President’s Committee

for People with Intellectual Disabilities (PCPID)

# Committee Meeting

## March 4, 2019

## **~Minutes~**

### ***Citizen Members***

6

Chris G. Neeley, Chair

VijayaLakshmi Appareddy

Ollie D. Cantos

Emily Colson

Claudia B. Horn

Stephanie O. Hubach

Annette Liike

Karen Moderow

### ***Ex Officio Members and Representatives***

Bo Tayloe

Representing the Honorable Jeff Sessions, Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice

Brian Walsh

Representing the Honorable Alexander Acosta, Secretary (unconfirmed), U.S. Department of Labor 

Carol Dobak

Representing the Honorable Betsy DeVos

Secretary, U.S. Department of Education

Monique Dismuke

Representing the Honorable Wilbur Ross, U.S. Department of Commerce

Brian S. Parsons and Laura Davis Representing the Honorable Kirstjen Nielson, Department of Homeland Security

Honorable Lance Robertson, Administrator, Administration for Community Living, and Chair of National Access Board

Trent Morse, White House Liaison for Health and Human Services

Jennifer Sheehy, Deputy Assistant Secretary and Patrick Maneck

U.S. Department of Labor

Leola Brooks

Representing the Honorable Nancy A. Berryhill, Commissioner of the US Social Security Administration

### ***The Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD) - PCPID Staff***

Julie Hocker, Commissioner Administration on Disabilities, ACL

Jennifer Johnson, ACL

Allison Cruz, ACL

Sheila Whitaker, ACL

****

## **The PCPID Meeting Proceedings**

### ***Welcome, Greetings, Introductions, and Statement of Occasion***

Christopher Glenn Neeley, PCPID Chair

Mr. Neeley welcomed participants to the teleconference, asked for appearances, and called the meeting to order. He moved to approve the minutes from the November 8-9, 2018 meetings, which were seconded and then approved by those in attendance. Mr. Neeley moved to have the minutes from the December 12, 2018 meeting approved. They were seconded by Ms. Liike and they, too, were approved by those in attendance.

### ***Overview of the Status of PCPID’s Annual Report***

Christopher Glenn Neeley, PCPID Chair

Mr. Neeley explained the way the Committee overcame challenges presented by the government shutdown. He described the Committee’s selection and delegation of focus areas for the Annual Report that would enable efficient compilation and production of said Report. Input submitted by experts has lent itself to better identification of the obstacles for people with disabilities so that the Committee can develop potential solutions.

Mr. Neeley recited data regarding economic challenges as follows:

· Poverty for people ages 16-64 has increased over the past 50 years

· For people with disabilities, this change has increased by 250% compared to peers

· 95% of people receiving SSI report no income

· 75-80% of people with disabilities are neither working nor seeking employment

These statistics imply a lack of infrastructure meant to help and engage those with disabilities. The data also led Committee members to begin looking into the creation of focus areas to implement. These focus areas helped Committee members and citizens to examine what the government has done right and what can be improved upon so that people with disabilities can be better prepared to enter the workforce, as well as how to modernize the perceptions of people with disabilities in the United States.

### ***Explanation of “Supply-Side” in Regard to People with Disabilities in the Workforce***

Karen Moderow

Ms. Moderow opened by identifying a need to incentivize the private sector to employ more people with disabilities as the government cannot carry the full load. She identifies the main issue being that most programs that exist for people with disabilities only provide training, but do not provide employment. Ms. Moderow proposes a cost-sharing approach between the state and federal governments and private industry. She thinks that tapping into the charitable commitments of companies, the Committee can easily include the hiring of people with disabilities as a means of helping the companies’ communities.

Ms. Moderow would like to use companies that have already begun to hire people with disabilities as models for promoting and educating other companies on how to do so. She would also like to use federal funds that have already been delegated toward promoting employment to increase the awareness among companies and those seeking employment, making the entire process more financially efficient. She also requests ideas from others on the Committee to continue to flesh out these ideas.

Several of the questions that her team investigated included:

· Would it be good use of government funds to have an awareness campaign that would bring awareness to the public that people with disabilities are able to work in meaningful jobs that contribute to the companies?

· How can the Committee educate companies about the benefits of people with intellectual disabilities so that they can envision the benefits of having that person on their team?

· Can the company allocate funds toward business-to-business forums to share successful models?

· Could grants or partial reimbursement be provided to companies who hire people with intellectual disabilities?

· Could agency dollars be used toward the promotion of vocational programs?

· What kind of safety nets can be provided to people with intellectual disabilities if things do not work out?

### ***Explanation of the “Demand-Side” of People with Disabilities in the Workforce***

Emily Colson

Ms. Colson explains that there is a willing workforce, but they need willing employers. She details that her team looked into companies that have hired people with disabilities, how they have done so, and what benefits resulted.

Some of these topics have included:

· Richard Branson’s challenge to 500 companies to add hiring of people with disabilities to their board agendas

· Job market trends toward inclusion and greater diversity

· More information is needed in regard to numbers about how many companies consider “diversity” to include people with disabilities

· Business-to-business forums

· National business-to-business panel

· What are the common areas in the companies that have successfully implemented inclusion and hiring of people with disabilities and why are they doing it?

### ***Education and Advocacy***

Annette Liike

Ms. Liike said that they are rebranding the “education and advocacy” segment as “marketing and rebranding individuals with intellectual disabilities.” She cites data that demonstrates the success rates of companies that embrace hiring and supporting people with disabilities compared with companies that have not appropriately tapped into the means of properly training and placing people with disabilities. After examining this information, her team began to look into educating businesses on the benefits and potential outcomes of hiring people with disabilities.

### ***Discussion of Draft Framework***

Christopher Glenn Neeley

Mr. Neeley asks the Committee their thoughts on the supply angle and redirection of incentives. To answer, Mr. Neil Romano explains that there is a gap in the information among companies about what people with disabilities can do today versus 50 years ago. Mr. Romano states that the vocabulary used to speak about people with disabilities should be a primary focus when communicating with employers.

Mr. Tom Hess suggests providing incentives for companies to become more educated on hiring people with disabilities and those with disabilities on their options for actually finding employment. He states that there needs to be greater education regarding the myths about people with disabilities’ options for employment. Mr. Neeley requested that Mr. Hess send information regarding best practices.

Mr. Neeley moved the Committee’s focus to demand-side perspectives regarding employment options. Ms. Horn emphasized the current public-private partnerships that exist which enhance business-to-business relationships. She argues that the structures which are already in place are a platform to build upon instead of recreating the wheel.

Ms. Appareddy pointed out the present drive toward inclusion and workplace culture. She believes that information on accommodating people with mental disabilities and mental health issues should be a focus of the report.

Mr. Romano indicates a greater willingness among larger employers to hire people with disabilities. He states that the focus of the Committee should be on encouraging small and mid-level employers’ education about the benefits of hiring people with disabilities. He also points out that asset limitations for people with disabilities causes concern about hours of availability among employers. He indicates that the time to train several people for the same job as opposed to one person for the same job, as well as the costs of transportation for the employees, is a deciding factor for most businesses. He argues that hiring people with disabilities must be shown to benefit companies financially because that is the purpose of a company, to make money. He believes that precise, targeted campaigns with goals of spreading information about specific disabilities to specific organizations can be more effective than a widespread, general public campaign.

### ***Adjournment***

Christopher Glenn Neeley

Mr. Neeley moves to have the items discussed above placed as the framework of the Report. The motion was seconded and then approved by all. Mr. Neeley reminded everyone that they want the Report to be bold and to stand out, not to go unnoticed. He reminds Committee members to keep the end goal in mind, in that they are working to mobilize and open opportunities for those with disabilities in the workforce so that they can live out their dreams.

Mr. Neeley turns the meeting over to Ms. Hocker so that she can inform the Committee of the meeting to take place March 21st and 22nd. Commissioner Hocker requests that Committee members ask the ACL (specifically herself, Jennifer Johnson, or Alison Cruz) for help in areas in which they need it. She reminds everyone to reach out to the ACL travel staff to make arrangements for attending the March 21-22 meeting. She also requests names for nominees to join the Committee, particularly self-advocates.

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