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Inside Courage Center Awards — p. 7
Volume 11, Number 11
Pelswick For Pres. — Page 6
SOURCES
November 10, 2000
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“There never was a good war or a bad peace.” — Ben Franklin
RESOURCES
November 10, 2000
NEW HIRING GOALS
FOR STATE EMPLOYEES WITH DISABILITIES by John Tschida, Dir. of Public Policy & Research at Courage Center
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he state of Minnesota has adopted new hiring goals for individuals with disabilities. The goal, expressed as a percentage of the state’s civil service workforce, was suspended last June by Julien Carter, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employee Relations. He said the data and methodology used to arrive at the 12.8 percent goal were not sound.
David Skilbrad, new Executive Director of the Minnesota State Council on Disability (See story on page 3).
Social Security Legislation Takes Effect by Ron Ausan
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ocial Security disabled beneficiaries who are working or thinking about working should know that they can now work with less concern about losing their Medicare coverage. Starting October 1, they are now eligible for at least 93 months after the end of their trial work period, an additional 4½ years. This will mean many disabled beneficiaries may not have to decide between working and keeping the health care coverage they need to survive. The extended coverage should make it possible for them to make the transition to the workplace without risking the health care coverage they need.
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When the extended Medicare
coverage runs out, beneficiaries will be able to purchase the coverage at a price substantially less than a private policy would cost, if one were available. The change is the first provision to become effective in the Ticket to Work and Work Incentive Improvement Act (TWWIIA) of 1999 signed by the President in December 1999. The act is one of the most substantial increases in work opportunities for disabled beneficiaries in recent years. It also expands coverage for Medicaid recipients, provides for increased vocational and rehabilitation assistance, established work incentives specialists in Social Security offices, and calls for community involvement in
helping disabled beneficiaries who wish to work. • Under the law, states may provide Medicaid coverage to people who are not too disabled to work even if their incomes are above 250 percent of the federal poverty level. People receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) from Social Security should check with their state Medicaid offices for availability of the coverage in their areas. • Beginning January 1, disabled Social Security and SSI beneficiaries will receive a “ticket” they may use to obtain vocational rehabilitation and other employment support services SS - cont. on p. 4
“Our former disability hiring goal was not only out of compliance with state law, but was also based on data that did not provide state agencies with meaningful feedback on the success of their recruiting efforts,” Carter said. Minnesota requires the goal to be set using U.S. Census data “when available.” The previous 12.8 percent goal, which covered all state job classifications from managers to maintenance crews, resulted from a statewide telephone survey in the mid1990s. The new system, which uses a weighted formula based largely on U.S. Census data and the current number of individuals with disabilities in the state workforce, actually has eight different hiring goals ranging from 7.68 to 13.74 percent. The lowest total applies to paraprofessionals. The highest goal is for officials and administrators. In total, the state of MN now has 55,159 employees. Of those, 3,922, or 7.1 percent, identify as having a disability. A task force composed of state human resource officials and members of the disability community began meeting in August to develop new state hiring goals. Chaired by Carter, the group was frustrated by a lack of data on people with
disabilities. “I’m amazed at how much we don’t know about the working age population of people with disabilities,” said Margot Imdieke Cross, task force member and interim Director of the State Council on Disability. “These new hiring goals are relying largely on 1990 Census figures and I don’t believe these figures adequately represent our community. I am disappointed that the goals weren’t higher.” Carter agrees that good numbers on the size of the available workforce are hard to find. While the federal government uses several tools to count individuals with disabilities, none are specifically designed to measure employment status over time. Complicating matters, all use a different definition of disability. Many of these are far from the definition used by the Americans with Disabilities Act. National experts in the field of disability research agree this is problematic. “We don’t have good data, but in part this is because we’re asking the wrong questions,” said Andrew Imparato, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities. “We need to define disability based on an interaction with the environment and not on an inability to work.” Imparato spoke at the National Disability Statistics and Policy Forum held Oct. 16 in Washington D.C., where many presenters said better data is needed. The issue now for the Department of Employee Relations is finding more people with disabilities to meet the newly established goals. The state falls short of the target in each of
the eight job categories. People with disabilities in skilled craft positions, at 8.29 percent of the current workforce in those jobs, come closest to the goal of 8.9 percent. The greatest disparity is seen in the officials and administrators category, where 8.12 percent of current state employees hold these positions of authority. The goal says 13.74 percent of those jobs should be individuals with disabilities. “The bottom line is, the state of Minnesota’s commitment to hiring and retaining people with disabilities is not limited to the creation of a set of numbers on paper,” said Commissioner Carter. “We will continue to be diligent in action aimed at making state employment more accessible to people with disabilities.” Others in the disability community agree that the new hiring goal is just the beginning. “Now we need to look at recruiting strategies and creative ways to reach people with disabilities looking for work,” said Lolly Lijewski, of the Metropolitan Center for Independent Living. Carter has expressed a desire to reconvene the working group to develop new ideas for reaching potential employees with disabilities. All would agree with a statement recently released by Gov. Jesse Ventura, who said that by “taking advantage of creative options and eliminating employment barriers, Minnesota can make significant strides in allowing more people with disabilities to enter and move up in the labor market. We need to get more people working.” Q
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