service transportation. Also attending the news conference were Jennifer Dorn, Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, Representative Tom Davis (VA), Fairfax County Board Chairman Kate Hanley, Fairfax County Board Chairman-elect Gerald Connolly, and Patricia Franckewitz, Director, Fairfax County Department of Community and Recreation Services. The event highlighted the Fastran system, which provides rides for employment, health, senior day programs, recreation and other services.

“Reliable transportation services to and from work is a key component of increased employment opportunities for people with disabilities,” Dr. Grizzard said. “Today’s announcement is in keeping with President Bush’s New Freedom Initiative, whose policies seek to test new transportation ideas and develop partnerships to increase access to public transit as well as alternate means of transportation, such as vans with specialty lifts, modified automobiles, and ride-share programs.”

The United We Ride campaign will feature a National Leadership Forum in 2004 to discuss transportation coordination, prepare model transportation programs and share best practices, as well as other transportation initiatives. More information on United We Ride can be found at www.dot.gov. ODEP information can be found at www.dol.gov/odep.

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WASHINGTON—Calling it “Yet another example of President George Bush’s deep commitment to making government easily accessible to all Americans,” Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao hailed the one-year anniversary of DisabilityInfo.Gov, a comprehensive Federal web site, managed by the Labor Department, with one-stop access to governmental disability information.

“DisabilityInfo.Gov provides Americans with disabilities a direct and easy connection to information and resources they need to become full participants in the 21st Century workforce,” Secretary Chao said. “I am so pleased with the results of the site, for in the past year, DisabilityInfo.Gov has had more than 1.6 million unique visitors who have come from 165 countries,” she said.

Assistant Secretary Roy Grizzard, who heads the Office of Disability Employment Policy, the managing agency for the site, said “This citizen-centered site successfully provides people with disabilities with a single online portal for Government information and resources related to disabilities and to the New Freedom Initiative.”

Since its October 16, 2002 launch, DisabilityInfo.Gov has averaged almost 5,000 visitors per day, with the most popular content topics accessed including income, employment, health, housing, education, transportation, and technology. Each visit averages almost eight 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 almost 31 million “hits.”

Background: As part of the New Freedom Initiative, and in an effort to remove barriers for people with disabilities, President 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.

It is the result of 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. The site is designed to be a single point of entry to access high-quality governmental services and information relevant to people with disabilities, their families, employers, and service providers. The President selected the Labor Department's Office of Disability Employment Policy to lead the effort to establish and manage DisabilityInfo.Gov, with ongoing content development shared by a myriad of government agencies.

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Award Recognizes Achievements on Behalf of People with Disabilities

WASHINGTON—Five businesses, four organizations, and one individual today received the Secretary of Labor’s annual New Freedom Initiative (NFI) Awards. The NFI Award recognizes exemplary and innovative public-private partnership efforts in furthering the employment objectives of the President’s New Freedom Initiative. The recipients were honored in a luncheon ceremony at the Labor Department.

“President George W. Bush wants all Americans, including Americans with disabilities, to have the opportunity to learn and develop skills and engage in productive work,” said Secretary Chao. “The recipients of the 2003 Secretary’s New Freedom Initiative Awards are organizations that recognize the value that persons with disabilities bring to the workplace and exemplify that philosophy in their daily operations.”

Roy Grizzard, assistant secretary for disability employment policy, congratulated the recipients and urged them to become trailblazers. “If we are to see significant progress in the employment of people with disabilities, your success can and should be replicated,” said Grizzard. “I encourage you to work in partnerships within your states and communities to multiply the impact and, most importantly, the end results.”

Corporation awardees were: Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, Va., Cingular Wireless, Atlanta, Ga., Giant Eagle, Pittsburgh, Pa., IBM, Armonk, N.Y., and Manpower, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisc. Organization awardees were: Abilities, Inc., Albertson, N.Y., Courage Center, Minneapolis, Minn., Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce, Salisbury, Md., and Sensory Access Foundation, Sunnyvale, Calif. The individual awardee was Joyce Bender, Bender Consulting, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Today’s announcement comes during National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Secretary Chao selected “America Works Best When All Americans Work” 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.

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 Office of Disability Employment Policy in the Department of Labor has the key responsibility for implementing the employment-related aspects of the President’s New Freedom Initiative.

Biographies on the awardees and additional information can be found at www.dol.gov/odep.

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WASHINGTON—Dr. Roy Grizzard, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), was the keynote speaker at a U.S. Labor Department ceremony kicking off the 5th annual celebration of Disability Mentoring Day.

Disability Mentoring Day comes during National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao selected “America Works Best When All Americans Work” as the official theme for October to continue to focus on solutions that ensure the full inclusion of persons with disabilities into the 21st Century workforce.

“Disability Mentoring Day is an opportunity for young people with disabilities to gain firsthand exposure to many of the career options available to them,” Assistant Secretary Grizzard said. “It makes employers and the general public increasingly aware that people with disabilities represent a highly talented, largely untapped resource for sustaining our national economy and well-being.”

The ceremony, held in the department’s Great Hall, also included remarks from Dr. Robert Pasternack, Assistant Secretary of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education; Kathy Brown, Senior Vice President/Policy Development, Verizon Communications; and Roslyn Dickerson, Vice President/Global Diversity, Honeywell.

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

Launched in 1999, Disability Mentoring Day promotes career development for students and job seekers with disabilities. This year marks the first time young people with disabilities in all 50 states will participate in Disability Mentoring Day. In addition, youth with disabilities in Guam, American Samoa, Japan, Italy, Singapore, France, and the United Kingdom will also participate.

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 to stimulate new ideas about employment through research and development, policy analysis, technical assistance, and the identification and promotion of effective business practices.

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WASHINGTON—Human service agencies in Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Washington will take part in a training and technical assistance program for people with disabilities, U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced today.

The five agencies were selected under the Training and Technical Assistance to Providers project (T-TAP), a national technical assistance center funded by the department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). T-TAP helps community rehabilitation providers move from providing segregated employment services to applying customized employment strategies for people with disabilities seeking to fill employer needs in competitive jobs within their communities. The Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, and the Institute for Community Inclusion, located at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, partner with ODEP on this project through a cooperative agreement.

“This Training and Technical Assistance to Providers agreement in these five states will build effective partnerships between employers and employment service providers that will result in better jobs and career advancement opportunities for people with disabilities,” Secretary Chao said.

ODEP Assistant Secretary Roy Grizzard said, “Under today’s T-TAP announcement, people with disabilities will gain more opportunities for individually determined, customized employment in non-stereotypical jobs, helping them to increase their earnings and more fully participate in community life.”

The five sites selected to participate are:

• Cranston ARC, Cranston, R.I.
• NEViNSinc., Charlotte, N.C.
• ARC Industries, Bartlesville, Okla.
• AtWork!, Issaquah, Wash.
• Babcock Center, Columbia, S.C.

Each site will receive an individually developed technical assistance plan, guidance from a mentor agency from the Community Rehabilitation Provider Leadership Network, consultation from T-TAP staff, and other online and in-person training opportunities. Five additional sites are expected to be selected in the spring of 2004. Additional information about the five agencies, the T-TAP project and its Web site are available at www.dol.gov/odep.

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WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L Chao today issued a compliance assistance “Checklist” designed to ensure nondiscrimination against and equal opportunity for persons with disabilities under Section 188 of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The checklist was sent to all WIA program operators who receive government financial assistance.

The “WIA Section 188 Disability Checklist,” which is strictly voluntary and does not create or change legal requirements, was sent to national One-Stop centers, workforce agencies, Job Corps contractors and directors, and WIA program grantees. The Checklist was issued to WIA participants in a departmental memo signed by Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy Roy Grizzard, Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management Patrick Pizzella, and Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco.

“The Checklist is designed to ensure meaningful participation of people with disabilities in programs and activities operated under government funding by WIA,” Secretary Chao said. “It provides a uniform procedure for measuring compliance with the provisions of Section 188 and the regulations that pertain to persons with disabilities. And it helps fulfill the goal of the President’s New Freedom Initiative to better serve the needs of job seekers with disabilities.”

The Checklist, which was developed by ODEP and the Department of Labor’s Civil Rights Center, includes examples of policies, procedures and other recommended steps that recipients of WIA financial assistance may follow to ensure nondiscrimination and equal opportunities for persons with disabilities.

For more information about the Section 188 Disability Checklist, access www.dol.gov/odep.

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“Tomorrow we celebrate the 13th anniversary of the signing of the Americans With Disabilities Act, a landmark legislation of compassion and empowerment. The ADA has been a major civil rights legislation for the disabled community. Since its passage, it has been a powerful force in removing barriers to people with disabilities by increasing their opportunities in education, home ownership, transportation, and employment.

“The best way to celebrate the advancements made through the ADA is to build upon its progress through President Bush’s New Freedom Initiative. The New Freedom Initiative promotes the integration of all people with disabilities into their communities. It strongly emphasizes the role of employment as a key element in achieving opportunity and full integration into the 21st century workforce.

“I am proud to note that the Department of Labor has been designated as the lead agency in implementing employment efforts through the New Freedom Initiative. But while the government can lead, it cannot do the job alone. The success of the New Freedom Initiative will depend upon the continuing commitment and sustained cooperation of business, labor, nonprofit organizations, faith-based and community organizations and of course, people with disabilities. Working together, we can help empower people with disabilities and build an America where all individuals are encouraged to achieve their dreams.”

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