Disability Employment Awareness Month Highlights Employment Success of Oklahomans With Disabilities

OKLAHOMA CITY ─ One in five Oklahomans has a disability, while more than 361,000 working-age citizens face disability-related barriers to employment, according to Linda Parker, director of the State Department of Rehabilitation Services (DRS).

October is Disability Employment Awareness Month, a time set aside nationally and at the state level through a proclamation by Governor Brad Henry, to inform businesses about the benefits of hiring qualified people with disabilities.

Last year DRS provided vocational rehabilitation and employment services that helped 2,210 Oklahomans with disabilities obtain jobs and become taxpaying contributors to the state’s economy.

With an average annual income of $18,012, these individuals’ collective earnings totaled more than $39.8 million in 2006.

DRS’ Vocational Rehabilitation and Visual Services divisions also provided assistance to 21,955 other Oklahomans with disabilities who are preparing for jobs in the careers of their choice.

In addition, these divisions operate a Transition School to Work program for high school students with disabilities that helps them develop skills and get work experience needed for college or vocational training and employment.
The agency’s Oklahoma School for the Blind in Muskogee and Oklahoma School for the Deaf in Sulphur prepare students for successful employment through educational programs offered on campus and outreach assistance to students with vision or hearing disabilities attending public schools across the state.

Staff at the agency’s Disability Determination Division determine medical eligibility for Oklahomans who have applied for Social Security disability benefits based on their inability to work.

In a letter to DRS staff, Parker wrote, “A January 2006 survey of Human Resources Directors in the Atlanta area shows that we have a lot of work to do to dispel myths and overcome disability-related prejudices.”

The survey revealed that 60 percent of small companies and one-third of large companies do not employ any workers with physical disabilities. The top three reasons employers gave were:

• People with disabilities can’t adequately perform required work duties (49%)
• Employers’ lack of knowledge about people with disabilities (25%)
• Concerns about the cost of accommodations (20%)

In Oklahoma, workers with disabilities are employed at a rate of 38.2 percent compared to 74.5 percent in the general work-age population, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics.

In her letter to staff, Parker challenged DRS employees “to renew our commitment to set the record straight about workers with disabilities” in honor of Disability Employment Awareness Month.

According to Parker:

• Turnover rates for workers with disabilities are five to six times lower than the rates of other workers. (Supported Employment Infolines)
• Seventy-one percent of accommodations for workers with disabilities cost $500 or less, with 20 percent costing nothing. (Job Accommodations Network)

For more information about programs and services offered by the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services, visit the agency’s website at www.okrehab.org or phone 800-845-8476. The number is accessible by phone or telecommunications equipment for the deaf.

Proclamation

Whereas, the month of October 2007, has been designated at the national level as National Disability Employment Awareness Month with the theme, “Talent for a Winning Team,” and

Whereas, the Office of Disability Employment Policy in the U.S. Department of Labor is bringing a permanent focus to President Bush’s goal of increasing employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities; and

Whereas, the Office of Disability Employment Policy initiatives includes technical assistance and development of best practices, as well as outreach, education, constituent services, and promotion of its mission among all employers; and

Whereas, the U.S. Department of Labor is committed to providing better training opportunities through ongoing federal programs and new initiatives so that people with disabilities can acquire the skills needed in today’s workplaces; and

Whereas, a major obstacle that impacts employment for people with disabilities is a mismatch between existing skills and the skills needed in today’s workplace and assurance is needed that people with disabilities have the same avenues to services and employment options as everyone else; and

Whereas, a new generation of young people with disabilities is ready to enter the workforce and like other young people, young adults with disabilities can bring to the workplace the energy, enthusiasm and creativity that today’s employers demand;

Now, therefore, I, Brad Henry, Governor of the State of Oklahoma, do hereby proclaim October 2007, as “Disability Employment Awareness Month” in the State of Oklahoma.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Oklahoma to be affixed.

Done at the Capitol, in the City of Oklahoma City, this 11th day of July in the year of Our Lord two thousand and seven, and of the State of Oklahoma in the ninety-ninth year.

M. Susan Savage
Brad Henry