From: jfa@jfanow.org (Justice For All Moderator)
"Pretending
That Nothing's Wrong"
Frank G. Bowe
The disability rights movement faces a challenge, right
now. It needs to put a stake in the ground, proclaiming
that things are NOT just fine, thank you. We need to be
very public about the fact that millions of Americans are
very much at risk, right now. And we need to make sure that
as the political season heats up heading into November
2004, candidates for federal, state and local offices not
only recognize the scope and depth of the problems, but
articulate strategies and tactics for solving those
problems.
Why, you may ask, is all this necessary?
It is necessary because in Washington, DC, and in state
capitol after state capitol, as well as in City Hall in
most of the cities I have visited recently, the politics of
the convenient hold that "If we just pretend that all is
hunky-dory, we can get away with it".
JOBS: THE MEDICAID CONNECTION
Case in point: Joblessness. A full 13 years after enactment
of the Americans with Disabilities Act and 11+ years after
the employment requirements of ADA's Title I took effect,
astoundingly, the average working-age adult with a
disability does not have a job. Employment rates among
those with severe disabilities remain stuck in the 30%
range.
Case in point: Entitlement spending. Federal and state
outlays for Medicaid are gaining the full attention of
policy makers everywhere. Costs are rising far faster than
are the tax receipts required to pay them.
These two cases are connected. Were adults with
disabilities working in good jobs, instead of relying on
entitlement programs, their medical needs would be covered
by private health insurance and paid for by employer and
employee. The result would be much lower Medicaid spending
than we now see.
Given these basic facts, one would expect to see, in a
perfect world, efforts to help more adults with
disabilities to qualify for and get good jobs. That is not
happening in Washington, DC, and it is not happening in the
States. Instead, when the House of Representatives passed
its version of the Workforce Investment Act Amendments of
2003 this past summer, not only did it not improve the
federal-state rehabilitation program, but it actually
authorized governors to cherry-pick for administrative
purposes funds that were intended to rehabilitate adults
with disabilities. Simply put, the House bill pretends that
there are no real problems in employment of people with
disabilities, so nothing significant needs to be done.
Let's take another example.
WELFARE REFORM: WOMEN AND DISABILITY
Congress is currently reauthorizing the current version of
welfare, known as the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) program. TANF has resulted in the removal
from welfare rolls of large numbers of former recipients.
Those who remain are still on the rolls for a reason. A
recent report from the U.S. General Accounting Office shows
that 44% of today's TANF recipients, the vast majority of
them women, have disabilities (38% have severe
disabilities).
One would think that a priority in the current
reauthorization would be providing accommodations to meet
the needs these women have because of their disabilities.
One would be wrong. None of the TANF bills even bothers to
discuss such accommodations. Again, it seems, if we just
pretend that there isn't a problem, we won't be expected to
solve it.
THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
Here is another example.
A few years ago, there was much hullabaloo about a growing
"digital divide" in telecommunications. The U.S. Department
of Commerce issued a number of alarming reports showing
that poorer people were much less likely to have access to
the Internet. Last year and this, the same department has
been silent on the matter. If you ask, the Department's
leaders explain that the digital divide is history. It's no
longer a problem. Therefore, nothing serious needs to be
done.
I know something about this (See "Broadband and Americans
with Disabilities," available at
http://people.hofstra.edu/faculty/frank_g_bowe/bb/). So
does Steve Kaye of the University of California at San
Francisco. Steve just completed an in-depth analysis
showing that the digital divide is as deep as it ever was.
It is just different. While more people who subsist on
limited income now have basic, dial-up access to the
Internet, they do not have high-speed, broadband
connections. The fact is that today's Internet carries so
much multimedia -- e-mails with voice attachments,
streaming video, and the like -- that broadband really is
required for work, education and other uses.
THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY'S RESPONSE?
In each instance, there IS a real problem. We need to
insist that it be acknowledged.
The next step is to ask those running for public office:
What do you plan to do to solve this problem?
There is not much time between now and November 2004. If we
miss our chance now, we may not get another one.
U.S. General Accounting Office. 2001. Welfare Reform: More
Coordinated Federal Effort Could Help States and Localities
Move TANF Recipients With Impairments Toward Employment.
Washington, DC: U.S. General Accounting Office.
Dr. Bowe is the Dr. Mervin Livingston Schloss Distinguished
Professor at Hofstra University and is Superintendent and
CEO of the Lexington School for the Deaf and Center for the
Deaf, in New York City. He also serves as governmental
affairs consultant for the National Association of the
Deaf.
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