DOL Honors Employers for Record on Disabilities
By Beth McConnell, Associate Editor for HR News
Published Nov 3, 2005 Society for Human Resource Management Online
http://www.shrm.org/hrnews_published/archives/CMS_014575.asp
The winners of the fourth annual Secretary of Labor's New Freedom Initiative Awards were announced Oct. 26.
The awards recognize exemplary and innovative efforts to train, recruit and hire people with disabilities and to incorporate into workplaces the principles of President Bush's New Freedom Initiative. Introduced in 2001, the initiative is a set of proposals designed to ensure that Americans with disabilities have the opportunity to learn and develop skills, participate in productive work, make choices about their daily lives, and participate fully in their communities.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy is charged with implementing the employment-related aspects of the initiative.
The New Freedom Initiative Awards recipients have demonstrated great commitment to helping Americans with disabilities enter the workforce and build solid career paths, said Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao. In facilitating the workplace to be more friendly and accessible to workers with disabilities, these employers are also tapping an underutilized pool of talented workers.
Seven honorees were presented the award at a ceremony at the Department of Labor:
Breaking New Ground Resource Center and Outreach Program, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. Since 1979, Breaking New Ground has worked with farmers, ranchers, agricultural workers and their families to facilitate employment following disabling injuries or illnesses. It is the primary model for the 1990 establishment of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's AgrAbility Program, which now provides rehabilitation services in 28 states.
Center of Vocational Alternatives, Columbus, Ohio. The center is a community nonprofit vocational rehabilitation and employment organization serving people with psychiatric disabilities. The center provides readiness programming, computer resources, benefits consulting, job development, job coaching and long-term follow-up. Its focus is on making employment a cornerstone of a richer, more fulfilling life experience for people with mental illness. The center works with employers to give training on managing employees with psychiatric disabilities, worksite consulting and interventions.
Inspiritec, Philadelphia. This not-for-profit organization serves people with disabilities by helping them find and retain jobs in the information technology field. Inspiritec establishes and operates IT-related nonprofit business ventures. This social entrepreneurship approach has allowed Inspiritec to employ people with disabilities and to advance the IT skills of unemployed or underemployed people with disabilities. Clients include Fortune 500 companies, large and small nonprofits and government entities. It is committed to maintaining 75 percent of its direct labor staff as people with disabilities and has created 309 jobs since its inception in March 2000.
Computer Sciences Corp., Falls Church, Va. A leading global information technology services company, CSC is committed to hiring people with disabilities and offers training on disability issues in hiring, effective communications and inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace. It is an active participant in the National Business & Diversity Council and sponsors activities to promote employment of people with disabilities.
Merck & Co. Inc., Whitehouse Station, N.J. One of the world's leading research-driven health care companies, Merck & Co. has been active in incorporating the thoughts and ideas of people with different abilities into the way the company does business, and it has a long track record of recruiting employees with disabilities, providing workplace accommodations and conducting disability awareness activities. It has established a strategy called the disABILITY Accommodation and Outreach Initiative to support employees with disabilities and encourage hiring across the country and globally.
TecAccess, Rockville, Va. TecAccess is an information technology accessibility consulting business. It helps government agencies and corporate entities comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which requires the development, procurement, maintenance and use of technology that is accessible to people with disabilities. The business started in 2001 with four employees with cognitive and physical disabilities; it has increased sales by 82 percent and now has 52 employees, 46 of whom have one or more disabilities.
Jim Westall, Port Townsend, Wash. In 1988, Westall began the Skookum Corp. as a small nonprofit business in the poor, rural region of Port Townsend. A special education teacher at the local high school, Westall realized that graduates with intellectual challenges had no place to work, so he started a company in his garage. Ten workers with intellectual disabilities made jump ropes, the company's only product. Today, Skookum Corp. has more than 500 employees, 75 percent of whom have disabilities.
Through full inclusion and innovative solutions, disabled Americans get the help they need to reach their full potential and participate fully in the community where they work and live, Chao said.