National Task Force on Employment

National Task Force on Employment

National Task Force on Employment

of Adults with Disabilities

From the Editor: We recently received the

following notice which could conceivably affect employment opportunities for blind people

in coming years. Here is the text:

THE WHITE HOUSE, Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release, March 13, 1998

EXECUTIVE ORDER

Increasing Employment of Adults with Disabilities

By the authority vested in me as President by the

Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to increase the

employment of adults with disabilities to a rate that is as close as possible to the

employment rate of the general adult population and to support the goals articulated in

the findings and purpose section of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, it is

hereby ordered as follows:

Section I. Establishment of National Task Force

on Employment of Adults with Disabilities.

A. There is established the "National Task

Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities" ("Task Force"). The Task

Force shall comprise the Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Veterans

Affairs, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Commissioner of Social Security,

Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Transportation, Director of

the Office of Personnel Management, Administrator of the Small Business Administration,

the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Chairperson of the National

Council on Disability, the Chair of the President's Committee on Employment of People with

Disabilities, and such other senior executive branch officials as may be determined by the

Chair of the Task Force.

B. The Secretary of Labor shall be the Chair of

the Task Force; the Chair of the President's Committee on Employment of People with

Disabilities shall be the Vice Chair of the Task Force.

C. The purpose of the Task Force is to create a

coordinated and aggressive national policy to bring adults with disabilities into gainful

employment at a rate that is as close as possible to that of the general adult population.

The Task Force shall develop and recommend to the President, through the Chair of the Task

Force, a coordinated Federal policy to reduce employment barriers for persons with

disabilities. Policy recommendations may cover such areas as discrimination, reasonable

accommodations, inadequate access to health care, lack of consumer-driven, long-term

supports and services, transportation, accessible and integrated housing,

telecommunications, assistive technology, community services, child care, education,

vocational rehabilitation, training services, job retention, on-the-job supports, and

economic incentives to work. Specifically, the Task Force shall:

1. Analyze the existing programs and policies of

Task Force member agencies to determine what changes, modifications, and innovations may

be necessary to remove barriers to work faced by people with disabilities;

2. Develop and recommend options to address

health insurance coverage as a barrier to employment for people with disabilities;

3. Subject to the availability of appropriations,

analyze State and private disability systems (e.g., workers' compensation, unemployment

insurance, private insurance, and State mental health and mental retardation systems) and

their effect on Federal programs and employment of adults with disabilities;

4. Consider statistical and data analysis, cost

data, research, and policy studies on public subsidies, employment, employment

discrimination, and rates of return-to-work for individuals with disabilities;

5. Evaluate and, where appropriate, coordinate

and collaborate on research and demonstration priorities of Task Force member agencies

related to employment of adults with disabilities;

6. Evaluate whether Federal studies related to

employment and training can, and should, include a statistically significant sample of

adults with disabilities;

7. Subject to the availability of appropriations,

analyze youth programs related to employment (e.g., Employment and Training Administration

programs, special education, vocational rehabilitation, school-to-work transition,

vocational education, and Social Security Administration work incentives and other

programs, as may be determined by the Chair and Vice Chair of the Task Force) and the

outcomes of those programs for young people with disabilities;

8. Evaluate whether a single governmental entity

or program should be established to provide computer and electronic accommodations for

Federal employees with disabilities;

9. Consult with the President's Committee on

Mental

Retardation on policies to increase the

employment of people

with mental retardation and cognitive

disabilities; and

10. Recommend to the President any additional

steps that can be taken to advance the employment of adults with disabilities, including

legislative proposals, regulatory changes, and program and budget initiatives.

D. 1. The members of the Task Force shall make

the activities and initiatives set forth in this order a high priority within their

respective agencies within the levels provided in the President's budget.

2. The Task Force shall issue its first report to

the President by November 15, 1998. The Task Force shall issue a report to the President

on November 15, 1999, November 15, 2000, and a final report on July 26, 2002, the tenth

anniversary of the initial implementation of the employment provisions of the Americans

with Disabilities Act of 1990. The reports shall describe the actions taken by, and

progress of, each member of the Task Force in carrying out this order. The Task Force

shall terminate thirty days after submitting its final report.

E. As used herein, an adult with a disability is

a person with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits at least one major

life activity.

Section II. Specific activities by Task Force

members and other agencies.

A. To ensure that the Federal Government is a

model employer of adults with disabilities, by November 15, 1998, the Office of Personnel

Management, the Department of Labor, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shall

submit to the Task Force a review of Federal Government personnel laws, regulations, and

policies and, as appropriate, shall recommend or implement changes necessary to improve

Federal employment policy for adults with disabilities. This review shall include

personnel practices and actions such as hiring, promotion, benefits, retirement, workers'

compensation, retention, accessible facilities, job accommodations, layoffs, and

reductions in force.

B. The Departments of Justice, Labor, Education,

and Health and Human Services shall report to the Task Force by November 15, 1998, on

their work with the States and others to ensure that the Personal Responsibility and Work

Opportunity Reconciliation Act is carried out in accordance with section 504 of the

Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,

so that individuals with disabilities and their families can realize the full promise of

welfare reform by having an equal opportunity for employment.

C. The Departments of Education, Labor, Commerce,

and Health and Human Services, the Small Business Administration, and the President's

Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities shall work together and report to the

Task Force by November 15, 1998, on their work to develop small business and

entrepreneurial opportunities for adults with disabilities and strategies for assisting

low-income adults, including those with disabilities, to create small businesses and

micro-enterprises. These same agencies, in consultation with the Committee for Purchase

from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, shall assess the impact of the

Randolph-Sheppard Act vending program and the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act on employment and

small business opportunities for people with disabilities.

D. The Departments of Transportation and Housing

and Urban Development shall report to the Task Force by November 15, 1998, on their

examination of their programs to see if they can be used to create new work incentives and

to remove barriers to work for adults with disabilities.

E. The Departments of Justice, Education, and

Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Social Security Administration

shall work together and report to the Task Force by November 15, 1998, on their work to

propose remedies to the retention of people with disabilities from successfully exercising

their employment rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 because of the

receipt of monetary benefits based on their disability and lack of gainful employment.

F. The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the

Department of Labor and the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce, in cooperation

with the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, the National Council on

Disability, and the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, shall

design and implement a statistically reliable and accurate method to measure the

employment rate of adults with disabilities as soon as possible, but no later than the

date of termination of the Task Force. Data derived from this methodology shall be

published on as frequent a basis as possible.

G. All executive agencies that are not members of

the Task Force shall:

1. Coordinate and cooperate with the Task Force;

and

2. Review their programs and policies to ensure

that they are being conducted and delivered in a manner that facilitates and promotes the

employment of adults with disabilities. Each agency shall file a report with the Task

Force on the results of its review on November 15, 1998.

Section III. Cooperation.

All efforts taken by executive departments and

agencies under Sections I and II of this order shall, as appropriate, further partnerships

and cooperation with public- and private-sector employers, organizations that represent

people with disabilities, organized labor, veteran service organizations, and State and

local governments whenever such partnerships and cooperation are possible and would

promote the employment and gainful economic activities of individuals with disabilities.

Section IV. Judicial Review.

This order does not create any right or benefit,

substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by a party against the United States.