From the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post ‘Federal Eye’ blog,  and the Kansas City Star:

In its first detailed look at employment for workers with disabilities,  the federal government reports that these workers are far more likely than people without disabilities to be out of work or working only part-time.

According to the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, just 19.2 percent of all Americans with disabilities are earning a paycheck, compared to 64.5 percent of Americans without disabilities. Of those with disabilities who are working, nearly one third are employed only part time.

The BLS also reported that the average unemployment rate for workers with disabilities was 16.4 percent as of July, up sharply from 14.5 percent last year. For those without disabilities, the unemployment rate last year was 9 percent. About 8 in 10 persons with disabilities are not considered part of the labor force because they aren’t looking for or holding a job. That compares to 3 in 10 people without disabilities.

Kathy Martinez, assistant secretary for the Labor Department’s office of disability employment policy, says some employers are hesitant to hire disabled workers because they fear added costs to provide special accommodations or additional training. In some cases this could be considered discrimination, which is illegal. “The biggest barrier for us is attitude and fear-the misconception of what hiring people with a disability might mean,” she said.

… That the overall jobless rates tend to be higher among workers with disabilities is partly a symptom of the recession and partly the result of a system that places income support – such as disability benefits – over employment assistance, said Andrew Houtenville, an economist and the research director of the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire.

“We have really low expectations for the population with disabilities as a system,” said Mr. Houtenville. “We want to provide people with financial support…but we have to do a better job providing employment services in a very timely fashion.”

Diane Suchetka, blogging in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, says Ohioans face longer waits for Social Security disability claim hearings than do residents of any other state.

A report this week by Allsup, a for-profit company that helps people file for disability benefits, found Ohioans must wait more than 19 months — without benefits — before they can get a hearing on their disability claims. Delaware’s backlog ranked as the shortest in the nation, at less than ten months. The national average is 14 1/2 months, down from a high of 17 months recorded in September 2008.

“We want people to know about the inequities,” Dan Allsup, communications director for the Illinois company, said in a telephone interview Monday afternoon. “If I have a disability, it should not depend on where I live to determine how long it’s going to take me to get my benefits.”

Suchetka said the wait for a hearing follows other time-consuming procedural steps, with the effect that some Ohioans don’t receive benefits until three years or more after filing their initial applications.

Many lose their cars, their homes and their hope while they wait.

“Some clients die waiting for their hearings,” said Mary McKee, a Lorain County lawyer who handles disability cases.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Giving gifts to a people with developmental disabilities, like Sarah Michael (left, with her family), during the holiday season can put their government benefits in jeopardy if not done properly.

If the gifts or benefits exceed $2,000 in total assets, the government can freeze critical benefits such as Medicaid, Medicare, Supplemental Security income or Social Security income.

“We see a lot of holiday celebrations, birthdays, communions and bar mitzvahs where people make several small monetary donations to special needs children, and if those compile over $2,000, their benefits are in jeopardy,” said Helen Sims, a special care planner with the Downtown financial planning group Guyaux Mandler Mah, which is affiliated with MassMutual Group.

… Families with disabled children can provide more security for them without disqualifying the child from government benefits by creating a special needs trust.

(Post-Gazette photo)

From the New York Times:

Forty years after Agent Orange was last used in Vietnam, the federal government has plans to make it easier for former veterans to get disability payments and health care for illnesses they say were caused by exposure to the toxic defoliant.

The shift underscores efforts by the secretary of veterans affairs, Eric Shinseki, a retired Army chief of staff and a Vietnam veteran himself, to reduce obstacles to sick or disabled veterans’ receiving benefits. The department has come under sharp criticism from Congress and veterans groups for long delays in processing disability claims.

“Since my confirmation as secretary, I’ve often asked why, 40 years after Agent Orange was last used in Vietnam, we’re still trying to determine the health consequences to our veterans who served in the combat theater,” Mr. Shinseki said in a statement. “Veterans who endure a host of health problems deserve timely decisions.”

It’s estimated that the policy change could prompt claims from 200,000 veterans.

From the AP/San Francisco Examiner:

An audit by the Veterans Affairs Department’s inspector general has concluded that too many veterans are waiting more than a year to get their disability claims processed.

The audit found that 11,000 veterans had been waiting more than a year as of one year ago, and that about $14 million of $43 million in retroactive payments had been unnecessarily delayed because of inadequate claims processing.

The report said the VA has hired more claims processors, but delays still create significant burdens for veterans.

From the Seattle Times and the Associated Press/Olympian:

A federal judge has ordered the state of Washington to restore services to some 950 seniors and people with disabilities who lost their benefits without notice on July 1.

A lawsuit was filed contesting the state’s decision to relieve budget pressure by cutting social and medical therapy to vulnerable adults living at home or in community residential services.

Judge Richard A. Jones issued a temporary injunction, saying the state violated  due process rights.  The ruling says the Department of Social and Health Services must reinstate benefits until the department is able to make meaningful reassessments of individual needs, issue timely notices of a reduction or termination in services, and give information about alternative services.

Earlier posts here and here.

UK Conservative leader David Cameron writes in the [UK] Independent about his plan for ending the red tape nightmare faced by the families of children with disabilities. He draws on what he learned from his family’s experience with his six-year-old son, Ivan, who died last February. Ivan had cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

Life for the parents of such young people is already “complicated enough without having to jump through hundreds of government hoops”, Cameron said.

He called for a streamlined system that would give parents more control over their child’s care, and improve access to education, respite, early intervention and health care. He also argued against what he called “the gospel of inclusion,” and pledged to give parents more educational choice by halting the closure of special schools.

Cameron will deliver a keynote speech on the subject at the Research Autism conference in London today.

An excerpt:

“Having your child assessed and getting the help you’re entitled to means answering the same questions over and over again, being buried under snow drifts of forms, spending hours on hold in the phone queue.

“I am determined to make life simpler for parents.”

Readers, what’s your take? Would David Cameron’s critique also hold true in the U.S.?

See related stories:

David Cameron urges end to ‘bureaucratic pain’ for parents of disabled children-Guardian

David Cameron calls to end ‘bureaucratic pain’ for families of disabled children – Telegraph

Tories to cut disability red tape-BBC News

Tories ‘will cut bureaucracy for carers’-Independent

Leading article: Compassionate Conservatism-Independent

Earlier posts here.

(Photo from UK Independent)