News

The Access Board has released a draft of updated requirements for information and communication technology (ICT) covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act. As part of this rulemaking, the Board proposes to supplement its ADA Accessibility Guidelines to include certain types of interactive transaction machines such as point-of-sales machines and self-service kiosks. Public comments are due by June 21, 2010. On April 1, 2010 the Board will conduct a webinar on the rule to review and explain changes.

Accurate representation and funding are especially important to people with disabilities. Wthout an accurate count, important community services such as health care and transportation may not be adequately funded. This toolkit is intended as a resource for organizations that serve people with disabilities. It contains resources to support efforts in raising awareness of, and encouraging participation in, the 2010 Census.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is requesting comments about its operating procedures for determining disability for persons whose drug addiction or alcoholism (DAA) may be a contributing factor in deciding if a claimant is disabled. Comments must be received by March 30, 2010.

Join Us for a Free CAP Training Seminar: 20 Years Providing Real Solutions for Real Needs When: April 5, 2010 9:30 AM -11:30 AM Where: Jackson Federal Building 915 2nd Ave, South Auditorium Seattle, WA 98174

Speakers: Dinah Cohen, CAP Director Elisa Gonzalez, Training & Outreach Coordinator

Who Should Attend: Hiring Officials, Managers/Supervisors, Disability Program Managers, Selective Placement Coordinators

Agenda: CAP Mission, Scope, Services, Assistive Technology Overview, Administration's Employment Initiatives, OPM's Schedule A Hiring Authority, Workforce Recruitment Program, Wounded Service Member Initiative

Please RSVP to Michael.Aguenza.Ctr@tma.osd.mil to attend this event by March 31, 2010. In your email please include the city in which the training is located. Please also identify any accommodation needs (i.e. Sign Language Interpreter, Alternate Format Request, etc).

Hosted by the Seattle Federal Executive Board.

The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) and the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) Program offer free tax help for taxpayers who qualify. Through these programs trained community volunteers help with special credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled. In addition to free tax return preparation assistance, most TCE locations also offer free electronic filing (e-filing). To locate the nearest VITA site, call 1-800-829-1040.

These training events provide learning opportunities about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other disability-related subjects including reasonable accommodations; assistive technology; ensuring access for customers with disabilities; accommodation ideas for employees with traumatic brain injuries (TBI); creating accessible videos and many other subjects covering transportation, employment, education and other areas that affect the lives and independence of people with disabilities.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is hosting a series of free community events around the country for beneficiaries with disabilities and their families. These Work Incentive Seminar Events (WISE) are held by local organizations and can help people receiving Social Security disability benefits (SSDI or SSI) learn more about the Ticket to Work Program, connect with local training and employment resources, and explore opportunities to increase income. For more resources in your state go to Disability.gov's homepage and select your state from the drop-down menu under "Information by State."

The Department of Defense (DoD) has announced that its National Resource Directory (NRD) Web site recently received a comprehensive system upgrade to provide users with easier access. This Web site compiles federal, state, local and non-profit resources for Wounded Warriors, Veterans, family members and caregivers in a single, searchable site. The site's new "bookmark and share" feature allows visitors to alert others to the resources they find most helpful through social bookmarking, Facebook, Twitter and other social networking tools. Visitors can also subscribe to Really Simple Syndication (RSS) or e-mail updates about new information that has been added to the site. The NRD is a collaborative effort among the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs (VA) and Labor (DOL).

The California Department of Industrial Relations and the California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation (CHSWC) will host the fifth IFDM: Collaborating for Success on September 20-22, 2010, in Los Angeles, CA. The conference will focus on discussions about how disability management can reduce and minimize the impact of occupational injury and illness. For updates on the conference, sign up here.

The Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC) has announced the development of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) Checklist iPhone application. The new IEP application helps parents of students with disabilities become better informed about by making IEP information easier to access. This tool is for parents and teachers to consider as they develop an IEP. Watch a captioned video on how the IEP Checklist works. Not every item on the checklist is required by special education regulations. For more information about the IDEA and IEPs visit the Department of Education's IDEA Web site.

Grant funds under this program may be used to plan, create, or expand programs that promote public safety and public health by providing appropriate services for system-involved individuals with mental illness or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders. These grants also focus on training programs for criminal justice and mental health and substance abuse treatment personnel; law enforcement strategies to provide response options that are tailored to the needs of people with mental illnesses; and providing mental health co-occurring treatment and transitional services for those incarcerated or transitional reentry programs for those released from a correctional institution. Application deadline is April 8, 2010. This link opens a PDF document.

In 2009 more than 3,500 stakeholders from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia participated in the United We Ride National Dialogue. The National Dialogue asked the question, What ideas can improve access to affordable and reliable transportation for people with disabilities, older adults, and people with limited incomes? At the conclusion of the National Dialogue, an Independent Panel of Fellows of the National Academy of Public Administration identified emerging themes and key recommendations for the Federal Interagency Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM). This report contains a summary and analysis of those recommendations. The complete report can be downloaded in Word format.

Provides information and referral services for visually impaired students of all ages, their parents and teachers, learning opportunities for blind students headed to college, and maintains a network of visually impaired musicians willing to share their expertise in Braille music, technology and coping strategies. The Resource Center is best known for its Summer Institute for Blind College-bound Musicians, a residential program which brings together students from several states, who are studying music at the college level.

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced the results of its Tools for America's Job Seekers Challenge. Recommendations have been tallied, and the top-rated sites in categories including general job boards, niche tools, career tools, career exploration tools and Web 2.0 (social networking) are now available.

The recommendations in this report from the Surgeon General address becoming actively involved in creating healthier environments; making healthy choices such as reducing the consumption of sodas and juices with added sugars and eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains; limiting television time; and being more physically active to achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle. This link opens a PDF document.

The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury today jointly issued new rules providing parity for consumers enrolled in group health plans who need treatment for mental health or substance use disorders. The new rules prohibit group health insurance plans, typically offered by employers, from restricting access to care by limiting benefits and requiring higher patient costs than those that apply to general medical or surgical benefits. The rules implement the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA).

The National Council on Disability (NCD) has released a report entitled Workforce Infrastructure in Support of People with Disabilities: Matching Human Resources to Service Needs, calling for policymakers at all levels of government to proactively address current shortages and examine how labor market changes are driving both current and future supply. The report presents recommendations that call for partnerships among federal departments and agencies, their state counterparts, and the private sector, including organizations involved with education and training, health care and employment services. The complete report can be downloaded in Word or PDF formats.

This U.S. Department of Agriculture's TARGET Center Discovery Series Webcast provides information about employing people with disabilities. Learn about the technology, organizations, hiring authorities and best practices that enable the employment and advancement of people with disabilities, one of the biggest untapped resources in today's public and private workplaces.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced that 93,277 workplace discrimination charges were filed with EEOC during Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, the second highest level ever, and monetary relief obtained for victims totaled over $376 million. EEOC comprehensive enforcement and litigation statistics for FY 2009 provide more details on charges filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and other statutes. The data also show that private sector job bias charges (which include those filed against state and local governments) alleging discrimination based on disability, religion and/or national origin hit record highs.

The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have announced the adoption of the design specifications for the development of a gateway interface that will enable wireless carriers to provide customers with timely and accurate emergency alerts and warnings via their cell phones and other mobile devices. To ensure that persons with disabilities who subscribe to wireless services receive these emergency alerts, the FCC adopted rules in 2008 that will require participating wireless carriers to transmit messages with both vibration cadence and audio attention signals.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced the extension of the waivers of certain telecommunications relay services (TRS) mandatory minimum standards for Video Relay Service (VRS) and Internet Protocol (IP) Relay Service that were to expire on January 1, 2010. The Commission, in various orders, has waived several TRS mandatory minimum standards for VRS and IP Relay either because, as Internet-based services, it is not technologically feasible to meet the requirement or, in the case of VRS, because VRS is a video-based service and the communication is via sign language and not text. This link opens a PDF document and is also accessible as a Word document.

This audio conference series is sponsored by the Great Lakes ADA Center and provides in-depth information on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The program is designed to increase knowledge of regulations and trends under the ADA. Upcoming audio conferences will cover the use of service animals, older workers with disabilities and conducting effective accessibility surveys.

This series of webinars, hosted by the DBTAC Great Lakes ADA Center, helps to increase understanding of technology accessibility for people with disabilities. Upcoming webinars include "The Power of Social Networking Sites for People with Disabilities" and "Best Practices in Developing and Disseminating Documents Electronically".

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, has asked the agency's Inspector General to investigate allegations that the states of California and Hawaii have recently implemented practices that deny applicants the right to receive full consideration of their Social Security disability claims.

This conference, the world's largest gathering of volunteer and service leaders from the nonprofit, government and corporate sectors, will take place in New York City from June 28-30, 2010. To learn more about including people with disabilities in volunteer and national service programs visit the website of the National Service Inclusion Project.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has hosted a public hearing on Compassionate Allowances for people living with schizophrenia. SSA heard testimony from some of the nation's leading experts on schizophrenia about possible methods of identifying and implementing Compassionate Allowances for young adults with schizophrenia. "Schizophrenia is a devastating disease that affects more than two million Americans, primarily individuals in their teens and twenties," said Commissioner Astrue. "The onset of schizophrenia has life-changing consequences, which can include unemployment and homelessness."

Having a disability alone may not make someone at higher risk for complications from the H1N1 virus, but other factors may put people with certain disabilities at higher risk. People who have difficultly breathing (ventilator users and individuals with asthma and other respiratory conditions); individuals who have difficulty fighting infections or who are immunocompromised; and people of any age who have chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or sickle cell anemia, are at higher risk of acquiring the H1N1 infection. Visit the Flu Shot Locator to find places near you to get a flu shot.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) has launched ePolicyWorks - a collaborative, Web-based information-sharing initiative among national policymakers and stakeholders to address barriers to employment faced by people with disabilities. Federal agencies and national policymakers will work together to ensure that Americans with disabilities have equal access to employment and employment-related supports such as health care, education, transportation, housing and technology.

The departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Homeland Security (DHS) have announced the launch of DisasterRecoveryWorkingGroup.gov, a new interagency website that will allow stakeholders to submit ideas for disaster recovery; articulate objectives for recovery assistance going forward; identify examples of best practices; raise challenges and obstacles to success; and share thoughts, experiences and lessons learned. Respond to the questionnaire to provide your input.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) have signed a memorandum of understanding to provide Paralympic sport programming and additional community support to injured servicemembers and Veterans across the country. Under the agreement the USOC will expand rehabilitative support includinng training, equipment, access to Paralympic mentors and ongoing sports programming in communities across the country.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has revised its Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law poster. This new version shows current federal employment discrimination law, including the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008. The poster was revised to add information about the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 which is effective November 21, 2009. The new poster can be downloaded in PDF format.

This Transportation Security Administration (TSA) program facilitates the movement of severely injured Service Members through the security screening process at the nation's airports. Persons eligible for this program include Service Members from all branches of the armed services who have special travel needs and their accompanying family members. To request assistance through the program, injured service men or women, or their designee(s) should call TSA toll-free at 1-888-262-2396, email or fax no later than 24 hours prior to flying.

President Obama has announced that his Administration is taking several steps to ensure that there is fair and equal access to employment for all Americans, particularly the 54 million people in this country living with disabilities. These actions include collaboration between the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) to sponsor a day long Federal Government-wide job fair for people with disabilities.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has reported that for the first time since 1999 SSA has ended the year with fewer disability hearings pending than in the prior year. Social Security ended fiscal year (FY) 2009 with 722,822 hearings pending compared to 760,813 hearings pending at the start of the year, a reduction of more than 37,000 cases. Over the same period, the average processing time for these cases improved from 514 days in FY 2008 to 491 in FY 2009. Read more about SSA's hearings and appeals process.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) has awarded a cooperative agreement to Cornell University's Employment and Disability Institute, School of Industrial and Labor Relations in Ithaca, N.Y., to establish a national technical assistance center for employers on employment of people with disabilities. The the center will conduct innovative research, assist ODEP in developing demand-side policy, and share best practices with employers on the recruitment, hiring, retention and advancement of people with disabilities.

The 25th Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference (2010 CSUN Conference) will take place March 22-27, 2010 in San Diego, CA. This conference will focus on assistive technology and its positive impact on persons with disabilities. The conference's Call for Papers closes on October 16, 2009.

To celebrate the launch of the What Can YOU Do? outreach effort, the Campaign for Disability Employment asked aspiring filmmakers to produce their own 60-second video in support of this effort. Watch these award-winning videos that illustrate positive images of people with disabilities at work and help viewers re-think their assumptions about people with disabilities and employment.

This conference is organized into three thematic areas--Foundation, Exploration and Innovation, and will address many issue areas including employment, hidden disabilities, transition to post-secondary education, disability rights, assistive technology and more. The conference will be held April 12-13, 2010 in Honolulu, HI and online registration is available.

Provides information on disability laws and other subjects available to download and listen to, as well as podcast transcripts to read. Information covered includes the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Air Carrier Access Act, the Ticket to Work program, the Fair Housing Act and other laws and programs that support the rights and independence of people with disabilities. This information is also available in Spanish. Disability Law Lowdown ASL videos are on YouTube.

The National Council on Disability (NCD) has released a report calling on federal, state and local authorities to make sweeping changes in emergency management practices for people with disabilities.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) heard testimony from some of the nation's leading experts on early-onset Alzheimer's disease and related dementias about possible methods for identifying and implementing Compassionate Allowances for people living with early-onset Alzheimer's.

Temple University is offering online classes to help the public health workforce and emergency managers to address the needs of special populations, including people with disabilities and older Americans.