Law, Health Policy & Disability Center
University of Iowa College of Law
http://disability.law.uiowa.edu/dpn/
and
The Burton Blatt Institute
Syracuse University
http://bbi.syr.edu
One–Stop Toolkit
Resources of the Week Technical Assistance Project E–Mail listserv
21 July 2006
Good morning everyone,
Below please find the web site and publication of the week, as well as other resources that we hope will be useful as you work on systems change activities to help improve employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.
To subscribe and / or view past resources of the week archives, access: www.onestoptoolkit.org and click on the link to "Resources of the Week" on the right hand side of the home page.
To view an indexed list of the resources of the week by subject matter, visit the L.P.H.D.C. web site at http://disability.law.uiowa.edu/lhpdc/resources/wig/default.asp. It currently includes 20 categories, covering over 300 annotated references. Each category opens to a new window with each Resource of the Week which covered material in that area.
Have a good day and weekend!
Laura Farah
Program Associate
Law, Health Policy & Disability Center
University of Iowa College of Law
P: 617–489–0086
F: 617–489–1374
[ E–mail Lgleneck@mail.law.uiowa.edu ]
[ E–mail LFarah8@aol.com ]
[ http://www.onestoptoolkit.org ]
[The full announcements ([ C.W.D. Web-Cast ], [ N.C.W.D./A. Web-Conference ]) are located under the section heading "Upcoming Events of Interest."
]
Disability Navigators frequently meet customers with disabilities who are interested in exploring self-employment. Unfortunately, it seems that very few community service providers offer assistance and support with self-employment options and that the disability community could use more education and resources in this area. Throughout September, take advantage of three separate Web-Casts on self-employment for people with disabilities offered by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Center for Workforce Preparation (September 26) and the National Center for Workforce and Disability (September 8 & 14). Learn from self-employment experts about how individuals with disabilities can develop potential business concepts, better understand strategies and issues that emerge during the process of planning new businesses, and create viable businesses that meet personal employment needs. More awareness is needed on the significant opportunities that self-employment can offer individuals with disabilities and Navigators can help spread the invaluable resources offered in these upcoming conferences.
An Overlooked Tax deduction?: Impairment-Related Expenses as Tax Deductions for People with Disabilities Who Are Employed or Self-employed
Well, tax time has passed once again. Did you take advantage of every tax law? Most likely, if either you or another dependent family member is an individual with a disability and worked, you may have not. Regardless of whether it was traditional work or self-employment, you may not have taken advantage of a tax deduction for impairment related expenses. What are impairment-related expenses? The Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) defines these expenses as work expenses that are "ordinary and necessary business expenses for attendant care services at your place of work and other expenses in connection with your place of work that are necessary for you to be able to work.” What is the importance of this deduction to your situation?
Depending on how you file your tax return, you may be able to deduct these costs from your income before calculating the tax due, therefore reducing the amount of income you owe taxes on and thereby either increasing your refund or lowering your payment due. For more details on how you may be able to use this deduction, see the following Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) publications:
The Internal Revenue Service will allow you to deduct the full amount of these expenses as business expenses, rather than as medical expenses. For more details on how you may be able to use this deduction, see the following Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) publication:
For additional information on other tax incentives for people with disabilities:
http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/tax.html
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (E.E.O.C.) held an open meeting on June 28 on the employment of individuals with disabilities in the federal government. In the opening remarks, the Commission noted that over the past few decades there has been little overall improvement in the hiring and retention of federal employees with targeted disabilities (which include deafness, blindness, missing extremities, partial or complete paralysis, seizure disorders, distortion of limbs or spine, mental illness and severe intellectual impairments). Figures presented at the hearing indicated that the number of individuals with disabilities employed by the federal government (in terms of both the actual number and the percentage in relation to the total federal work force) increased slightly between 1984 and 1992, and has been decreasing since then. Regardless of the numbers, the percentage of the total federal workforce comprised by individuals with disabilities has remained in the range of .96 percent to 1.24 percent since 1984.
The meeting consisted of three panels. The first panel was entitled the “State of the Federal Government”, and provided information on the requirements on federal agencies to outline their equal employment opportunity strategies and programs and provide information on their infrastructure for providing reasonable accommodations. The second panel was called “Faces Behind the Numbers”, and consisted of individuals with disabilities and disability advocates pointing out the shortcoming of the federal government in its commitment to increase hiring and retention practices for individuals with disabilities. The final panel focused on Leading Practices, and looked at some of the innovative and successful programs in federal agencies for hiring and promoting employees with disabilities.
Access the U.R.L. for more information and materials from the meeting.
The National Council on Disability (N.C.D.) and its federal partners will host this year's A.D.A. interactive town hall meeting, which will celebrate the 16th anniversary of A.D.A.. The meeting, which is officially known as "A National Dialogue on the State of Disability," will be held July 26, 2006 from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
The day will begin with a presentation by N.C.D. Chairperson Lex Frieden on the current state of disability, which will be based on findings from N.C.D.'s soon-to-be released annual report, National Disability Policy: A Progress Report. Mr. Frieden's presentation will be followed by a keynote address by Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Gordon Mansfield.
We'll then move to the interactive portion of the town hall meeting, with three consecutive panels and an opportunity for audience members to question all the panelists. The three panels are based on the four goals of A.D.A.: equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency. Each panel will consist of four or five high-ranking federal officials and one or two consumers with disabilities. Each panelist will have three minutes to respond to the findings in Mr. Frieden's statement. At the conclusion of all opening statements, the moderator will open up each panel to the audience for a question and answer session. By the way, the moderator will be radio talk show host Greg Smith, who is currently hosting The Strength Coach Radio Show. Mr. Smith is also the founder of On A Roll - Talk Radio on Life and Disability, a nationally syndicated radio show on disability issues that aired on more than 70 radio stations nationwide over 11 years.
If you can't attend and would like to submit a question by e-mail for one of the panels, please send it to ncd@ncd.gov. Questions will be selected at random. Please tell us your name and where you live. If you prefer to remain anonymous, we will honor your request.
This town hall meeting is open to the public and free of charge. Reservations not required.
Re-structuring jobs to meet the employer's needs and the employee's interests and abilities remains a valuable part of every job developer's toolbox. Often overlooked, however, is the importance of providers restructuring their own employees' jobs to make a specific job placement a reality and to encourage a culture that believes in the art of the possible. During this presentation, Mr. Jim Meehan, K.F.I., will talk about his organization's experiences and some universal principles of both types of job restructuring. He will also discuss a basic but powerful approach to job negotiations.
Web-Casts are live video presentations over the Internet, viewed on your computer. Subscribers who miss the live event will be able to view the archive online. The forty-five minute presentation will be followed by a live 30 minute chatroom session where you may ask questions directly of the presenters. To access the Web-Cast, you will need a computer with Internet connection and RealPlayer, which is a free software program.
Registration: Please note that there is a fee to participate. For more information and to register for this Web-Cast, access: http://www.worksupport.com/registration/webcast/index.cfm/56.
The purpose of this meeting is to deliberate and conduct Panel business. The public is invited to participate by coming to the locations indicated. The Federal Register notice and the full agenda for each meeting will be posted approximately one week prior to each meeting on this web page and in the Meeting Information section of this web site (http://www.ssa.gov/work/panel/meeting_information/meeting_info_main.html).
Back by popular demand—the National Center on Workforce and Disability / Adult (N.C.W.D. forward slash A.) is offering more online trainings on Customized Employment (C.E.).
AUDIENCE: One-Stop staff and partners, community rehabilitation providers, job developers, business service representatives, and other interested parties. All sessions run from 1 - 2:30 Eastern time.
Self-employment means a customized job often developed through creating a business. This is an ever-growing strategy to increase income for many people, and is an important component of job development. Note: These sessions are offered in addition to the C.E. mini-series offered in 2005 - 2006 to providers of employment-related services, job center staff, and their partners.
REGISTRATION: E-mail your name, e-mail address, and phone number to rachael.webb@umb.edu with the subject line "Customized Employment." You can register for the entire series or individual sessions. All sessions run from 1 - 2:30 Eastern time.
Visit the web site for more information and technical support.
Acquire knowledge and skills to accommodate employees with disabilities, comply with the A.D.A., and develop innovative employment practices. Staff from the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) and other experts will answer questions such as:
For over 22 years, the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) has provided focused, trusted, and informed answers to these and other questions. This annual conference unites JAN consultants with featured speakers who have expertise in employment law, innovative employment practices, and disability issues. With two full days of training, the JAN Conference offers three concurrent training tracks addressing accommodation issues, innovative employment practices, and A.D.A. / legal issues. Sessions will be highly interactive and include question and answer segments. In addition, JAN consultants will be available throughout the conference to address your specific questions. The Exhibit Area, which includes a High Tech Demonstration Room, provides additional learning opportunities.
Access the U.R.L. for more information, including online registration. Note, participation is limited to 300.
To learn more contact Teri Blankenship at 804-828-2197.
JAN consultants have developed an employment guide for job seekers as well as job candidates entering the workforce. The new on-line tool, "Finding a Job that is Right for You: A Practical Approach to Looking for a Job as a Person with Disability", can be found at: While JAN is not a placement agency, JAN consultants often receive calls from individuals seeking work. To assist the JAN callers looking for employment, the guide provides four-steps with easy-to-use information, tools, and resources on subjects encountered when job seeking. These include disclosing a disability, requesting an accommodation, and career exploration designed to help people with disabilities find the job which is a good fit for them.
People learn in different ways. While there is no right or wrong way to learn, most of us learn best when a variety of styles are used. This is especially important with people with disabilities- working with people that are deaf or blind are the most obvious examples. Yet, people with different cognitive abilities- including Attention Deficit Disorder (A.D.D.) and people with intellectual impairments- can be successful in financial literacy programs with some accommodations. This article includes three tips to help increase the success of all participants. The three tips fall under the following main categories:
The Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement Project was launched in 1996 to capture the history of a remarkable movement by people with disabilities to win legally defined civil rights and control over their own lives. Since then, more than 100 oral histories with leaders, participants, and observers of the movement in the 1960s and 1970s have preserved the living memory of the movement. A rich collection of personal papers and the records of key disability organizations join the oral histories in the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, comprising an in-depth research resource for the study of a contemporary social movement which has changed the social, cultural, and legal landscape of the nation.
The project has been funded with two field-initiated research grants from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, a division of the U.S. Department of Education. The first grant (1996 - 2000) focuses on the movement in Berkeley, California, one of the key cities where models for independent living were developed and disability rights issues defined. The second grant (2000 - 2003) expands the scope of the project nationwide, with oral histories of leaders from Boston, New York, and Washington D.C. to Texas, Chicago, and Los Angeles. A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts was received in 2004 to fund the first phase of a project on artists with disabilities.
Johnette Hartnett, National Disability Institute & University of Iowa, provides information on ground-breaking new research underway helping individuals with disabilities gain access to financial education and asset building opportunities. Dr. Hartnett asserts that access to financial knowledge, services and products is essential for individuals with disabilities to build true economic security in the new century.
According to this article “Financial education is under-studied, unfunded and mainly unrecognized as a piece of the puzzle in reducing poverty and building economic independence and self-sufficiency for working Americans with disabilities. In our research for this issue, we were hard pressed to find accessible research-based curricula that addresses the complex array of issues that face working Americans with disabilities who are recipients of public benefits. For example, unlike their fellow working Americans without disabilities, many people with disabilities face hidden or "gateway costs" just to enter the workplace. Many pay out-of-pocket expenses related to their disability just to enter the workplace because of various accommodations or services needed such as personal assistance, special transportation, or adaptive technology. Some of these expenses are tax deductible, but many are not.
The need to negotiate earnings with income and resource eligibility limits from federal and state policies that discourage work and penalize assets is reported as overwhelming for the millions of Americans on public benefits who are working even a few hours a week. Recent research conducted in four cities demonstrates that few workers with disabilities understand how these rules interface when they earn income or gain resources. In addition, many providers of services, family members, payees, tax preparers and employers have asked for education and training on these issues to better serve their clients with disabilities who are working but still need some level of public benefit support. Even though there are a number of federal programs and pilots that encourage work (Ticket to Work, PASS, PESS, Life Accounts) their under-utilization is troubling.
The strong federal pull to penalize work and asset growth for individuals receiving public benefits has not stopped Americans with disabilities determined to work and carve out meaningful lives. However, without reliable and accurate financial education our next generation of individuals with disabilities who want to work may find it too difficult to negotiate the "gateway costs" associated with their disabilities and to manage their budgets, control debt, understand tax filing obligations and benefits, find accessible financial institutions that accommodate their needs such as A.T.Ms for people who are blind, and negotiate internet banking requirements when systems are not adapted for individuals with visual or hearing impairments. And finally, as the trend to manage individuals budgets and individual accounts continues to grow families interested in managing their own budgets need to be the given the necessary tools and skills to do it successfully.”
Access the U.R.L. to read the full article.
[The following article, from the Society for Human Resource Management’s (S.H.R.M.) Diversity Focus Area and is included below in its entirety.]
It’s far better to accommodate than to debate — in-house or in court — about whether an employee’s physical or mental condition is or is not a disability, attorney Kathy Perkins told her audience in a late Monday session at the S.H.R.M. Annual Conference. “Adapt or accommodate to help employees do their jobs or do them better — if, when and how it makes good business sense,” she said. And rather than approach each new situation on an ad hoc basis, Perkins — managing member of Constangy, Brooks & Smith L.L.C. in Kansas City, Mo. — recommends creating a formal process that will produce what she calls “an accommodating culture.”
The Americans with Disabilities Act (A.D.A.) is different in some ways from its “sister civil rights laws,” Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Perkins noted. Generally, there is no question as to a person’s race, gender or age, for example. But under the A.D.A. an inquiry is needed to determine whether a person has a disability as defined by the act. There are a number of pitfalls to making that inquiry, however. For the most part, it is very difficult for people to talk about their personal health matters, she said. It may be even more challenging for H.R. professionals to inquire into them — especially in a fashion that does not run afoul of the A.D.A's prohibitions.
Furthermore, diagnosis and recommended treatment for persons with apparently similar conditions can vary considerably, making it risky for H.R. professionals — or even medical professionals — to reach a legally reliable conclusion that a condition is or is not a “disability.” Even the courts interpreting the law have produced inconsistent and unclear results. So, just don’t go there unless you have to, she urged. “It costs just as much money to win that argument on summary judgment as it does to lose it,” she said, putting the matter in dollars and cents terms. Instead, just do it, Perkins said. Adapt the employee’s working conditions using common sense and creativity, and relying on company precedent involving similar situations. And in the process, avoid using A.D.A. buzzwords. “Think about accommodation in the broader sense. Is there something simple and easy you can do without extensive analysis?”
Remember that the accommodation process must be interactive and continuous, Perkins cautioned. She offered other tips and suggestions:
Of course, don’t forget to document. Establish a simple system to record accommodation requests and their outcome, including details about the accommodations made. It will improve consistency and provide a resource for evaluating compliance and for defending claims. You do not need any fancy software, Perkins said. While large companies may have elaborate systems, all it really takes is a table in a word processing file. Perkins also recommends appointment of a disability / accommodations officer who is responsible for all accommodations, handles the complaint process (unless there are other internal procedures) and is responsible for maintaining consistency and legal compliance.
The accommodations officer also should periodically survey workplace practices, establish liaisons in I.T. and operations, and create an interface with any employee idea or suggestion program.
Develop a written policy, she said, that expresses the company’s commitment to non-discrimination and reasonable accommodation. Explain how to make a request and to whom, and outline the complaint procedure. Give managers an overview of the law and the employer’s obligations under it. Teach them how to communicate about disabilities and accommodations, how to recognize a request for accommodation, and how to counsel an employee on where to go for help. In an accommodating culture, there will be no excuse for failure to request an accommodation and employees will be more understanding about others. Employees will be less likely to sue and, if they do, “courts reward employers who can demonstrate good faith.”