The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is twice that of the general population, and they are also nearly three times more likely to live in poverty than those without disabilities, problems the federal government is trying to address through grants aimed at connecting people with jobs.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its seventh round of funding for the Disability Employment Initiative, which seeks to match employers with disabled people who would make good employees.
The total spending since 2010 on the initiative has now reached $123 million, the department recently announced. The most recent part is a $14.9 million grant directed at a handful of states — California, Idaho, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Maryland.
Each state received roughly $2.5 million that they will use to make American Job Centers, which offer training and job-seeking assistance, more accessible to people with disabilities.
People with disabilities often face a number of obstacles that make it difficult to find and hold jobs, such as transportation challenges.
In many cases, people with disabilities have talents and skills that are not recognized or appreciated by employers. But just as employers recognize the benefit of increasing racial, ethnic and cultural diversity among their workforce, some companies are beginning to tout the advantage of having the perspective and experiences of people with disabilities on staff.
“The grants we are awarding today will help to strengthen partnerships that ensure employers know that it is what people with disabilities CAN do that matters most,” said Labor Secretary Thomas Perez in a statement.
Increasing the employment rate for people with disabilities does not necessarily solve the enormous economic gap. Disabled employees have far lower salaries on average. More than 60 percent of the disabled population has an income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, more than twice the rate of workers without disabilities.
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