Obama & Disability: One Year Later
How He Is Doing on the Points Outlined in His Disability Policy
Nov 2, 2009
“We must build a world free of unnecessary barriers, stereotypes, and discrimination .... policies must be developed, attitudes must be shaped, and buildings and organizations must be designed to ensure that everyone has a chance to get the education they need and live independently as full citizens in their communities.”
This quote is the lead paragraph on the web page of Barack Obama’s official website dedicated to his disability policy. The page also details Obama’s four point plan to empower individuals with disabilities in America.
Obama’s plan starts with providing people with disabilities the educational opportunities that will help them succeed. Comprising the second and third points of Obama’s plan are, respectively, an end to discrimination and the promotion of equal opportunity and an increase in the number of gainfully employed workers with disabilities. Support for independent and community-based living rounds out Obama’s policy.
Education
During his campaign, Obama called for more funding and full enforcement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. IDEA guarantees that elementary and secondary students get an appropriate, free education.
Obama recently signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, an act that includes a number of provisions directly related to the disability community. Chief among these provisions is funding for IDEA in the amount of $12.2 billion.
An End to Discrimination and Increased Employment
President Obama has made many move to address these issues. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided $500 million to vocational rehab to help with training and job placement for people with disabilities.
The White House also plans to hold a career fair in early spring 2010 for people with disabilities. The fair is intended to help with the goal of hiring 100,000 federal employees with disabilities in the next five years.
On the discrimination and equal opportunity fronts, the Obama administration has made major inroads. Just days ago, the president signed a new law that extends the scope of hate crimes to include those crimes committed against people with disabilities. At a reception after the law was signed, Obama said that he signed it because "no one in America should be forced to look over their shoulder because of who they are, or because they live with a disability."
President Obama signed the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities this summer. By signing the convention, the US joins over 100 different nations in the United Nations' efforts to expand community access, employment and the standard of living for people with disabilities throughout the world.
Independent Living
The Community Choice Act gives people with disabilities the choice of receiving community-based services to remain in their homes rather than a nursing home or some other institution. Obama has supported this bill since its introduction in 2007, and although it is not currently included in the House or Senate version of health care reform, Obama continues to support it. At a hearing for the Act in January 2008, he released a statement saying "I support the passage of the Community Choice Act of 2007, which would allow Medicaid-eligible Americans with significant disabilities the choice of living in their community, rather than having to live in a nursing home or other institution. This legislation is vitally important to the independence, community integration, and equality of hundreds of thousands of Americans with disabilities."
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