Federal workers with disabilities very rare; Numbers declining
April 1st, 2009From the National Council on Disability:
Even after years of laws, regulations and policies designed to enhance federal hiring of people with disabilities, the number of such employees in the federal workforce is less than one percent and has been steadily shrinking, according to a report released this week by the National Council on Disability.
As of 2007, only 0.92 percent of federal workers are classified as having disabilities, researchers found. The total number of federal workers with disabilities was counted as 23,993 in fiscal 2007, a reduction of 14.42 percent since fiscal 1998.
The report also found:
- Workers with disabilities leave the federal government at nearly twice the rate that they are hired;
- Only 15.8 percent of agencies with 1,000 or more employees have established a numerical goal for improving employment of people with disabilities, even though those goals are required; and
- Government managers with disabilities are extremely scarce, ranging from 0.43 percent to 0.49 percent of the management workforce, depending on job classification.
The nine conditions targeted for coverage in the report are: “deafness, blindness, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, convulsive disorders, mental retardation, mental illness, and distortion of limb and/or spine.”
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April 1st, 2009 at 7:29 pm
How terrible that President Obama has not made measurable progress to ameliorate this terrible situation in his first 68 days in office. He is a great disappointment to the disability community. Surely he will not blame an ‘inherited deficit’ on his lack of progress in the hiring, retention and promotion of qualified federal employees with disabilities.
The National Council on Disability should organize a march on Washington to protest Barack Obama’s lack of commitment to follow through more dramatically on his campaign’s disability advocacy plan. He obviously does not understand civil rights and human rights issues at all. His previous advocacy and support mean nothing unless he attends to our entire roster of concerns immediately.
I don’t understand what priorities could be distracting him from the promises he made to our community, and I believe we should actively protest any further delay.
Pam W
Barack Obama’s Disability Advocacy Plan
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art59299.asp