Disability Report – February 19, 2019
Day In Washington: the Disability Policy Podcast
English - February 19, 2019 13:45 - 8 minutes - 6.79 MBGovernment Health & Fitness Homepage Download IPFS Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Hello and welcome to Day in Washington, your disability policy podcast. I’m your host Day Al-Mohamed working to make sure you stay informed. This is your Disability Report for the week of February 19, 2019.
Housing/International
On January 25th, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) released a landmark decision in S.A. v. Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation. In this case, the housing authority wanted to take into account the S.A.’s Henson Trust. For those of you who may not know, Henson Trusts in Canada are like our ABLE Accounts. Ours are tax-advantaged savings accounts for individuals with disabilities and their families. They’re still pretty new here as the ABLE Act only just passed in 2014.
It’s based on the idea that millions of people with disabilities and their families depend on a wide variety of public benefits for income, health care and food and housing assistance. Eligibility for many of these public benefits require meeting a means or resource test that stops people from building any savings for accessible housing, transportation, assistive technology etc.
So the Supreme Court of Canada agreed that Henson Trusts should NOT be considered an asset by the housing authority, allowing Canadian citizens to receive a housing subsidy for accessible housing without bankrupting themselves.
http://www.ccdonline.ca/en/humanrights/litigation/media-advisory-25Jan2019
Employment
In February, the Kessler Foundation and University of New Hampshire released the nTIDE Report focusing on disability employment.
In the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Jobs Report, employment for working-age people with disabilities decreased slightly from 29.9 percent in January 2018 to 29.8 percent in January 2019. For working-age people without disabilities, employment increased from 72.7 percent in January 2018 to 73.6 percent in January 2019.
But what is perhaps a bit more disturbing is the labor force participation rate for working-age people. The labor force participation rate is the percentage of the population that is working or actively looking for work. Employment rates show people who are working and/or not working. This shows those who are still trying to be employed and those who have given up and no longer in the workforce.
For people with disabilities, it was 33 percent in January 2018 and remained at the same level (33 percent) in January 2019. So basically, 67% of people with disabilities are not even participating in the system. Only 33% are in the workforce at all. And that number hasn’t changed. Now lets compare it to working-age people without disabilities, their labor force participation rate increased from 76.1 percent in Jan. 2018 to 76.9 percent in January 2019.
https://iod.unh.edu/article/2019/02/ntide-january-2019-jobs-report-job-numbers-hold-steady-americans-disabilities
Culture
February brings some great news by way of disability culture. New Jersey becomes second state to require schools to teach LGBT and disability-inclusive material. Children in the New Jersey school system will be exposed to "the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities”. While the focus of the discussion has been primarily on LGBTQ history, having disability included is a big win. California already has such a law in place. Here’s hoping those textbooks get updated with some great suggestions (Beyond Helen Keller and Franklin Delano Roosevelt). I for one, would love to see some people of color with disabilities and their contributions highlighted.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/01/us/new-jersey-lgbt-disability-curriculum-trnd/index.html
Transportation
What most wheelchair users with disability know is that only a quarter of NYC subway stations have elevators. They are also aware that many many of the elevators end up out of service with little to no warning and poor information as to when they will be repaired. In January, a young mother, Malaysia Goodson,
Hello and welcome to Day in Washington, your disability policy podcast. I’m your host Day Al-Mohamed working to make sure you stay informed. This is your Disability Report for the week of February 19, 2019.
Housing/International
On January 25th, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) released a landmark decision in S.A. v. Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation. In this case, the housing authority wanted to take into account the S.A.’s Henson Trust. For those of you who may not know, Henson Trusts in Canada are like our ABLE Accounts. Ours are tax-advantaged savings accounts for individuals with disabilities and their families. They’re still pretty new here as the ABLE Act only just passed in 2014.
It’s based on the idea that millions of people with disabilities and their families depend on a wide variety of public benefits for income, health care and food and housing assistance. Eligibility for many of these public benefits require meeting a means or resource test that stops people from building any savings for accessible housing, transportation, assistive technology etc.
So the Supreme Court of Canada agreed that Henson Trusts should NOT be considered an asset by the housing authority, allowing Canadian citizens to receive a housing subsidy for accessible housing without bankrupting themselves.
http://www.ccdonline.ca/en/humanrights/litigation/media-advisory-25Jan2019
Employment
In February, the Kessler Foundation and University of New Hampshire released the nTIDE Report focusing on disability employment.
In the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Jobs Report, employment for working-age people with disabilities decreased slightly from 29.9 percent in January 2018 to 29.8 percent in January 2019. For working-age people without disabilities, employment increased from 72.7 percent in January 2018 to 73.6 percent in January 2019.
But what is perhaps a bit more disturbing is the labor force participation rate for working-age people. The labor force participation rate is the percentage of the population that is working or actively looking for work. Employment rates show people who are working and/or not working. This shows those who are still trying to be employed and those who have given up and no longer in the workforce.
For people with disabilities, it was 33 percent in January 2018 and remained at the same level (33 percent) in January 2019. So basically, 67% of people with disabilities are not even participating in the system. Only 33% are in the workforce at all. And that number hasn’t changed. Now lets compare it to working-age people without disabilities, their labor force participation rate increased from 76.1 percent in Jan. 2018 to 76.9 percent in January 2019.
Culture
February brings some great news by way of disability culture. New Jersey becomes second state to require schools to teach LGBT and disability-inclusive material. Children in the New Jersey school system will be exposed to “the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities”. While the focus of the discussion has been primarily on LGBTQ history, having disability included is a big win. California already has such a law in place. Here’s hoping those textbooks get updated with some great suggestions (Beyond Helen Keller and Franklin Delano Roosevelt). I for one, would love to see some people of color with disabilities and their contributions highlighted.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/01/us/new-jersey-lgbt-disability-curriculum-trnd/index.html
Transportation
What most wheelchair users with disability know is that only a quarter of NYC subway stations have elevators. They are also aware that many many of the elevators end up out of service with little to no warning and poor information as to when they will be repaired. In January, a young mother, Malaysia Goodson, died while trying to haul her 1-year-old and a stroller down the steps of a Midtown subway station. A station that has no elevators. This is horrific and heartbreaking. And something disability transportation activists have been trying to address for decades. Currently, the city is embroiled in two separate lawsuits with disability rights advocates over subway accessibility. Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) wrote on Twitter. “The subway system is not accessible for everyone and that’s an environment the MTA should not allow.” Let’s hope some good can come of this tragedy.
Healthcare
On February 11, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that it has successfully resolved a complaint against the University of North Carolina Health Care system (UNC Health Care) alleging that it denied an individual the opportunity to be placed on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) list on the basis of their disability. The complaint was that a doctor decided that a person with intellectual disability was not a good candidate for a heart transplant because of their developmental disability and because they could not live independently.
UNC Health Care will amend the patient’s medical records to say that they are eligible to be considered for a spot on the transplant list and HHS’ Office for Civil Rights said that it will provide technical assistance to the health care system in the development of their transplant eligibility policy.
But….just in case you think that this was an easy win. UNC Health care denies that they ever denied anyone access to a transplant because of their disability. So what does that mean?
And that’s it for this week’s show. This is Day Al-Mohamed, hoping you continue to be well, and be informed. As always, I encourage you to read and investigate and come to your own opinion. Links and sources are available at DayInWashington.com. Leave us a comment or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter. We want to hear from you, because democracy belongs to everyone. Thank you for listening.
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DISCLAIMER: Comments and opinions expressed in this podcast should in no way be considered representative of opinions, statements or policies of any organizations, affiliations, employers or agencies connected with the host. Audio production provided by Chris Wright. Music is “If by Force” courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network and Twenty Twelve Records.