Only one in every four of all Americans with disabilities has a full-time job. Employers generally feel that people with disabilities are good employees. Workers with disabilities may be more reliable on the job than many workers without disabilities. Supported employment is a way to help people with more severe disabilities get and maintain a job. Segregated work settings are being phased-out.
Productive work helps people achieve independence.
Employment promotes empowerment and choice. Employment increases the number of Americans paying taxes. According to the 1991 Lou Harris Poll, more than 8 million Americans with disabilities, ages 16-64, want to work but cannot find employment. Only one of every four people with disabilities who work, have a full-time job. Forty percent of people with disabilities over 16 did not finish high school.