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Contact: Kevin Hensil
Director of Communications
717-364-1732
kphensil@pasilc.org
PA SILC Applauds State Senate for Designating October as Disability Employment Awareness Month
HARRISBURG, Pa., October 10, 2007 – The Pennsylvania Statewide Independent Living Council applauds the Pennsylvania State Senate for unanimously passing a resolution that designates October as Disability Employment Awareness Month in Pennsylvania. Senator John R. Gordner (R-27) authored the resolution to increase the awareness of the benefits of employing a person with a disability.
“Pennsylvanians with disabilities are important members of our workforce,” said Sen. Gordner, who chairs the Senate Labor and Industry Committee. “In fact, businesses that employ people with disabilities report increased levels of productivity due to the motivation of those individuals.”
There are many misconceptions about the cost of hiring a person with a disability. A study by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy found the benefits to employers for providing accommodations – workplace adjustments – as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act outweighs the costs. The study found nearly half of all accommodations cost nothing and the typical one time expenditure is around $500. Tax incentives and other funding can help employers cover the cost of most accommodations.
In return, employers reported reduced costs by retaining a qualified employee, increased productivity and elimination of costs associated with hiring and training a new employee.
According to the U.S. Census there are 54 million Americans with a disability, including 1.8 million living in Pennsylvania. However, the employment rate for people with disabilities remains alarmingly low. A survey in 2004 by the National Organization on Disability found that only 35 percent of people with disabilities are employed and people with disabilities are three times more likely to live in poverty with household incomes below $15,000.
“Over the last 14 years the Americans with Disabilities Act has helped to remove some barriers to employment for people with disabilities, but some courts have narrowed the intent of the ADA, keeping millions Americans with disabilities out of the workplace,” said Jamie Ray, Chairwoman of the PA SILC Employment Policy Committee and an attorney with the Pennsylvania Client Assistance Program.
"The ADA Restoration Act of 2007 introduced in Congress in July would return the full promise of the ADA. The legislation recognizes the need to look not only at a person's functional limitations, but also at the attitude, myth, bias or fear that may motivate an employer to pass over a qualified person with a disability. The PA SILC urges all of Pennsylvania’s federal legislators to support it.” Senator Arlen Specter and ten of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Representatives are co-sponsoring the legislation.
ABOUT PA SILCThe Pennsylvania Statewide Independent Living Council (PA SILC) is a nonprofit, cross-disability, consumer-controlled organization dedicated to securing public policies that ensure civil rights for people with disabilities by supporting the independent living philosophy.
The PA SILC was established in 1987 to comply with the federal "Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1986" (P.L.99-506), which requires states to create a consumer-controlled advisory committee to the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation's Independent Living Program. In 1992, the federal Rehabilitation Act Amendments gave SILC co-signing authority on the federally-mandated State Plan for Independent Living (SPIL).
In compliance with state and federal law, a majority of the voting PA SILC members are persons with disabilities and are appointed by the Governor. Additional representatives are from Centers for Independent Living, person with a disability or independent living organizations, and various state agencies.
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