[Senate Hearing 112-926]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 112-926
THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT AT 22: A NEW GENERATION OF IOWANS
APPROACHES THE LABOR FORCE WITH HIGH EXPECTATIONS
=======================================================================
FIELD HEARING
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION,
LABOR, AND PENSIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON
EXAMINING THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT AT 22, FOCUSING ON A NEW
GENERATION OF IOWANS AND THEIR HIGH EXPECTATIONS AS THEY APPROACH THE
LABOR FORCE
__________
JULY 13, 2012 (Cedar Rapids, IA)
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions
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COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS
TOM HARKIN, Iowa, Chairman
BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland
JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico
PATTY MURRAY, Washington
BERNARD SANDERS (I), Vermont
ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania
KAY R. HAGAN, North Carolina
JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon
AL FRANKEN, Minnesota
MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming
LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee
RICHARD BURR, North Carolina
JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia
RAND PAUL, Kentucky
ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah
JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
PAT ROBERTS, Kansas
LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska
MARK KIRK, Illinois
Pamela Smith, Staff Director, Chief Counsel
Lauren McFerran, Deputy Staff Director
Frank Macchiarola, Republican Staff Director
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
__________
STATEMENTS
FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012
Page
Committee Member
Harkin, Hon. Tom, Chairman, Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions, opening statement......................... 1
Witnesses--Panel I
Mitchell, David L., MS, CRC, Administrator, Iowa Vocational
Rehabilitation Services, Des Moines, IA........................ 4
Prepared statement........................................... 7
Shults, Rick, Mental Health and Disability Services Division
Administrator, Iowa Department of Human Services, Des Moines,
IA............................................................. 12
Prepared statement........................................... 16
Witnesses--Panel II
Frank, Ron, Manager, Walgreens, Cedar Rapids, IA................. 20
Prepared statement........................................... 22
Hillman, Emilea, Independence, IA................................ 25
Prepared statement........................................... 25
Trainor, Nate, Waverly, IA....................................... 28
Prepared statement........................................... 29
Watters, Alex, Milford, IA....................................... 35
Prepared statement........................................... 38
(iii)
THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT AT 22: A NEW GENERATION OF IOWANS
APPROACHES THE LABOR FORCE WITH HIGH EXPECTATIONS
----------
FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
Cedar Rapids, IA.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:02 a.m. in
Iowa Hall, Rooms B, C, and D, Kirkwood Community College, Hon.
Tom Harkin, chairman of the committee, presiding.
Present: Senator Harkin.
Opening Statement of Senator Harkin
The Chairman. The Senate Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions will come to order.
The title of this hearing is ``The Americans with
Disabilities Act at 22: A New Generation of Iowans Approaches
the Labor Force with High Expectations.''
I might just add at the outset this is an official meeting
of the Senate Committee that I chair, and that's why we have a
court reporter here to take things down.
Later this month, on July 26, in celebrations across Iowa
and across the United States, the anniversary of the signing of
the Americans with Disabilities Act will take place. Thanks to
the ADA and other civil rights laws, Iowans with disabilities
have far greater opportunities to participate in the workplace
and in the life of our communities.
I was honored to be the Senate sponsor of the ADA during my
first term in the Senate, work that was inspired by my older
brother, Frank, who became deaf as a child, but he refused to
settle for the low expectations of some of the professionals
who told him that his job options in life were limited, that he
could be a baker, a cobbler, or a printer's assistant, and that
was it.
But during Frank's lifetime--he is now deceased--I saw
firsthand how communications access improved for him and
hundreds of thousands of deaf and hard-of-hearing people thanks
to the ADA and other laws, such as IDEA, the Rehab Act, and
others.
Today's hearing is an opportunity to learn about the hopes
and dreams of what I now call the ADA generation, a diverse
group of youth and young adults with disabilities who have
grown up with opportunities for equality and integration
created under the civil rights laws like the ADA and IDEA and
the Rehab Act. In my experience from working closely with the
disability community for decades, from chairing hearings in
Washington, DC where young adults with disabilities have
testified, and from the many interns with disabilities who have
worked in my office, I'm very excited about what the future
holds for this ADA generation.
They have grown up in an America that gives them realistic
expectations of full participation, equal opportunity,
independent living, and economic self-sufficiency; the four
pillars of the ADA. These young people are truly helping to
redefine what is possible for people with disabilities to
achieve in education, in employment, in all facets of American
life.
I know also that this ADA generation has high expectations
for themselves, especially about what they can aspire to do in
their careers. The vast majority of youth and young adults with
disabilities do not want to drop out of high school, or
graduate from high school or college and then retire into a
lifetime of supplemental security income. They want to work in
competitive, integrated settings. They want to achieve economic
self-sufficiency, and given opportunities and appropriate
supports, the vast majority aspire to find meaningful work, to
be a part of the middle class, with the same hopes and dreams
as other Americans.
Today we're going to hear from three remarkable young
Iowans I call the ADA generation, Emilea Hillman, Nate Trainor
and Alex Watters, each of whom has translated their personal
high expectations into promising employment in integrated
settings that is consistent with their interests and their life
goals.
Then we'll hear from a store manager at the Cedar Rapids
Walgreens who will talk about that company's experience in
building partnerships and pipelines that are helping youth and
adults with disabilities become an integrated part of the labor
force.
We'll hear from leaders of two critical Iowa agencies, the
Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Division of
Mental Health and Disability Services, about what their
agencies are doing to invest in this ADA generation to help
them achieve their goals.
I just might say, before I close, that we think about the
impact of the ADA locally in terms of our State, and local
communities. But that Act inspired a movement around the globe
in terms of other countries looking at what they need to do.
This culminated several years ago in the United Nations
drafting a convention, which is a treaty, on the rights of
people with disabilities. Well, the U.N. takes a long time to
do things. It took them several years to get it done, and then
they put it out for ratification by member nations.
One-hundred and sixteen nations have signed on to it now,
plus the European Union. Yesterday I was honored to testify
with Senator John McCain and others before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, because under our laws, a treaty like that
is first sent to the White House. The White House then has to
send it out to the Justice Department and all these other
places to make sure it's OK, and that takes a couple of years.
Finally, it came back. President Obama sent it down to us a
couple of months ago. The Foreign Relations Committee had a
hearing on it yesterday, at which I testified, and I hope that
this convention will be reported out and we'll get it on the
floor and pass it. We need a two-thirds vote to pass it and we
hope to do so before July 26, our 22d anniversary.
I say that because here we are; what we did in this
country, again going all the way back to other things like IDEA
and the Rehab Act, and then ADA, others like that. We really
did spark a global movement in this area. So here we are, we
should be the leaders in the world and we should ratify this
convention so that when other countries now, when they sign on,
they've got to change their laws and change things so that they
are under the provisions of this treaty. They have to be in
compliance with it. We don't have to do anything. We are in
full compliance. We don't have to change anything.
But as these other countries start to work to get in
compliance, we should be at the table with them providing the
leadership, the guidance, and the direction, and that's why
it's so important for us to do that.
Now, the other reason I mention it is because when we think
of young people, like the young people here today, as being
part of the American workforce in the future, but there's going
to be a global workforce out there too, and there's going to be
a global workforce of young people with disabilities in other
countries who also have high expectations, who no longer are
going to just be shunted aside and put in the shadows.
This whole thing has taken on a great life. Not only do
young people with disabilities have to be in this labor force,
they're going to be part of a global labor force around the
globe. So in one way it's very encouraging that America has
inspired the rest of the world this way. It's also kind of
daunting to think about what we need to do to maintain our
leadership in this area, and that's sort of a little bit of
what this hearing is about.
What are we doing, and what should we be doing, to maintain
that position of providing opportunities? I just looked at USA
Today, and there's a story in here about the unemployment rate
for teens is 24.6 percent, young adults age 20 to 24 is 13.7
percent. Among teens and young adults with disabilities, it's
about three times that much. They're talking about 60-something
percent. So as we begin to increase, I hope, and regain our
employment opportunities in America, we make sure that people
with disabilities are brought in also.
Andrew Imperato just gave me a note here and said there are
three people here that go back a long ways who helped with the
passage of the ADA back in the 1980s, late 1980s, up to 1990,
and at the risk of leaving somebody out I will recognize Julie
Beckett, who is here, and Evelyne Villines. Where is Evelyne?
Oh, Evelyne is right here, Evelyne Villines, and Sylvia Piper.
Sylvia is back there.
[Applause.]
Thank you all very much.
We go back a long way. They were all inspirational hard
workers in getting the ADA passed.
Now I'd like to introduce our first panel. After their
statements we'll go to our second panel.
Our first witness is going to be David Mitchell. He is
currently the administrator for Iowa Voc Rehab Services. He has
been with IVRS for 12 years, served in a variety of supervisory
roles before becoming administrator last year. Prior to joining
IVRS, he worked in rehabilitation services in central Iowa for
nearly 20 years in both the public and private sectors. He
holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa State University
and a Master of Science Degree from Drake University.
Next, joining Mr. Mitchell on our first panel, is Rick
Shults. Mr. Shults is the Mental Health and Disability Services
Division administrator for the Iowa Department of Human
Services. He previously served as the director of Mental Health
Services for the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation
Services and has worked in a variety of administrative and
management roles for programs serving people with developmental
disabilities and mental health needs over the past 36 years. He
has a Bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon and an
MBA from Pepperdine University.
As an official hearing, I read over your statements as I
was flying out here last night. They're very good. All your
statements will be made a part of the record in their entirety.
I would ask if you could maybe sum up in several minutes what
points you want to make, and then we can have a discussion. So
we'll do the first panel.
I know one of you has to leave because you have to get back
to Des Moines.
So we'll start with you, David. Welcome, and please proceed
as you so desire.
STATEMENT OF DAVID L. MITCHELL, MS, CRC, ADMINISTRATOR, IOWA
VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION SERVICES, DES MOINES, IA
Mr. Mitchell. Thank you very much, Senator. We really
appreciate the opportunity to make a few comments regarding the
ADA and its historic impact as a landmark piece of legislation.
I certainly agree with your comments about the progress
that's been made with improving access to the physical
environment, access to information, access to assistive
technology resources. But we also recognize we still have work
to do as we look at the promise and the hope that the ADA has
with the field of employment.
Taking one of your challenges from last year, I went out
this time and met with our 13 area offices, met with over 200
of our rehabilitation field staff, and shared a little bit of
the ADA story and the fact that people with disabilities are
still challenged to get into competitive, integrated, community
employment. If we have approximately 4.5 million people with
disabilities into the labor market, and our goal is to move
that to 6 million by 2015, what are we going to do as a State
agency to move that forward?
I think we're going to hear a little bit later today from
our young adults, and I think we'll be impressed by their
persistence and their passion and their energy. We'll also be
impressed by their advocacy and their personal support systems.
I think we recognize as service professionals that not all
individuals have those support systems, and we need to do
better to fill those gaps to allow everybody to have
opportunities to compete in the labor market.
There are challenges that we face, and I know as an agency
we've had a shrinking budget. We're about 9.5 percent less than
we were in 2009. We have hiring freezes on staff capacity. We
have struggles with competing pieces of legislation, and we
need support for programs that complement our services, like
benefits planning with the Social Security Administration.
But with those challenges come tremendous opportunities
that we have, and I'd like to just take a few minutes to
highlight seven pockets of excellence that we think we're
pushing forward. We can't do this in isolation. We do it with
partnering and collaboration and networking with our other
community resources and providers, and we really are excited
about the opportunities we have lying ahead.
One of the little phrases that has kind of come together as
we've met with partners is ``the stars are aligning,'' and
we're going to be able to push forward with the momentum that
the ADA has had in the last 22 years to create the next 22
years to really focus on employment for people with
disabilities and our youth.
So, seven quick highlights.
No. 1, youth leadership. We co-sponsor, with the Iowa
Department for the Blind and the Iowa Department of Human
Rights, a youth leadership forum, and in that forum young
adults that are in the secondary and post-secondary school
system can come together to look at advocacy, self-sufficiency,
independent living skills, and begin to address their interests
and preferences for the world of work, and this is really the
foundation for what is going to come in future years for the
youth.
No. 2, the Collaborative Transition Protocol. This is a
partnership that we have with the Iowa Department of Education
and individual school districts. The Iowa Department of
Education has taken a stance with a response to intervention
method, which really looks at young adults focused on their
strengths, their interests, their preferences, and not focused
on a disability label. So as we move forward with VR, we've
been able to look at targeted groups of individuals who really
focus on their strengths and their interests, moving away from
the perceptions that come with the label, and we're excited
about how that's being implemented across the State of Iowa.
No. 3, Transition Alliance programs and Project Search. Our
Transition Alliance programs, we have six of them in the State
of Iowa. Again, this is a partnership with the State Department
of Education and school districts where we're leveraging
resources to increase staff capacity to provide work-based
experiences for kids in the secondary school system. We know
from our studies that individuals who get work experience, and
where those work experiences occur out in the community, have a
better opportunity for future success. So this is an
opportunity that we've had to leverage resources and partner
together, and we're excited about that, and we're trying to
push forward and expand that program.
Project Search is a nationally recognized program that
really coordinates classroom activities with the world of work,
and we have two programs we're excited about. One is in our
northern Iowa Mason City area that's really taken on by the
leadership of one of our community partners, the North Iowa
Vocational Center. Through their leadership, we've worked with
the local hospital and the Mason City school district to give
young people chances to get out in the world of work and
experience what it's really like.
We're starting a new program in Des Moines with Easter
Seals Center and with the Des Moines School District and Mercy
Hospital. Again, this is a chance to integrate school
curriculum with the needs and skills that are required by our
business partners, and we think this will be a real opportunity
to expand work experience.
No. 4, staffing agencies. We've had a unique opportunity
this past year to work with staffing agencies, and in
particular manpower staffing. This has been kind of a closed
door to vocational rehabilitation. We haven't really looked at
this as an opportunity in the past, but staffing agencies have
a viable role as they meet business needs. So we've been able
to expand their awareness of disability awareness needs, as
well as talking about a whole different diverse pool of
qualified work applicants, and we're hoping that this will be
able to expand opportunities for people to get into companies
that typically have had closed doors.
No. 5, entrepreneurship, the whole idea of self-employment
as an informed choice option. We have three business
specialists that work with our adults with disabilities, and
you'll hear from Em a little bit later too, again, and her
personal story and the advocacy and support she's had. But
these business specialists were involved with 55 new business
startups for 2012, and 172 in the last 4 years, and we're going
to continue to grow and expand that.
No. 6, Employment First. Through the Office of Disability
and Economic Policy, Iowa is one of three States that receives
special funding to move the whole concept of what we're looking
at with integrated, community-based, competitive employment in
the State of Iowa. We're partnering with multiple partners
across the State to really look at that, and one of our
partners is the Department of Human Services. We're looking at
funding and rate realignment and how that needs to be done to
support individuals with the most significant disabilities.
We're looking at six pilot projects that will look at
customized employment strategies that will hopefully provide
new opportunities that we haven't been able to capture before.
Then we're also looking at how, as State agencies, we work
together to make sure that we're being effective in our
resources, minimizing duplication, and that the decisions we're
making support our Employment First goals.
And finally, No. 7, business employment network, and this
is one area that I'm probably the most excited about. You
mentioned, Senator, the whole idea of the global economy. Well,
through the Council of State Administrators of Vocational
Rehabilitation, they have really pushed forward this concept of
the business network, focused on meeting business needs and
that business is a partner. The more we are able to recognize
the business needs and the issues that they have, how do we
help meet that, we're going to be more successful in helping
our youth and adults transition into the world of employment.
We'll hear a little bit from Ron Frank, a manager of our
local Walgreens store in Cedar Rapids. But Walgreens as a
national initiative is one of many companies that have really
jumped on the bandwagon here to say how can we help, through a
qualified, diverse workforce, meet our business needs, and
we're finding ways to partner with that.
In Iowa, we're one of several States that Walgreens is
going to be looking at implementing a retail training program,
again based on how do we take the skills and interests of our
candidates, match them up with the skills and needs of our
business community, and we're really excited about those
opportunities.
The Americans with Disabilities Act has provided
opportunities and encouragement for all of these practices, and
we really are pursuing a promise that the ADA has helped
create. We're very excited about the work of the HELP Committee
and your support, Senator, as we move forward with employment
for individuals with disabilities and really uniting in
legislative efforts to call for full employment for all people
with disabilities. Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Mitchell follows:]
Prepared Statement of David L. Mitchell, MS, CRC
Senator Harkin and committee members, thank you for this
opportunity and privilege to share thoughts and practices regarding the
positive and life changing impact the Americans with Disabilities Act
has had and will continue to have as a new generation of youth with
disabilities transitions into the employment environment. My name is
David Mitchell and I am the administrator of the Iowa Vocational
Rehabilitation Services Program in the State of Iowa.
Perhaps no other time in our Nation's history has a cohort of
students graduated where disability is nothing more than a normal
condition in life and technology levels the playing field. Students who
are deaf may use video phones and other technologies to interact with
the ``hearing world'' if they haven't had a cochlear implant early in
their lives. Students with learning disabilities may access electronic
readers so that textbooks are accessible and they can demonstrate their
intellect and not their challenges. Robotic chairs now facilitate
individuals who are in wheelchairs to stand, move around, and return to
a seated position whenever necessary thereby opening traditionally
inaccessible jobs. With the enactment of the American's with
Disabilities Act (ADA) the ingenuity of the American spirit catapulted
researchers and developers to consider limitless possibilities, which
fueled the hopes and dreams of individuals with disabilities to
experience life in a whole new way. It is only natural that high
expectations for independence, economic support and full integration
into community-based, integrated competitive employment not only
occurs, but should be demanded.
Students with disabilities transitioning from secondary to post-
secondary environments of living, learning, and working, are native to
technology and inspire those of us in the service profession to embrace
a vision of the future that had only previously been an idea in a
science fiction movie. For these students, the digital divide is
nonexistent as they are the first generation to grow up with technology
and disability together, and because of the ADA can now realize a
future of promise. They are empowered to take control of their destiny
and we have the privilege of joining them as we connect with their
informed choices.
The informed choices of these students have expanded since the
adoption of the American's with Disabilities Act; and as a result
opportunities are limited only by the confines of imagination. The
combination of the ADA, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA), and the Workforce Investment Act facilitated the development of
high expectations and aspirations of individuals with disabilities,
parents, educators and adult service professionals working with them.
This combination provided impetus to move beyond the status quo and
enter a new millennia of human potential . . . and the youth led the
charge.
An example of youth leadership is provided by the Youth Leadership
Forum. (YLF) IVRS has been an advocate and partner with the Iowa
Department of Human Rights in the delivery of services and programs
supporting YLF. The goals of YLF are:
Young people with disabilities will become employed and
self-sufficient;
Young people with disabilities will be knowledgeable about
resources available to them to become successful adults;
Young people with disabilities will be exposed to
professionals with disabilities who are recognized leaders and role
models.
YLF is an example of a service delivery program providing
leadership training to youth with a set of high expectations impacting
service delivery options.
Along with leadership and advocacy comes the need for increased
informed choices. The Iowa Department of Education began the discussion
of informed choices with the decision to move away from labeling
students with disabilities to focusing on their potential as they
adopted the ``Response to Intervention'' to determine eligibility for
special education services. This strategy aligned most significantly
with the dignity of the student and eliminated disability categories
from the educational nomenclature. Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation
Services (IVRS) was the next organization to respect and embrace this
design through the Collaborative Transition Protocol, which allows IVRS
to determine eligibility of students with certain disabilities without
requiring a categorical educational ``label.'' Instead the focus is on
the strengths and needs of the student. While IVRS continues to
categorize the student in the case record as is required by the Federal
Regulations and accounting to the Rehabilitation Services
Administration (RSA), it is no longer the focus for programming and
decisionmaking that it was prior. The impact this has on the staff
working with students with disabilities is tremendous and shifts the
orientation of early rehabilitation to one of collaboration and
partnership with the students and their team. Even though other adult
services continue to require the categorization of the individual due
to their legislations, which does create challenges for service
coordination, many students in transition are expecting service
delivery systems to respect their choices and facilitate their
employment outcome. IVRS has innovatively developed the Collaborative
Transition Protocol and received approval through the Rehabilitation
Services Administration to implement the process across the State. We
have been working collaboratively with local school districts,
vocational rehabilitation field offices and area education agencies to
create common understandings as this protocol is implemented. A change
in the legislation that might further impact this effort is confirming
the ability to accept the Individual Education Plan (IEP) as
documentation that the student has a disability, which would meet the
first criterion for VR eligibility. Schools are required to perform a
comprehensive evaluation prior to making eligibility determinations for
special education services through an individualized education program
(IEP). If VR was able to use existing documentation in the IEP for all
students it would provide expanded efficiencies and provide
opportunities to focus on the strengths and needs of the student.
Employment Outcomes begin with the student and parent expectations,
but are influenced by business and industry demands. Prior to the
American's with Disabilities Act, individuals with disabilities were
viewed as a challenge by business and industry. Concerns over how
disability might impact their insurance costs, productivity, and work
environment often influenced hiring decisions. Since the inception of
the ADA and recent amendments, Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation has
enthusiastically developed partnerships with business and industry to
create a more diverse workforce. This is part of a national trend
sponsored and endorsed through the Council on State Administrators of
Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) with their National Employment
Network. Through the use of paid and unpaid internships, IVRS connects
business and industry with qualified job candidates. The results of
this service have been promising. At IVRS, 67 percent of individuals
with disabilities who participate in this type of training obtain
employment and it appears as the training develops more fully this
percentage may increase. This service connects business and industry
with a job candidate pool that employers did not know existed. In
creating these opportunities, businesses are discovering a job
candidate pool that has the skills and education to meet their current
and future workforce needs.
During the summer of 2012, IVRS will be a lead agency partnering
with the Walgreen's Corporation on an Iowa initiative and Walgreen's
national initiative to positively impact training and employment
opportunities for individuals with disabilities. A focused, intense
occupational skill training program is implemented onsite at the
business and engages the individual job candidate with real business
practices. Through a combination of community partnerships, vocational
rehabilitation planning and counseling and school/family supports,
additional opportunities will be provided to help meet the high
expectations of competitive, integrated community employment.
Perhaps the greatest challenge in meeting the needs of business and
industry is connecting students in transition while they are in high
school and before they formulate their post-secondary plans. While
there is an IVRS staff person assigned to every high school, there is
not enough capacity to serve every student in those high schools.
Attempts by IVRS to connect business and industry using a systemic
approach through a cooperative agreement were discontinued due to
Rehabilitation Services Administration's interpretation of regulations
because all students, and not just students with disabilities, would
benefit. So while business and industry desires to connect with
students in transition the mechanisms and strategies to do so continue
to be isolated with diminishing returns for the business owner because
of the inefficiencies created by competing regulations. A broader
interpretation of VR transition services that take place prior to or as
part of the student's application for VR services should be recognized
as part of the VR transition process. These services can be delivered
individually, to groups of students with disabilities or to groups
containing students with and without disabilities. Activities under
this category include, but are not limited to career fairs, orientation
meetings with students and families and classroom trainings provided by
VR transition staff in collaboration with education staff. Ensuring the
option for services to be provided to groups containing students with
and without disabilities is consistent with the requirements for
services to be provided in the least restrictive environment. This also
has the benefit of preparing the future workforce to develop
relationships with individuals from diverse backgrounds and abilities.
Another challenge in meeting the needs of business is the competing
funding needs of various community and organization programs. I firmly
support and believe in the role vocational rehabilitation plays in
meeting the high expectations of our consumers and business partners
and support the role of our RSA Commissioner. The strong partnership
and link with the Department of Education ensures vocational
rehabilitation is an invited partner to high school staffings and
further integrates adult service providers into the transition mix. The
qualified vocational rehabilitation counselor has a unique role and
creates a positive difference in the delivery of professional services
integrating employment needs with the strengths, abilities, and
interests of an individual with a disability.
The value of the VR counselor assisting students in developing
employment plans is a key to our future workforce and, many times, also
requires the use of benefits planning to create a roadmap out of
poverty for those students on SSI. The funding and support of
complimentary programs such as the Work Incentives Planning and
Assistance (WIPA) for VR counselors to use and access qualified benefit
planners has been a definite asset in facilitating transition from
government benefits to economic independence for many of our State
rehabilitation consumers. IVRS, as well as many of our State VR
programs, do not have the staff or financial resources to carry out all
of the proposed service needs that are necessary for fully effective
transition services. The potential loss of these services and the
expertise of the people who work in the programs would have a negative
impact on all of our consumers, including those in transition.
Iowa has approximately 70,000 special education students with
IEP's. Approximately 20,000 of these students would be in the secondary
school system. Our current active case load for all consumers being
served by IVRS is 11,482. Our average professional staff person is
working with an average of 100 individuals on their case load. IVRS has
not been able to match all of our Federal monies and in fact, have had
9.5 percent decreased funding from 2009 with less professional staff
and overall personnel. This has resulted in IVRS having a waiting list
of approximately 3,200 individuals.
Through a focus on innovation, leadership and improved work
effectiveness, IVRS has been successful in moving forward with positive
transition services. In 2011, 33 percent of our referrals were from
transition students and transition students contributed 38 percent of
our employment outcomes. Our transition outcomes averaged 35 hours per
week at an average hourly wage of $10.78. This compares favorably with
the general adult caseload which averaged 33 hours worked per week at
an average hourly wage of $11.48.
Another positive service delivery strategy includes the options of
entrepreneurship. IVRS self-employment program is growing and through
specialized programming 55 businesses are successfully in operation in
2011 and 172 over a 4-year period. IVRS and the Federal/State
vocational rehabilitation program have proven to be a positive return
on investment. Through the provision of vocational rehabilitation
services in Iowa, during 2011, individuals with disabilities earned
$15.7 million more than was spent on the entire VR program.
If we are going to fully embrace pre-employment transition services
and transition services to students with disabilities, we need line-
item funding for transition services, with no State-match requirements
and advocacy with our States to remove barriers with filling staff
vacancies. Those efforts will enhance our abilities to carry out
necessary transition services and better meet the hopes and
expectations for services that individuals with disabilities have as
well as assist in the carrying out of the promise of the ADA.
This is a team effort involving collaboration and networking from
many. IVRS is an active partner with the Iowa Workforce Development
Board and is finding creative ways to collaborate in helping problem
solve employment gaps in Iowa. Iowa Work Force has recently announced
an initiative to help meet the employment gaps being expressed by Iowa
businesses and IVRS is integrating strategies to move forward with an
integrated employment vision. In 2010 Iowa's workforce had 38 percent
of the job applicant pool competing for jobs defined as ``low skills''
but there were only 18 percent of available jobs that required ``low
skills''; while 50 percent of the available jobs required ``middle
skills'' and only 33 percent of the potential applicant pool
demonstrated ``middle skills''. Middle skills are defined as those jobs
which require more than a high school diploma, but not a 4-year degree.
Middle skill education and training can be obtained from employers,
community colleges, apprentice programs, nonprofit community-based
training organizations and private career schools.\1\ Middle skill jobs
create a gateway into the middle income brackets for workers.
Businesses have demonstrated a need for qualified workers as evidenced
by the gap between the numbers of individuals qualified for such jobs
and the job market. We believe it is essential that IVRS create these
connections for these businesses with students while they are in high
school and making life changing decisions regarding their employment
future. Imagine the future of the Iowa economy as successful employment
connections occur through the provision of effective vocational
rehabilitation counseling and training opportunities for students in
transition. Creating this road map into the middle class will put those
high expectations created by the ADA into reality. The barrier is no
longer the attitudes of business and industry, but rather the capacity
to make these connections within the confines of regulations and our
service delivery system.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Middle-Skill Jobs in Iowa, May 2012, Labor Force and
Occupational Analysis Bureau, Iowa Workforce Development.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
IVRS has pockets of excellence in providing these connections.
Transition Alliance Programs (TAP) in Iowa has proven, since 1997, to
not only stimulate a work orientation in students, but produce
employment outcomes. Federal fiscal year 2011 data on these projects
demonstrate that students who participate in TAPs are positively
correlated and more likely to:
1. Be competitively employed after graduation from high school;
and/or
2. Pursue post-secondary training.
These programs provide students the opportunity to learn about
careers, requirements to work in those careers, connect with businesses
through work experiences, and develop confidence and skills necessary
to contribute to their communities. The Rehabilitation Services
Administration Longitudinal Study demonstrated that students who
participate in at least two work experiences have a higher propensity
toward being competitively employed after high school than students who
do not have these experiences. This is also supplemented through
various education and transition data. On June 11 and 12 of 2012, I was
able to attend and participate in the Iowa statewide Special Education
Conference Program. This was hosted by the Iowa Department of Education
and IVRS professionals played a contributing role in training sessions.
The conference was entitled, ``Pursuing the Promise''. Martin Ikeda,
Ph.D., Bureau Chief and State Director of Special Education (school-
aged), Iowa Department of Education, facilitated the State conference
and noted in his opening remarks that,
``if we are truly going to deliver on the promises of
educational equity made a generation ago, we need to do
something more, and we need to do it together. Every child in
the Iowa public school system deserves to make a year's growth
in a year's time, and to have a team of caring individuals
working together to prepare that child for life after high
school.''
``Pursuing the Promise'' was an opportunity to discuss how to
deliver on high expectations for those involved in the transition of
our youth. One of the presenters was a young man named Tyler who has a
disability and had graduated from the Waterloo School District in Iowa
and is now in his fourth year of college. Tyler's dream is to change
the way the world interacts with people with disabilities and his
approach has focused on the individual's strengths and abilities, what
they can do. This approach provides opportunities for us to use the
foundation of the ADA, to ask how we can improve employment
opportunities for individuals with disabilities and recognize the need
to do things differently now than what we have done in the past and to
do so with a sense of urgency. Much like the high expectations being
experienced through the foundation of the ADA, we need to have high
expectations regarding our secondary and post-secondary training
opportunities for individuals with disabilities. IVRS is carrying
forward the conversation of collaboration and partnering at the local
school district level and recognizes the vital role families, youth,
teachers, community programs and vocational rehabilitation have in
effective transition planning and implementation. The integration of
work and work experiences should be an education intervention and as
quoted in one of the sessions by Dr. Richard Luecking, president of
TransCen, Inc. ``all kinds of amazing things happen based upon what is
learned in work experiences.''
Work experiences connect the IDEA and Rehabilitation Act
requirements of Transition with the high school experience. The focus
of those two pieces of legislation in Transition is about creating a
meaningful experience, where students understand that what it is they
are learning has practical applications for their future. By weaving
together the work experiences with the classroom environment students
experience a meaningful course of study and businesses in Iowa benefit.
One nationally recognized program that coordinates classroom
curriculum with business requirements is Project Search, which IVRS
will be implementing in the Des Moines School District in the fall of
2012. IVRS is also partnering through the leadership of one of our
community rehabilitation providers, North Iowa Vocational Center, a
Project Search in Mason City, IA which is now going on its second year
of operation. The Mason City Project Search is serving eight
individuals. The Des Moines Project is anticipating serving 13 students
during its first year of operation. Students, who meet the level of
eligibility criteria to be considered the most significantly disabled,
will attend high school at a local hospital where they will learn the
skills necessary to work in a variety of occupations that occur in that
type of environment. Through their work experience, coordinated with
their classroom academics that are taught at the business setting,
these students develop confidence and understand the connection between
school and work. This partnership between IVRS, the local school
district, a community rehabilitation provider and a major employer in
the area will create opportunities for these students who, as they
transition, will become employed in a ``middle skill'' industry and
develop a foundation for a promising employment career. High
expectations drive the planning for these types of programs and these
practices have developed with the birth and aging of the ADA.
Entrance into the middle class is the expected outcome from the
IVRS Blueprint for Change created in 2011. This was developed through
review of research and agency data to create the IVRS Blueprint for
Change identifying seven expectations of results that will transform
the Iowa Rehabilitation Services Bureau within 10 years. Those
expectations, which when put into practice locally, are measured by the
success of the individuals with disabilities obtaining employment.
Those seven expectations are:
1. Be the undisputed authority on connecting individuals with
disabilities to employment.
2. Engage and inspire our job candidates, partners, and business
community.
3. Ignite the human potential of our job candidates and business
partners as they connect.
4. Expand the opportunities of individuals with disabilities while
connecting to and supporting our businesses with qualified job
candidates.
5. Be a leader in ethical service delivery.
6. Create innovative employment services worthy of our job
candidates and needed by our business partners.
7. Demonstrate an accountable and sustainable employment services
model.\2\
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\2\ Adapted from Onward, by Howard Schultz.
As a result of this blueprint, IVRS staff are creating employer
accounts and has seen an increase in businesses and industries that are
contacting IVRS to hire qualified job candidates. An example of an
innovative practice occurring in many States, Iowa included, is a
project with Manpower Staffing to access business accounts that only
hire permanent employees through them. In addition, conversations with
community partners and county governments are stimulating ideas for
programs to serve the chronic mentally ill in a manner that pre-
emptively strives to create employment connections for this population
before they go on Social Security benefits. If we are able to reach out
and provide services prior to creating dependency on benefits or
consider alternative ways to integrate an employment vision based upon
a foundation of benefits that can meet maintenance needs and allow for
participation in occupational skill training, we can begin to
positively impact the employment cycle. Through the day-to-day
operations, IVRS staff is being given the authority to identify and
develop solutions on processes and policies that impede employment of
individuals with disabilities. The synergy from the ADA puts these
blueprint activities into practice that prior to the ADA would never
have been realized.
In high schools, IVRS staff work with local educators to implement
the Transition Vision jointly developed with Local Education Agencies
to work more cohesively together to serve students, while minimizing
duplication of services. While each local district is in varying levels
of implementation of that vision, together they are focused on creating
a system that creates a seamless experience for the student. Perhaps
the greatest opportunity for improvement in this vision is the infusion
of business expectations and the self-advocacy of employment rights.
In considering the employment climate and the attitudinal barriers
prior to the enactment of the ADA in comparison to where we are today,
it is clear that the winds have changed. Businesses want and need to be
able to link to this new diverse workforce. Iowa continues to have a
challenge in promoting a community-based, integrated competitive
employment vision across all of our statewide employment programs. IVRS
has taken a lead role in promoting and implementing The Employment
First Initiative, which challenges everyone to consider competitive,
integrated community-based employment before any other type of post-
school sheltered employment activity. This cause may speak more to the
attitudes of the professionals in the industry and those who grew up
prior to living their lives under the ADA, than to the students with
disabilities who are looking forward to a brighter and promising
future, where they will have full access to integrated community
employment. There is still work to be done to fulfill this promise.
This past school year graduated for the first time, students with
disabilities who grew up knowing that employment in the community was
not a luxury but a right. While there remain obstacles to achieve this
vision, there is optimism in what has been accomplished and hope on
what might be yet to come:
Continued diligence of professionals focusing on the
possibility and not allowing policy barriers to be experienced by the
individual is essential to achieving full inclusion.
Creating business relationships so information can inform
the counseling discussions with students in transition so their
informed choice expands their horizons and thereby changes the
landscape of the Iowa economy.
Celebrating the uniqueness of all individuals through a
comprehensive understanding of abilities and assets and finding ways to
integrate those with the future workforce needs of business will create
change.
Creating capacity through system development that
encourages integration and recognizes that through interaction the
barriers become only perceived and more easily eliminated.
Celebrating the human connection of every student,
utilizing strategies to unlock their unique potential, encourages a
fully integrated workforce.
Creating connections between educators and the business
community to inform the educational system and raise the academic skill
sets of all students.
The American's with Disabilities Act had a vision for the American
workforce. No other single legislation had as much impact on uniting
the American business community in a call to full employment.
Collectively with the IDEA and WIA the trifecta is the success of the
American enterprise and the hope of tomorrow's workforce. We can aspire
and make the future we seek.
The Chairman. That was very good. Thank you very much, Mr.
Mitchell. That was great.
[Applause.]
That was very good.
Now we'll turn to Mr. Shults. Please proceed as you so
desire.
STATEMENT OF RICK SHULTS, MENTAL HEALTH AND DISABILITY SERVICES
DIVISION ADMINISTRATOR, IOWA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, DES
MOINES, IA
Mr. Shults. Thank you very much. I really do very much
appreciate the opportunity to be a part of the celebration of
the 22 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act and all
that comes along with that. Since I have grown up in the
profession under that promise of improvement for integration of
people with disabilities, I greatly appreciate all the work
that folks have done in order to support that. I'm very pleased
to be able to be here today.
It really has established, though, very high expectations.
We need to live up to those expectations, and the expectations
of the ADA generation. I like that term very much. And I think
it's very important that we hear from people what their
expectations are, and that we attune what we do to their
expectations and not to ours. That's what we have to live up
to.
It's very hard to cover the whole aspect of all of the
positive things that have happened with the ADA and the
promise, so today I'm going to focus on individuals, youth with
serious mental illness and the importance that employment plays
in their mental health recovery.
We know that as many as 12 percent of individuals in the
United States between the ages of 18 and 25 have a serious
mental illness, and they have a much greater likelihood of
becoming involved with the criminal justice system and not
completing high school, as you mentioned earlier; and without
adequate support they're less likely to live healthy lives,
less financially secure, have higher rates of unemployment,
have higher rates of homelessness, and are subject to substance
abuse. So without adequate supports and services, this could be
a tragedy, not only for them but for their family and for the
community and society as a whole.
It's very important that we provide the kinds of supports
that are necessary for these individuals to experience
recovery. But recovery comes in a wide array of packages. It
includes the clinical treatment for mental illness. It includes
the involvement of the person, the family, their friends in
that treatment process. But equally important, we need to have
them fully included in society.
Just 6 months ago, we did a large survey across the State
and asked individuals what was the most important thing in your
life, and what kinds of services supported that, and we were
pleased to hear that individuals with mental illness reported
that, yes, indeed, quality clinical services are important to
their lives, but equally important to their lives are the
services that are provided that provide them the supports to
live independently and allow them to work in integrated,
competitive settings.
That is a clear message to us that, yes, indeed, we have to
provide quality clinical services, but we also have to offer
additional support to allow them to live successful, healthy,
successful, competitive lives in their homes and communities.
We also know that employment is critical to individuals'
mental health recovery. My staff told me the story of Betty
just the other day, an individual, a young lady that lives with
serious mental illness. She was experiencing significant mental
health recovery in her life, and she had reported that to the
people she works with and her case managers.
The case managers were so pleased they invited her to come
in and share a testimony of her mental health recovery.
Interestingly enough, she shared all of the positive things
about her life, the kinds of things that have allowed her to
experience that recovery, and then ended her testimony with,
``but I will not feel that I have experienced full mental
health recovery until I have a job.'' The people in that group
learned much from Betty's testimony and, as a matter of fact,
turned around that day and made sure that they were working
with her to provide her support for her job, and she has that
today.
Employment is critical to mental health recovery. We in
Iowa are working hard to move forward to try to live up to that
expectation. As we speak today, we have the Olmstead Consumer
Task Force meeting, and I will be leaving from here to go to
the second half of that meeting this afternoon to provide an
award for one of the advocates of that group. But that's a
unique group, and it's very reflective of the efforts in Iowa.
It is a group of individual consumers of mental health and
disability services, advocates for those services, and
representatives of a wide array of State agencies who come
together to look at how well we're achieving the principles of
Olmstead and what more we can do to move forward to reach that
vision.
With the help of the university and many others, that
Olmstead Consumer Task Force has been critical. It has been so
critical, in fact, that it has been a key feature in the
development of our mental health and disability services
redesign in Iowa, and I'll talk a few minutes about that.
Mental Health and Services Redesign is an act that was
passed in a bipartisan fashion by legislators such as Senator
Jack Hatch, Representative Renee Schulte and many others who
led this through the legislative session last year, and it
really is three pieces of hallmark legislation that is going to
allow us to move even further than we've ever been before in
the integration of individuals with disabilities in the
community.
One aspect of that redesign is making certain there is an
access to minimum kinds of services in every region of the
State, and those services are defined in various domains. One
of the domains is support services for employment. That means
as we go forward in the development of regions to administer
mental health and disability services, every region in the
State will be required to provide services that support
individuals to achieve their goal of integrated community
employment.
Another aspect of Mental Health and Disability Services
Redesign is evidence-based practices, and that requires that
the services that are provided follow evidence-based practices
and use those kinds of services that are effective. So not only
are services accessible, but they're also effective.
An example of that is Bill, who grew up in a small Iowa
town. After he graduated from high school, he had multiple co-
occurring challenges in his life. He got together with his case
manager. They decided he wanted to work. They got him a job in
the local cafe washing dishes, which is a typical story that
you often hear.
However, Bill took that further. With the help of his case
managers and others, he learned the entire business. He learned
how the restaurant operates, and my staff came to me just the
other day celebrating the fact that Bill had been given the
keys to that restaurant because he could now open and close the
restaurant. He could run that cash register. He could do all
aspects of the restaurant, and he has become a valued member of
that community, and he is now in the process of phasing out the
support team he was getting because he is becoming completely
self-sufficient. So we're very pleased with that.
[Applause.]
So that ties into the effectiveness. We have to not only
have access to services, but they must be effective, and I will
look forward to hearing more about that from this panel. I'm
very pleased to be able to hear that.
Those effective services allow us to raise the employment
standards, but we're not using those evidence-based practices
enough. So we need to move forward in implementing those
evidence-based practices much more effectively across the
State.
Monitoring our success. Another aspect of Mental Health and
Disability Services Redesign is the requirement for measuring
outcomes and having performance measures, one of which is
making certain that persons with disabilities, including youth
with serious mental illness, are competitively employed, and
that we gather that information, that we measure that
information, and we regularly publish it so we can see how
we're doing and we can hold ourselves accountable because,
after all, we only do what we measure. And if we publish that
and lay it out before us, we will always remember to focus on
that service.
We have other aspects that we're undertaking. We appreciate
the Federal Government providing us through CMS additional
Federal funds through the Balancing Initiative Payment Program
which provides additional funding for community-integrated
programs. We appreciate our partnership with the State
Leadership Employment Network, SLEN. We have some folks from
SLEN here in the audience, and the work that they're doing to
support us is greatly appreciated.
And collaboration, as David said, collaboration among State
agencies, we have a shared vision that individuals with
disabilities should have the opportunity to be competitively
employed, meeting regularly so that we can look at each of our
areas that we're responsible for to ensure that we're working
together to the best effect of providing supports and services
for individuals that want to be employed is critical to the
success of this effort.
The most important thing as a result of all of that is
having people that want to work holding us accountable for what
we do. We'll hear some more about that today, about the
successes, but involving individuals with disabilities and
advocates in policymaking, in providing us feedback, in holding
us accountable for what we're doing so that we can live up to
their expectations. I do think that's the promise of the ADA,
full involvement.
I am very pleased to be a part of Iowa's effort to fully
involve individuals with disabilities in policy planning, in
governance, in involvement in our work groups, and in peer
support, which I will tell you over and over again, individuals
coming up to me and saying when are you going to expand peer-
support services because of how critical those services are. I
hear that often through our Office of Consumer Affairs.
So we really invite people to hold us accountable, because
if we're not doing the right things to provide the support,
it's really not our lives that are affected. It's the lives of
the people with disabilities, their family, friends, and their
community. So we look forward to that accountability.
So thank you for the opportunity to celebrate today, 22
years of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and to share a
little bit about the direction that we're headed under Mental
Health and Disability Redesign that's built on that foundation
of the ADA, and moving forward to achieve the expectations of
the ADA generation. Thank you.
[Applause.]
[The prepared statement of Mr. Shults follows:]
Prepared Statement of Richard Shults
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, my name is Richard
Shults. I am the administrator for Mental Health and Disability
Services in the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS). I appreciate
the opportunity to celebrate 22 years of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) and to share some thoughts about how we can all
work together to help meet the high expectations of the new generation
of Iowans as they enter the labor force.
The ADA has had and continues to have significant positive effects
on the lives of persons with a wide variety of disabilities in many
different aspects of their lives. It is impossible, in this short time,
to recount all of the many positive aspects of the ADA. While in my
role, I am concerned about the success of all Iowans with disabilities,
today I will focus my remarks on youth with a serious mental illness
(SMI) and the important role integrated, competitive employment plays
in their mental health recovery.
The American Psychological Association reports that 12 percent of
youth between the ages of 18 and 25 have an SMI. These youth have a
threefold likelihood of becoming involved with the criminal justice
system. Sixty percent of them do not complete high school. Without
adequate supports and treatment, people with an SMI live less healthy
lives, are less financially secure, have higher rates of chronic
illness, and are vulnerable to unemployment, homelessness, and
substance abuse. Without adequate support and treatment an SMI can
become a personal, family, and societal tragedy.
However, recovery from mental illness is possible. With the help of
adequate supports and services Iowans with mental illness can and do
live safe, healthy, productive, successful, self-determined lives in
their homes and communities. The hope of recovery is real.
Recovery is supported by many things: effective evidenced-based
treatment; full involvement of the person, family, and friends in the
person's treatment; and full integration into society. Full integration
into society includes competitive employment. Employment provides a
meaningful activity that gives youth with an SMI a positive identity, a
sense of purpose, and value. Employment is key to the recovery process.
We can and must do more to ensure the justifiably high employment
expectations of Iowa's next generation are met. In Iowa, we are
undertaking that effort. Iowa has embraced the principles established
through the Olmstead ruling. In fact, as we speak, Iowa's Olmstead
Consumer Task Force is meeting and discussing progress being made in
meeting these principles and identifying additional steps to improve
progress toward a full life in the community for persons with
disabilities.
Last year, following directions provided by the Legislature, Iowa
engaged a series of workgroups to recommend a redesign of the Mental
Health and Disabilities (MHDS) system. Over 200 Iowan's participated in
these workgroups and over 1,000 attended ``Listening Post'' meetings
across the State. The resulting workgroup reports included
recommendations consistent with the principles of the Olmstead
decision. A bipartisan group of legislators used the workgroups'
recommendations as the basis for the recently passed MHDS Redesign Act.
One aspect of the MHDS Redesign Act is to ensure that basic core
services are accessible in every region of the State. One of the core
service domains that regions will be required to provide is support for
employment. This means that persons with disabilities in every region
in the State will have access to services that support their goal for
seeking and keeping employment.
The MHDS Redesign Act also requires that services and supports be
evidenced-based thereby ensuring services are both accessible and
effective. Supported employment has evolved into an evidenced-based
practice for finding and keeping persons with an SMI employed.
Evidenced-based supported employment focuses on individual placement of
the person's choice in competitive, integrated employment. It minimizes
the use of screening for employability, transitional employment, or
prevocational training. Instead, the goal of supported employment
evidenced-based practice is to find a natural ``fit'' between the
person's strengths and experiences and jobs in the community.
Without evidenced-based support, employment rates of youth with an
SMI are 20 percent or lower. Research shows that evidence-based
interventions raise this to an average of 58 percent. We have known
these approaches are successful for many years. In preparing for this
testimony, I reviewed research from the early 1990s that confirmed the
effectiveness of these approaches in helping people with an SMI get and
keep jobs. But we do not use these evidenced approaches frequently
enough and the employment rate for persons with an SMI remains
unacceptably low. Clearly much more improvement is needed.
To help monitor and motivate this change the MHDS Redesign Act
requires that performance-based outcome measures be established,
measured, and published. One critical outcome is the extent to which
persons with disabilities, including youth with an SMI, are
competitively employed in integrated settings. Such measures not only
keep us all accountable for the effectiveness of the supports and
services we provide, but identify pockets of excellence that we can
learn from. As the adage says, ``We do what we measure.'' Regular
publishing of outcome dashboard indicators, including the extent to
which people are competitively employed, will help focus our attention
on this important goal.
In addition, Iowa is taking advantage of tools made available by
the Federal Government to help achieve employment and other recovery
goals. Iowa has recently been approved for the Balancing Incentive
Payment Program (BIPP) designed to bring balance to the amount Iowa
pays for institutional services compared with community-based services,
like competitive employment. The BIPP provides additional Federal
Medicaid matching funds that can be used to assist with expanding the
availability and effectiveness of community-based services.
Iowa is also a member of the State Employment Leadership Network
(SELN). SELN brings together State Developmental Disability agencies
for sharing, educating and providing guidance on practices and policies
around employment of persons with disabilities. National SELN staff,
some of which are housed in our MHDS offices, are currently evaluating
what more DHS could do to ensure employment support services are
successful. DHS' somewhat unique administrative structure allows the
practices and approaches learned through SELN to be used to support
persons with many different disabilities, including youth with an SMI.
It is critical that all agencies charged with similar goals work in
concert and collaboration with one another to better achieve the goals.
In Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation, the Iowa Medicaid Enterprise, the
Iowa Behavioral Health Plan, the State Developmental Disability
Council, and Mental Health Disability Services have a shared vision of
employment for people with disabilities and have developed a close
working relationship. Our staffs talk regularly in an effort to
coordinate our activities to the best effect for the people we support.
The most important aspect of living up to the expectations of the
new generation of Iowans is to ensure they are involved and empowered.
When services are not accessible or effective, it is not our lives we
are affecting, but those with disabilities, their family, and friends.
It is important people are empowered to hold us accountable for
achieving the expectation of competitive work. In Iowa we are doing
this through the establishment of the Office of Consumer Affairs,
participation in local listening posts, involvement of persons served
in policy advising workgroups and regional governance boards, and the
expansion of peer support services. Through these and other consumer-
driven efforts, we will be more responsive in ensuring the employment
expectations of the new generation of Iowans is met.
I would be happy to take any questions you may have.
The Chairman. Thank you both very much.
It's really encouraging, isn't it, to see that we have
public servants of this caliber who are devoting their lives
and their work to making lives better for others, to make our
society work better? Every time I hear someone bash bureaucrats
or whatever, I think of people like Mitchell and Shults. Aren't
they great?
[Applause.]
There are some people from the State Employment Leadership
Network out here. Are some of you here who are involved in that
network? I just wanted to recognize you and thank you for your
involvement in it, some people back there, up here. Thank you
very much for your volunteerism in that regard.
I just have a couple of questions. You were both so very
good and comprehensive.
David, you hit upon something that we have heard about so
many times in the past, and that is you called it work
experiences. I kind of call it internships, but getting to kids
with disabilities when they're in secondary school and getting
them hands-on work experiences so that they have an
appreciation for what might be out there, encouragement, but
also maybe to find out maybe there are some things they don't
like to do, too, and they can say, ``Well, I don't like to do
that, maybe I want to do something else,'' and to give them
that kind of internship.
Would you speak again about how you see that, how important
that is?
Mr. Mitchell. I definitely agree with you, and we certainly
found that the more opportunities we have in providing
community experiences, the more opportunities individuals have
to make better informed choices, and that's on things that they
don't want to do also.
So certainly our role, as we look at how do we engage with
education, is to look at what are we doing to push forward
individual education plans that focus on an employment outcome,
and you need to provide experiences with that. It can be as
simple as going out and doing some job shadowing, doing some
role playing with mentors out in the community, matching them
up with business partners they have some interest in, career
planning and life changing experiences that will help somebody
figure out, well, this is something I never even thought about
doing, but I found out I have a passion for it now. It could be
some volunteer opportunities.
As you expand on those types of steps, you begin to look
at, well, how do we integrate those ideas that we're getting
into some opportunities that will promote economic self-
sufficiency, and that's where we get into some paid
experiences, and they build upon each other.
The Chairman. That No. 7, that business employment network,
is that part of that too, about getting these kids early on
into an experience?
Mr. Mitchell. Yes, sir. I think Walgreens will talk a
little bit about their experiences working with youth and
adults. But it's really getting somebody an opportunity to see,
well, what does it mean to get to work on time? What does it
mean to get back from a break on time? How do we deal with the
social skills and independent living skills that impact
employment?
As we're able to provide those opportunities, we can learn
so much. It really is a chance that we can aspire to do the
work that we want to do through learning from those work
experiences. I think the business network and being able to
look at the business needs provide some opportunities that
build a foundation to say, ``Well, if you want to be able to do
this type of occupation, here are the skills, here are the
types of job tasks that that would involve.'' And as we provide
opportunities for a person to learn about those things, we're
building that foundation for future success.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
Rick, you mentioned something that I wanted to bring up
here, and that was the peer-support services. Elaborate on that
a little bit more for me, will you? Especially when it comes to
youth with severe mental illness and how you build peer-support
services. Just inform me a little bit more about the value of
that.
Mr. Shults. Absolutely. Having someone who has had a lived
experience with a mental illness and is currently working--
whether it is in peer support or other settings--on being able
to talk to a youth that's experiencing a severe mental illness
is invaluable, because I can't come to an individual and say,
``Well, you know, things are going to get better, we're going
to be working through this process,'' but I don't have that
lived experience, I don't have that credibility. To be able to
have someone who has the credibility, has the lived experience
and can demonstrate to that youth that, yes, this is difficult,
this is challenging. We don't diminish that at all, but you
will go through these steps of recovery, and there is hope.
The Chairman. Are you developing a cadre, for example, or a
group of people?
Mr. Shults. Yes, yes.
The Chairman. A lot of times, people who have been through
a serious mental illness and who have now gotten better and
they're employed, sometimes they don't like to talk about it.
So you have to bring them out and get them to mentor other
people. Are you developing that kind of group?
Mr. Shults. Exactly. Actually, I was trying to remember, in
the next month or so there's going to be training that's
sponsored by our Iowa Behavioral Health Plan to train more
peer-support workers, and we're going to make a larger
emphasis. We do use Medicaid funding to fund peer-support
workers, and what we need to do, then, is for those individuals
who are not Medicaid eligible, also make that available, and
that is part of the future of Mental Health and Disability
Redesign.
So, yes, improving our training, making that training
regularly available and reaching out to individuals, and then
providing a reasonable reimbursement and support for those
folks who do that valuable work.
The Chairman. Sure. They've got to travel sometimes.
Mr. Shults. Yes, yes.
The Chairman. You need that kind of support for that.
Mr. Shults. Yes.
The Chairman. Well, thank you both very much. You're
welcome to stay as long as you'd like and listen. I thought
some of you might have to leave.
Who mentioned the youth leadership forum next week? That
was you, David? Andrew Imperato, who is my staff director on
this, is going to be speaking at that next week. I might inform
you that some of you know Andy. Andy was with me back when we
did ADA, back in those days. He was just a young kid then.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Imperato. And so were you.
[Laughter.]
The Chairman. Thanks a lot.
It was so vitally important. And then he left and started
something called the American Association of People with
Disabilities, built it up into a national organization, became
its president and CEO. He got it all going and then decided
that he didn't want it to be all about him, so turned it over
to other people, and now we have him back running our operation
in the U.S. Senate. So it's nice to have Andy back, and he's
going to be speaking at that youth group.
[Applause.]
Now we'll turn to our second panel, and we're going to
start with Ron Franks.
Ron Frank has worked for Walgreens for 27 years. He's been
a store manager for 20 years. He's currently the store manager
of Walgreens store on 29th Avenue in Cedar Rapids. His
testimony describes how his Walgreens store has partnered with
Goodwill of the Heartland and Sportability of Iowa for supports
and recreation programs to enhance employment outcomes for
youth and adults with disabilities.
I'll let him describe all that. I just might mention, for
the benefit of the people here, that sometime ago I became
acquainted with a guy by the name of Randy Lewis, who is with
Walgreens, and I saw a video of his that just blew me away
about the employment of people with disabilities. Then I asked
him to come testify before this committee in Washington several
months ago.
Out of that, Greg Wasson, who is the CEO of Walgreens,
which is a big operation, obviously, invited a bunch of CEOs up
to Windsor, CT, and that was about a month ago, a month-and-a-
half ago, something like that, and we brought together CEOs
from a lot of different organizations, UPS and Office Max and
Best Buy and Lowe's. This was really a high-level meeting, and
what Wasson and Lewis wanted to show was how Walgreens had gone
out and, through training and full integration, had people with
disabilities working right alongside people without
disabilities, and it benefited their bottom line. It was
actually better for them to do that.
It was so encouraging that out of that now, we're going to
have another meeting of CEOs that's going to take place in
Dallas, TX, I think, later this year. So this whole thing is
expanding.
I think you mentioned, David, about the goal of 6 million.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce last year invited me down to speak
with them. That's sort of rare for me.
[Laughter.]
And we all agreed, and they came out. They did a wonderful
thing there. They are really promoting again the 6 million,
about a 20 percent increase by 2015, of people with
disabilities in competitive, integrated employment.
[Applause.]
I wanted to say that as a way of paying my compliments both
to Ron and also to Walgreens, who have done a great job.
Ron, your statement is made a part of the record. Please
proceed.
STATEMENT OF RON FRANK, MANAGER, WALGREENS,
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA
Mr. Frank. Thank you for letting me speak today about a
subject I'm very passionate about, and also thank you for
taking care of the first sheet of my speech here.
[Laughter.]
As you said, I've been with Walgreens 27 years, and I just
moved to Cedar Rapids about 5 years ago. We started this
program through Goodwill of the Heartland, a skills training
program for individuals with disabilities--it's a 120-hour
curriculum where they combine classroom work and on-the-job
training.
They come into the store. We usually have maybe three to
six individuals, and in my back hallway by my office we have a
table back there and we teach them all the skills from counting
the register, customer service skills, how to greet a customer,
how to talk to a customer, team work, stocking, cleaning,
anything that needs to be done in the store.
They learn the skills, and then they come out into the
store and work with my team members. It's been very beneficial
for my staff having them into the store.
I also, throughout the program which is 8 weeks, get to see
them every day for 8 weeks, and that's really nice to be able
to see the progress from when they start until when they
finish. There are some that don't make it through the program
because they're not ready for that particular part of the
training.
But by the end of that training, we get a list of
individuals that we can employ, maybe not at my store, but it
might be at one of the stores across town, or it could be at
the Casey store, the Goodwill store, Fairway, the Cinema 16
Theater in town. What I look for out of this program is for
them to learn the skills so they can take it and get employment
somewhere.
I also have another passion that I got involved with. It's
adaptive sports, and it's through Sportability of Iowa. It's
given kids the opportunity to participate in sports, adaptive
sports, wheelchair events. Before I got started on this, there
were no adaptive chairs in Cedar Rapids. I thought that was
kind of not very right, not fair.
Mr. Imperato. Explain what an adaptive chair is.
Mr. Frank. A hand cycle. That's adaptive equipment. A
basketball chair, a tennis chair. The wheels are angled so that
they have more stability and they don't tip over.
We started doing these fundraiser basketball games and
trying to raise some funds to get chairs into this area to
benefit the youth, to benefit vets that come back, where they
can participate, go to the Y and learn the skills that gives
them some confidence to help them in employment.
I also have been involved with an adaptive sports camp at
University of Northern Iowa, and this is where I met an
individual, a young man. He's 18 now. He was introduced to
adaptive sports through this camp, and all he was able to do
was be like a manager for the high school team. But since he
went to this camp, he now has three State titles in track
events. He's the first high school student in the United States
to compete in a State cross-country meet in the wheelchair
division last year.
He would never have had that opportunity if he didn't go to
that camp, and that's helped him in his life, it's helped him
in his school, it's helped him have opportunities for possibly
a 4-year degree and a scholarship at one of the colleges.
When you go to some camp like this, it's amazing when they
give somebody an opportunity, and I'm trying to tie in the
sports with employment because sports, you get social skills,
you get problem-solving abilities, the ability to be an
effective team member. I mean, I've seen studies where they say
sports, just anybody participating in a sport helps them become
a better student.
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to have a hand cycle and a
racer chair available in the high school community for somebody
to have that opportunity to be able to participate? As of right
now, that's not the case. They have to apply for a grant. A lot
of people apply for grants. Sometimes they don't get them.
Maybe the school boosters can do a fundraiser and purchase a
chair for that individual. But there's been a lot who have gone
through school that haven't had that opportunity to be able to
participate, and I would like to see something change in that.
People with disabilities need to add value to a business as
an employee. Otherwise it isn't employment, it's a charity.
Certainly it's nice to give a person with a disability a
chance, but we want that opportunity to be sustainable. The
paycheck must be earned, and people with disabilities have
tremendous skill sets and capabilities. However, they may need
supports and opportunities to acquire them or to demonstrate
them.
Walgreens company has found great value in employing people
with disabilities, and certainly in my store and in stores
across Iowa we see the value and help develop it through
partnerships, through groups like Goodwill of the Heartland and
vocational rehabilitation.
This concludes my remarks. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Frank follows:]
Prepared Statement of Ron Frank
Good morning Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member Enzi, and
distinguished Senators. I am grateful for the opportunity to testify
before you today about a cause that I am passionate about.
My name is Ron Frank. I have been an employee at Walgreens for 27
years and have been a store manager for 20 years. My current position
with Walgreens is Store Manager for the 29th Avenue store in Cedar
Rapids, IA and Community Leader for stores in Cedar Falls, Waterloo,
Mason City, and Waverly. I am here to tell you about employment of
people with disabilities from my perspective as a retail store manager
and community leader for Walgreens, a 112-year-old retail pharmacy
chain that started with one store in Chicago. Walgreens has grown into
the country's largest network to meet America's health and daily living
needs, helping people Stay Well, Live Well, and Get Well. With almost
8,000 stores in all 50 States plus Puerto Rico, we are central to most
of our Nation's communities and their healthcare needs. From day one,
this company has valued employees and viewed them as the key asset of
the company to achieve our goal of providing a superior customer
experience.
With the ADA anniversary upon us, Walgreens understands the need
for enhancing employment outcomes for youth and young adults with
disabilities.
Our company has a long history of employing people with
disabilities and has focused on it as an intentional goal in the past 7
years. The committee is aware of the story of how our distribution
centers are inclusive of people with disabilities from Walgreens senior
vice president Randy Lewis' testimony before this committee last year.
My Walgreens store in Cedar Rapids, IA has pioneered efforts for
enhancing employment outcomes for youth and adults with disabilities
through programs partnering with Goodwill of the Heartland and with
Sportability of Iowa.
My Walgreens store has been partnering with Goodwill of the
Heartland to provide a job skills training program, allowing job
seekers with disabilities to gain both classroom knowledge of the
retail environment and job seeking skill development including real
hands-on experience in a retail setting for the past 4 years. The
Community Based Retail Training Program is an 8 week course offering
retail skill development. Goodwill of the Heartland has a 120-hour
curriculum combining classroom and sales floor experiences. Students
learn from my staff by working with them in all aspects of the store
including how to set-up a cash register drawer, ring up a sale, and
give correct change. Money handling skills include not only cash and
coin, but also credit and other electronic cards, and check writing.
These skills are taught in a classroom setting at my location and
reinforced side-by-side with the Walgreens staff and customers. They
learn how to do these jobs, not just by watching but by working on the
registers, stocking the shelves, cleaning the store, and providing
customer assistance. I meet individually with students to discuss and
teach about what it takes to get a job and keep a job, from the
application process and interviewing and keeping a job after they have
been hired. The funding for this program comes from Vocational
Rehabilitation. Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation supports job seekers in
this training to help determine their skills and job interests. The
program began at my store almost 5 years ago and since then we have
started the program in Waterloo, Waverly, Dubuque, Des Moines, West Des
Moines, Iowa City and Ankeny in Iowa as well as in Fort Wayne, IN.
Walgreens has opened its doors to people who typically experience
barriers to employment by welcoming these job seekers and training them
in today's world of work. Over 18 people have been hired at Walgreens
in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area alone as a result of this training.
Participants of the training program have also been hired as stockers,
greeters and cashiers at Casey's General Store, Goodwill Stores, HyVee,
Fareway, and Cinema 16 Theaters. My experience with this program has
proven to be successful in offering opportunities to those with
disabilities to gain the skills needed for employment as well as
benefited the employees, the community, and Walgreens. People with
disabilities are truly capable if given a solid program that not only
supports them in gaining skills, but expects them to gain those skills.
Through Walgreens, I have also partnered with Sportability to give
young people with disabilities the opportunity to participate in
sporting activities. My store along with stores in Waterloo have
organized and participated in wheelchair basketball fundraiser games at
the local high schools in our communities. The games include both
people with and without disabilities to increase awareness and provide
funding for the adaptive sports equipment needed for youth with
disabilities to have the same opportunities and benefits of sports as
those without disabilities. As a community event with Walgreens, I have
also volunteered at a week-long adaptive sports camp at the University
of Northern Iowa. I have seen personally the looks on the faces of the
youth who participate in sporting activities for the first time and it
has impacted me on a personal level as well. On my own I started a
program to raise money for the adaptive sports equipment needs by
creating sponsorship packages for businesses. I am very passionate
about sports being available for youth with disabilities, because I
have seen firsthand the difference it can make in an individual's life
and employment skills. A good example is a young man, now 18 years old,
who was introduced to adaptive sports through the adaptive sports camp
I have volunteered for. This young man was always interested in sports,
but was only allowed to be a ``manager'' for teams at school. Since his
first camp experience, 3 years ago, where he was introduced to many
adaptive sports including track, he has earned a State title in three
wheelchair track events and was the first high school student in the
United States to compete in a State Cross Country meet in a wheelchair
division last year. His confidence has blossomed in all areas in life
and he currently has a part-time job and a possible opportunity for a
scholarship at a 4-year college. He also participated in several job
shadows in the community and a paid work assessment at my store through
Systems Unlimited. His future is bright but without this opportunity to
experience support and success in athletics along with he and his
parents' dedication and determination to travel across the State to be
able to participate in those opportunities; his future may look
different today. Sporting opportunities in Iowa and across the country
are limited for individuals with disabilities, partly because the lack
of sporting equipment and that is something I am trying to change.
Young people with disabilities have limited opportunities to
participate in group and individual sports due to schools', camps' and
leagues' lack of adaptive equipment. Adapted sports participation
provides an opportunity for young people with disabilities to become
and stay physically fit and healthy. Later on sports benefit
individuals with and without disabilities because the skills gained,
such as social skills, problem solving ability, the ability to be an
effective team member, along with an increase in self confidence, match
some key skills needed for many gainful employment opportunities.
We can enhance employment outcomes for youth and young adults with
disabilities by ensuring that they have opportunities to learn skills
that are marketable in today's labor force and have as many
opportunities as possible to gain the soft skills that other youth get
through athletics and intramural sports. Agencies, schools and other
supports for students and young adults with disabilities must be
aligned with local business needs. They must believe that their
students and clients can acquire the skills and manage the jobs that
require those skills. These institutions must demonstrate the
expectation that tomorrow's future disability leaders have the
potential to add value to an employer as an employee, not as a charity.
The best way to accomplish this is to have the agencies know how to and
be able (and expected to) partner with business in their community to
understand what is needed and establish the connections and knowledge
to develop such skills. One of the reasons that my store's program is
so successful is the relationship between myself and the leaders at
Goodwill. They have asked good questions and responded to my feedback
to ensure the program is robust and relevant.
At Walgreens, we believe that some of the things that can help are
simple and some are more complicated. Very simply the expectation that
people with disabilities can and will acquire skills and have supports
to be competitive in today's workforce is the first step. Outcomes
versus process are true indicators of the success of programs.
Performance metrics should be high reaching and also assume that people
with disabilities can and will compete with others in the job market as
long as supports are provided. And finally the system should support
the notion that companies can benefit from the contributions of people
with disabilities within their operations. As long as the pipeline is
filled with qualified candidates with disabilities, we can certainly
ensure opportunities for them.
People with disabilities need to add value to a business as an
employee, otherwise it isn't employment, it is charity. Certainly it is
nice to give a person with a disability a chance, but if we want that
opportunity to be sustainable, the paycheck must be earned. And it
should be earned, people with disabilities can have tremendous skill
sets and capabilities, however they may need supports and opportunities
to acquire them or to demonstrate them. Across the Walgreen Company, we
have found great value in employing people with disabilities, and
certainly in my store, my community's stores, and in other Iowa stores
we see that value and help develop it through partnerships with groups
like Goodwill of the Heartland. Iowans with disabilities are definitely
demonstrating their value and capability every day.
This concludes my prepared remarks, I am happy to answer any
questions. Thank you and be well.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
[Applause.]
As I said, what I've learned from Walgreens is that their
bottom line actually improved with the employment of people
with disabilities.
So now, please don't take any offense, but we saved the
best for last.
[Laughter.]
Now we have three young people, part of what I call the ADA
generation, who have wonderful stories to tell about what
they've done and I think show what people can actually
accomplish if they have high expectations for themselves and if
we also have high expectations for them.
The first is Emilea Hillman.
Ms. Hillman. Emilea.
The Chairman. Emilea Hillman.
Ms. Hillman. There you go.
The Chairman. I'll just say Em, a 24-year-old woman who
lives and works in Independence, IA. Her testimony focuses on
her employment history.
Well, I'll tell you what, why should I read this? I'll let
her tell the story.
[Laughter.]
All right, Em, welcome to the committee.
She is being assisted by her sister, Ashlee.
Ms. Hillman. Right here.
The Chairman. I met her before, yes. And your mother is
here, too. I know that. I met her before, too.
Well, Em, go ahead, please.
STATEMENT OF EMILEA HILLMAN, INDEPENDENCE, IA
Ms. Hillman. Good morning. My name is Emilea Hillman, and I
am the owner of Em's Coffee Company, Independence, IA. Thank
you for asking me to speak today.
I graduated from Independence High School in 2007. I took
classes with everyone else. In high school I volunteered, but
wanted to work. I then went to work at sheltered workshop. I
worked Monday through Friday from 8 to 3 and made $2.00 per
hour. I worked there for 2 years.
I hung up clothes and I didn't get to talk to the
customers. I like to talk. I am a chatterbug.
[Laughter.]
Shoot. OK. Where was I?
[Laughter.]
After a bad day at the sheltered workshop in February 2009,
I quit. I did not work for 6 months, and I was upset. I love to
work with the help of my family.
In just 10 months, I opened my own coffee shop and coffee
company. I got a grant from voc rehab, and I had lots of help.
WIPA helped make my business plan. It was hard work to open my
business. I had to find a building for my espresso machine, a
supplier of tables and chairs, even employees.
I went to ice cream school to learn how to scoop ice cream.
I went to barista school to learn how to make drinks. My
favorite drink to make is hot chocolate.
I made small changes to my barista machine to make it work
for me. The cash register is right there. The cash register
also has pictures on the top. The buttons also know what
buttons so I know what to press when it rings up customers.
Everything is one quarter or a dollar. A latte is $3.25
drink. My coffee shop is making money, right?
[Applause.]
I have a job coach that helps me, and I have six employees.
I employ people with and without disabilities and pay $7.25 per
hour. I make drinks, run the cash register, and clean tables. I
do dishes, and I talk to customers, and I know what they drink.
[Laughter.]
I sponsor my own Special Olympics. In October, I moved into
my own home.
I love my coffee shop. I am the boss.
[Laughter.]
[Applause.]
Everyone should work. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Hillman follows:]
Prepared Statement of Emilea Hillman
Good morning, my name is Emilea Hillman and I am the owner of Em's
Coffee Co. in Independence, IA. Thank you for asking me to speak today.
Before I get into the details, I would like you to know I am a
young business owner, with a great work ethic. I am 24 years old and
when I was born many doctors told my mom I would not walk, talk or even
feed myself--let alone become an entrepreneur. I was born with Agenesis
of the Corpus Collosum. What this means, is that my corpus collosum is
absent. The corpus collosum is the connective tissue of nerve fibers
that connects the right and left side of the brain. My corpus collosum
is gone; therefore each side of my brain works independently. Some
things that require both sides of your brain to communicate are riding
a bike, driving a car and even tying your shoes. I still learn things
like everyone else; it just takes my brain a little bit longer.
I graduated from Independence High School in 2007. Throughout high
school I participated in special education and was mainstreamed in
class as much as possible; mainly for gym and choir. I started
participating in Educational Based Career Education as a freshman where
I gained experience at the local businesses such as Dairy Queen, the
local nursing home and childcare facilities. I started earlier than
most because my mom pushed the system. I would have liked to work while
in high school or participate in internships, but those opportunities
were not available.
After graduating from high school in May 2007, I went to work in a
sheltered workshop, as that was the only option available after
graduation. In Independence, there were little to no supported
employment programs that could provide me opportunities to find
competitive employment in the community. Individuals who experience
disabilities were and still are expected to work at the segregated
workshop in Independence. I worked at the workshop Monday through
Friday 8 a.m.-3 p.m. hanging clothes. At the workshop I made around
$2.50 per hour. After nearly 2 years of working in segregated
employment, I had a really bad day at work in February 2009 and chose
to quit--the workshop was no longer meeting my expectations. Though I
made a lot of friends at the workshop, I did not build skills that
would prepare me for working in the community. For example, I did not
learn how to interact with customers. Instead, I was to work in the
back room away from the customers.
After I quit at the sheltered workshop, I was unemployed for nearly
6 months while my family and I thought about employment opportunities
for me. I decided I would start a coffee shop. Independence needed a
coffee shop that would be welcoming to community meetings and sell a
great cup of espresso. I knew I would like owning a coffee shop because
I would be able to work with customers every day, whereas at the
workshop I was not allowed to work with customers. I love working with
people and the community on a daily basis. I'm a bit of a social
butterfly.
It was difficult to start my own business as a lot went into it.
There were some people that didn't think I could do it. I needed
support to make it happen. I developed a business plan for my coffee
shop with the support of my mom and Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation
Services (IVRS). I then used my business plan to apply for grants
through IVRS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I worked very
closely with my local Work Incentive Planning and Assistance program
(WIPA). WIPA was essential in supporting me to understand how I could
own my own business and not lose my benefits. During the development
period, I worked with my job coach to recover chairs we would use once
the coffee shop opened, studied espresso drinks and researched
pastries. My job coach also supported me in attending Barista School in
Minnesota where I learned how to make espresso drinks. There we
developed small accommodations for my espresso machine that would
assist me in making drinks for future customers. Bottom line, I did
everything anyone else would to open up their own coffee shop. After
months of research, hard work and development, in December 2009, I
opened up my business, Em's Coffee Co.
I currently employ six people at my coffee shop and I am an equal
opportunity employer. I hire people with and without disabilities and
pay at minimum wage. Em's Coffee Co. also sponsors our own Special
Olympics team--we have a great group! I utilize Iowa's Consumer Choices
Option (CCO) program, where I am able to cash in my Medicaid Waiver
dollars and hire my own staff. I pay my job coaches through the CCO
program. This allows me to choose my own staff. This has been very
successful for me. Financially my coffee shop is doing well this year.
I'm making a profit and projected to have a stable income in the future
and become less reliant on benefits such as Supplemental Security
Income. This has been an exciting year for me as I am becoming more
independent in running my coffee shop every day, and in October, I will
be celebrating 1 year in my own home.
It is hard for anyone to own their own business. I have my mom to
support me with my business financials, my grandma is the head baker
and I have great employees that work for me. I work at my coffee shop
Monday through Friday from 6:30-2. Em's Coffee Co is open Monday
through Friday from 8:30-5 and Saturdays from 7 o'clock-2. We sell
specialty drinks, ice cream, Panini sandwiches and fresh baked goods.
I love my coffee shop and owning my own business. I know my
customers by name and I know what they drink. I also have had the
opportunity to present at multiple conferences throughout the country
to share my story with others. I am a well-known member of the
Independence Chamber of Commerce and a respected business owner in
Independence. I assure you, everyone can work.
Thank you for your time.
[Applause.]
The Chairman. That was great.
Ms. Hillman. So here I have my pictures. Hang on, hang on.
I'll stretch.
These are my flash cards. I did my grant cards on the top.
That's cash register, my espresso machine. Those are the orange
dots, and I think they help me. And on the bottom, over one,
right there, that is a movie machine to make me one half, and
on the bottom is espresso machine, decaf and the regular, and
that one is my espresso machine, a small one, and two buttons
are a big one.
Ms. Lantz. Em makes small accommodations to be able to run
the espresso machine.
The Chairman. You did that yourself? You modified it.
Ms. Lantz. Yes, she did.
Ms. Hillman. Turn the other page. OK. Over there I steam
milk, and Glen, my customer, he got me black and white chairs
and a red couch.
Ms. Lantz. She has a friend that works in the furniture
store who helped her buy the furniture at cost so she could buy
it cheaper.
Ms. Hillman. And on the bottom is Mary Butler.
Ms. Lantz. That's one of her job coaches.
Ms. Hillman. Mom, I can't see.
And then over there I clean tables.
You have to turn. I can't see it. You read it. I can't.
Ms. Lantz. ``May all who enter as guests leave as
friends,'' and our mom coined the line, ``If you start with a
second-hand business, you also treat people with disabilities
as second-class citizens.''
Ms. Hillman. Any questions?
The Chairman. Well, I don't know.
[Applause.]
I'm glad you showed that picture of you steaming milk
because I like latte. So when I come there, you've got to make
me a latte, OK?
Ms. Hillman. Any questions?
[Laughter.]
The Chairman. Em, we might do it, but I'm going to have two
other people speak, and then we'll come back. OK?
Ms. Hillman. All right.
The Chairman. OK. Now we're going to turn to Nate Trainor,
a young adult with a disability who lives in Waverly, IA. His
testimony focuses on the difference between the traditional
expectations for young people with severe disabilities and his
own life.
He lists the traditional aspects of a young disabled
person's life as ``segregated school, day program, group home,
limited choice and control.'' By contrast, Trainor attended an
inclusive school, went on to attend college, works and
volunteers in the community, lives in a duplex with two friends
his own age. He also hires his own staff, which gives him
control over his own personal care. Trainor's testimony also
mentions the positive impact that the Consumer Choice Option
has had on his life.
I'm told he uses augmented communication to speak and ask
that his testimony be presented as a PowerPoint, and then he
can respond to questions. Nate is being assisted by his friend.
Is it Vanessa?
Ms. Symmonds. Vanessa.
The Chairman. Vanessa.
Nate volunteers for Vanessa's classroom, I'm told.
Ms. Symmonds. Yes. I teach 5th grade.
The Chairman. All right. Nate, please proceed.
STATEMENT OF NATE TRAINOR, WAVERLY, IA
Ms. Symmonds. This is Nate Trainor, and everything on this
PowerPoint are all his words. He communicates with this
facilitative communication board, and I'm just going to read it
on his behalf.
His shirt said, ``You're not the boss of me.''
[Laughter.]
``I live in my own duplex. I live with awesome friends,
free from dear mom.''
[Laughter.]
``We are friends. We go places, rent movies, have a beer,
and they treat me as an easy friend.''
``I am very awesome and busy. I work at the W, volunteer at
a school and church, present, go to stores, exercise, and see
lots of people. I like to eat at restaurants, read easy books
on disability and FC, swim in my pool, fast go-carts, and ride
in my `feel-free' convertible.''
Mr. Imperato. What's FC?
The Chairman. What is FC?
Ms. Symmonds. FC is facilitated communication. That's how
he types and how he communicates, just this keyboard.
The Chairman. What's the W? The Y?
Ms. Symmonds. Yes, the Y at Warwick College.
The Chairman. Oh, OK. Got it.
Ms. Symmonds. ``I like adventure. Sea World is my best
vacation. Mom lets me choose my destinations.''
There at the bottom he's swimming with dolphins at Sea
World.
``I want people to know my body movements are hard. The
reason, I don't know. I have to tell my feet to move, and then
they will. Yelling at me doesn't make them move any faster. I
also don't look directly at things, but I still see them.
Saying that I'm not looking is an incompetent thing to tell
me.''
``My voice is trapped deep down inside. It wants me to come
out in words, but it is also only noise. I can control it, but
it's very hard. Putting your hand over my mouth and telling me
to be quiet doesn't help at all. But bribing me with chocolates
might.''
[Laughter.]
``One more thing. My ears work fine. They are not deaf just
because I can't talk. I laugh when people raise their voice to
talk to me.''
``My hands are twisted and they are able to go forward but
not backward. I need a facilitator to help. I think I could
play piano.''
On the left is traditional, and on the right is what Nate
did. Segregated school; he went to an inclusive school. A day
program; he went to a college. Another day program; he had a
job. Another day program; he volunteered. A group home; and he
lives in a duplex with roommates. Staff provided; he hires his
own staff. Limited communication; he has supported typing.
Limited choice and control; he has more choice and control.
``Consumer Choice Options is an awesome program. When I get
to be included doing fun things with my friends, the respect I
feel is awesome.''
``I believe no one wants to be a project. This is a sad
best friend reason. Everyone wants easy friends. Real friends
take the time to get to know someone. True friends are not
fearful of me. People try to be respectful but sometimes fear
the unknown.''
``Don't waste your dreams. Treat them with respect.
Communication is an awesome way to establish your dreams.''
And here is his quote.
``Freedom is respect, and this can only happen when
people weigh the consequences away from themselves long
enough to take the time to see I am here.''--Nate
Trainor.
[Applause.]
[The prepared (powerpoint) statement of Mr. Trainor
follows:]
Prepared (PowerPoint) Statement of Nathan Trainor
The Chairman. Pretty awesome.
Ms. Symmonds. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Nate. We'll get back to
you with some questions maybe.
Next we have Alex Watters. He focuses on his
accomplishments, as well as the challenges he has faced as a
young adult with an acquired disability. Mr. Watters became a
quadriplegic after a diving accident in Lake Okoboji in 2004.
Since his accident, Alex has graduated summa cum laude from
Morningside College, with a major in political science and a
minor in global history. He earned a Master's degree in
negotiation and dispute resolution from Creighton University in
Omaha. However, he has had difficulty finding employment in
spite of his skills and qualifications. He was recently hired
to a full-time job with Organizing for America here in Iowa.
Watters concludes his testimony with a discussion of the
current challenges to people with disabilities seeking to live
independently. The one thing that I read about in his testimony
is that he found it difficult to move from one State to another
in terms of retaining necessary services and supports because
of the differences in States.
Alex, welcome. Your statement will be made a part of the
record, and please proceed.
STATEMENT OF ALEX WATTERS, MILFORD, IA
Mr. Watters. Thank you very much, Mr. Senator. I don't know
how I'm going to follow those two. I didn't bring a lovely
assistant or a PowerPoint.
[Laughter.]
I'm kind of sweating up here.
[Laughter.]
But I thank you very much for this opportunity to be here
to speak today.
If you had met me 8 years ago, you would have thought I was
one of the most active high school seniors that you'd ever met.
I participated in the debate team and was captain of the golf
team. During the summer I held down two jobs and enjoyed wake
boarding with my friends and spending time on the water.
I was excited to begin college. I was on a golf scholarship
to play at Morningside College, where I had hoped to study
business and eventually own my own golf course as a teaching
pro.
Two weeks into my freshman year I returned home to Okoboji
with a couple of friends that I had met at Morningside for a
family reunion that they were attending. After we spent some
time around the campfire, we decided we wanted to go swimming
one last time before the weather turned colder.
Once I had walked out on the dock approximately 150 paces,
a gust of wind blew my hat off into the water. Thinking I was
far enough from shore, I dove in, hoping to retrieve it. I
would find out later that the water was only 18 inches deep. My
head struck the bottom and my neck simply snapped.
I was life-flighted back to Sioux City, where I would have
surgery to stabilize my neck. I went to Craig Hospital in
Denver for rehabilitation over the next 6 months, dealing with
everything from pressure sores to more surgeries and learning
to identify myself as a quadriplegic.
Although my stature has changed, my drive and passion to be
involved and active has not. Upon returning home from rehab, I
knew I was not going to let this injury become what defined me.
I wanted to go back to school, and the sooner, the better. I
returned home in April 2005, and by May I was signed up for
classes, both for the summer and the fall.
In August I returned to Morningside College, where I had
hoped to continue studying business and possibly continue
pursuing the dream of owning my own golf course. However, after
a few courses I realized that my heart was no longer set on
that dream. I knew that I needed to do more, something that I
felt would impact society in some way.
Once I took a political science course in college, I was
hooked. I went on to serve as the student advocate of my
college, president of the Morningside Democrats, and vice
president of my fraternity, Delta Sigma Phi. In addition to the
many exciting events I was a part of, I also managed to
graduate in 4 years, as Senator Harkin said, summa cum laude,
with a major in political science and a minor in global
history.
After graduating, I decided to pursue a Master's degree in
negotiation and dispute resolution from Creighton University in
Omaha, NE. After receiving my Master's degree, I felt confident
but at a loss for what the next step would be. I then learned
of an internship with the American Association of People with
Disabilities in Washington, DC. I immediately applied and was
selected as an intern for them for the summer of 2011.
That summer was amazing. The experiences I had and the
people I met were truly life-changing. I was working with the
U.S. Department of Education, as well as the AAPD. I was able
to meet a vast array of inspiring and very motivating
individuals.
Following the internship, I struggled to find full-time
employment. My dreams of staying in Washington, DC quickly
faded. I ended up moving home, where I helped my former coach
with our local debate team. I was also able to continue
traveling around the State, speaking to groups of young people
about pursuing their dreams.
However, although I applied for what seems like countless
work opportunities, I couldn't seem to land a job. I don't know
if it was some type of discrimination or a tight labor market,
but it was very frustrating. I was finally contacted by a
member of Organizing for America, the President's grassroots
team here in Iowa, and after having job opportunities that felt
like a correct fit fall through, I was hesitant to put my faith
in this opportunity.
However, as luck would have it, I ended up landing the job
and work there today. I cannot begin to tell you how inspired I
am by our President, so fighting for his reelection is
something that I'm proud to do.
I couldn't have gotten where I am today without a lot of
support from wonderful people. I'm grateful to my family. My
mother was able to be here with me today. I'm grateful to those
people in my life, my vocational rehabilitation counselor, and
the many professors and advisors that have inspired me and
encouraged me to reach for my dreams. I am also thankful for
those who had set things in motion long before I became a
member of the disability community. I am grateful to you,
Senator Harkin, for your hard work on the Americans with
Disabilities Act that made school and work opportunities
accessible to me.
And while it is not my intention to run down the list of my
accomplishments since my injury, I believe it should be seen as
a testament of how a piece of legislation can truly enable
individuals to spread their wings when given the same
opportunities that others take for granted. However, we can do
better. While I feel there have been many successes in the
system along my journey, there have also been frustrations that
must be addressed.
One of the greatest struggles that I had in my transition
to graduate school was my transition to graduate school. You
see, I live on the border of Iowa and wanted to attend an
esteemed college in Omaha, NE. Looking at the difficulty I had
while moving to Nebraska, you would have thought that Iowa and
Nebraska were two separate countries rather than bordering
States.
In order for me to live in Omaha, I needed to cancel all of
the services I was receiving in Iowa and open an account in
Nebraska. Once I did that, I was able to receive care in
Nebraska, but I was not able to easily return home to visit my
family due to the lack of care in Iowa.
While I understand and respect that State programs are
their own, I feel that we must begin functioning as a United
States of America, thus allowing individuals with disabilities
to freely travel and receive education wherever they so desire
without paying the price of being unable to return home from
time to time.
Also while in graduate school, I realized just how
inadequate public transportation can be. Throughout my
practicum, I relied heavily on my boss to pick me up from work
daily so that I could complete my degree. Omaha's paratransit
system explained to me that I was out of their range as far as
ADA-required transportation. And although I recognize that
Omaha is a growing and expansive city, there must be better
options for individuals with disabilities who are attempting to
be a productive part of society by joining the workforce. If
they have the passion and the ability to land a job, the very
least we can do is make sure that we can give them a ride to
get there.
Another thing that is a great challenge for disabled
individuals is access to adequate care. One of the things that
the Americans with Disabilities Act and the independent living
movement fought to ensure was that individuals would not have
to be institutionalized solely because they have a disability.
However, adequate care in more rural areas continues to be a
problem to this day. It wasn't until I moved back to Okoboji
following my internship last summer that I realized just how
trying it can be to find day to day care. My family was able to
fill in where the care agency was not, but this is not the case
for all people with disabilities, some of whom have to support
families of their own. A single mom that I know in the area was
forced not only to deal with her new injury as a quadriplegic,
but also worrying about trying to raise a child without
reliable in-home care.
Finally, we need to do better by our individuals with
disabilities as far as jobs are concerned. Although I recognize
that we have come a great way with the introduction of
reasonable accommodations, meaningful employment continues to
be scarce for individuals with disabilities. A talent pool is
simply stagnant due to the overwhelming obstacles in their way,
and I must say it's very inspiring listening to Mr. Mitchell
and Mr. Shults today and hearing about programs setting these
in place.
Eight years ago, I had hopes of being a professional
golfer. However, since that time, my plans and hopes for the
future have continually changed. I have, as I find it ever so
important, continued pushing forward. I think it is difficult
for anyone to try to shift their career focus, but for
individuals with disabilities, it can be very troubling. It was
not as if I simply put away my golf clubs and learned a new
trade. It was my attempt to find out what I could do in the
workplace, combined with what I enjoy doing.
However, since I began my internships and more recently my
job, I have noticed just how many challenges I have simply in
performing my daily tasks. These are things that individuals of
a similar age without a disability may never think of. Everyday
tasks such as picking up my papers from the printer or filling
out a form can be a great struggle with me. And also with the
lack of adaptive technology within the workplace, or even doors
not being wide enough to get through, can keep me from being
successful in my workplace.
The good news is that I believe we're starting to see a
shift in the consciousness of the public, as well as employers
surrounding those with disabilities. My current employer has
made sure that there's an open line of communication for all of
my accommodations and my needs as an employee. For that, I am
grateful and hopeful, hopeful that this job can simply act as a
stepping stone, and perhaps someday I may even have the
opportunity of representing the great people of Iowa.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Watters follows:]
Prepared Statement of Alex Watters
Good morning, my name is Alex Watters and I am very happy to have
this opportunity to be here speaking before all of you today.
If you had met me 8 years ago you would've thought that I was one
of the most active seniors in high school that you ever met. In fact,
my mom often joked that she rarely if ever saw me. I was very active on
both the debate team as well as captain of the golf team my junior and
senior year. Growing up in the beautiful resort area of Okoboji, during
the summer I held down two jobs and managed to have some fun wake
boarding with my friends and spending time on the water.
In 2004 I was anxious to begin my adventure of going to College, I
was on a golf scholarship to play at Morningside College where I had
hoped to study business and eventually own my own golf course as a
teaching pro. However, 2 weeks into my freshman year I returned home to
Okoboji with a couple of friends that I had met at Morningside for a
family reunion that they were attending. After we had spent time around
the campfire, we decided that we wanted to go swimming one last time
before the weather turned colder. While the girls were in changing, I
went out onto the dock with the little brother. Once we had walked out
on the dock approximately 150 paces, a gust of wind took the hat right
off my head and blew it into the water. Thinking that I was next to a
boat hoist and far from shore, I simply slipped off my T-shirt and dove
in, hoping to retrieve it.
I would find out later that the water was only 18 inches deep. At
the time I was approximately 6'1'', 210 pounds and my neck simply
snapped.
I was life-flighted back to Sioux City where I would have surgery
to stabilize my neck. I would later go to Craig Hospital in Denver for
rehabilitation over the next 6 months, dealing with everything from
pressure sores, more surgeries and learning to identify myself as a
quadriplegic.
Although my stature has changed, my drive and passion to be
involved and active has not. Upon returning home from rehab, I knew
that I was not going to let this injury become what defined me. I knew
that I wanted to go back to school, the sooner the better! To that end,
after returning home in April 2005, by that May I was signed up for
classes both for the summer and the fall.
In August I returned to Morningside College where I had hoped to
continue studying business and possibly continue to pursue the dream of
owning my own golf course. However, after a few courses I realized that
my heart was no longer set on that dream. I knew that I needed to do
more, something that I felt would impact society in some way.
In high school I had always loved being in debate and my senior
year I had actually been selected as a page in the Iowa House of
Representatives, so once I took a political science course in college I
was hooked. Throughout college I was involved in many different
activities and on many different boards, some of which may even
coincide with your college experience, Senator Harkin. I served as the
student advocate of my college, president of the Morningside Democrats
as well as vice president for two terms within my fraternity Delta
Sigma Phi. In addition to the many events and activities I was a part
of, I managed to graduate in 4 years summa cum laude with a major in
political science and minoring in global history.
However, nearing graduation I still had no idea what I wanted to do
for a career. In fact when individuals would ask me what I wanted to do
after college, my mantra continually seemed to be ``change the world''.
I simply hoped that by the time I graduated I would know how I was
going to make that happen and exactly what those changes would
encompass.
Having studied political science and global history over the last 4
years, to say that I was appalled by bloodshed, war and the lack of
good communication would be an understatement. One day while reading my
textbook I stumbled across a Masters program that intrigued me. I began
looking for programs near me and 2 years later graduated with my
masters in negotiation and dispute resolution from Creighton University
in Omaha, NE.
After receiving my masters I felt confident, but at a loss for what
the next step would be. It wasn't until I reached out to a colleague
from a previous internship during my undergraduate days that I learned
of an internship with the American Association of People with
Disabilities. I immediately applied and later found out that I had been
selected for an internship with them in Washington, DC for the summer
of 2011. To say that summer was amazing would, again, be a huge
understatement. The experiences I had and the people I met were life
changing! Working with the U.S. Department of Education, as well as the
AAPD, I was able to meet a vast array of inspiring and motivating
individuals.
Following the internship I struggled to find full-time employment.
My dreams of staying in Washington, DC quickly faded. I ended up moving
home where I helped my former coach with our local debate team. I was
also able to continue traveling around the State speaking to groups of
young people.
After applying for what felt like countless job opportunities, I
was contacted by a member of Organizing for America, the President's
grass roots team here in Iowa. After having job opportunities that felt
like the correct fit fall through, I was hesitant to put my faith in
this opportunity. However, as luck would have it I landed the job and
work there today. I cannot begin to tell you how inspired I am by our
President, so fighting for his re-election is something that I am proud
to do.
I couldn't have gotten where I am today without a lot of support
from wonderful people. First and foremost my family; they have always
been there to inspire me, pat me on the back and push me when I needed
it. The incredible caregivers that have helped make my day to day life
possible--and also those advocates who set things in motion long before
I became a member of the disability community. You, Senator Harkin, for
your hard work on the Americans With Disabilities Act that made these
opportunities accessible to me. My vocational rehabilitation counselor
for giving me resources when I needed them and assisting me with the
college process. The many professors and advisers that have inspired me
and encouraged me to reach for my dreams.
And while it is not my intention to run down the list of my
accomplishments since my injury, I believe it should be seen as a
testament to how a piece of legislation can truly enable individuals to
spread their wings when given the same opportunities that others take
for granted.
However, we can do better!!!
While I feel there have been many successes in the system along my
journey, there have also been frustrations that must be addressed. One
of the first great struggles that I had was my transition to graduate
school.
You see, I live on the border of Iowa and wanted to attend an
esteemed college in Omaha, NE, you would have thought they were
separate countries instead of bordering states.
In order for me to live in Omaha and receive services there, I
would need to cancel all of the services I was receiving in Iowa and
open an account in Nebraska. Once I did that, I was able to receive
care in Nebraska, but I was not able to easily return home to visit my
family since I was no longer eligible for care in Iowa. While I
understand and respect that the State programs are their own, I feel we
must begin functioning as the United States of America and allow
individuals with disabilities to freely travel and receive education
wherever they so desire without paying the price of being unable to
return home from time to time.
Also while in graduate school, I realized just how inadequate
public transportation can be. Throughout my practicum, I relied on my
boss to come and pick me up for work daily so that I could complete my
degree. I checked with Omaha's paratransit system and they explained to
me that I was outside of the required area for them to provide
transportation under the ADA. Although I recognize that Omaha is a
growing and expansive city, there has to be better options for
individuals with disabilities who want to be productive members of the
workforce. If they have the passion and the ability to land a job, the
very least we can do is make sure that they can get a ride there.
Another great challenge for disabled individuals is access to
adequate care. One of the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act
is to ensure that individuals will not be institutionalized solely
because they have a disability; this was one of the priorities at the
start of the independent living movement. However, adequate care in
more rural areas continues to be a problem to this day. It wasn't until
I moved back to Okoboji following my internship last summer that I
realized just how trying it can be to find day to day care. While my
family was able to fill in where the agency care was not, a single mom
that I know in the area was forced not only to deal with her new injury
as a quadriplegic, but also worry about trying to raise a child without
reliable in home care.
Finally, we need to do better by our individuals with disabilities
as far as jobs are concerned. Although I recognize that we have made
good progress with reasonable accommodations and equal employment,
meaningful employment continues to be scarce for many individuals with
disabilities. A talent pool is sitting stagnant due to the overwhelming
obstacles in their way.
Eight years ago I had hopes of being a professional golfer;
however, since that time my plans and hopes for the future have
continually changed. I have, as I find it to be ever so important,
continued pushing forward. I think it is difficult for anyone to try to
shift their career focus, but for individuals with disabilities it can
be very troubling. It was not as if I simply put away my golf clubs and
learned a new trade. It was my attempt to find out what I could do in
the workplace, combined with what I enjoy doing.
However, since I began my internships and more recently my job, I
have noticed just how many challenges I have simply in performing my
daily tasks. These are things an individual similar in age, without a
disability, may never think of. Everyday tasks, such as picking up my
papers from the printer, or filling out a form can be a great struggle
for me. Also the lack of having adaptive technology within the
workplace, or even doors that aren't wide enough for me to get through,
can keep me from being successful in my workplace.
The good news is that I believe we are starting to see a shift in
the consciousness of the public, as well as employers, surrounding
those disabilities. My current employer has made sure that there is an
open line of communication for all of my accommodations and needs as an
employee. For that I am grateful, and hopeful. Hopeful, that this job
can simply act as a steppingstone, and perhaps someday I may even have
the opportunity of representing the great people of Iowa.
The Chairman. Very good.
[Applause.]
Thank you very much, Alex. You know, we have a quadriplegic
who is a Congressman, Ron Langevin from----
Mr. Imperato. Jim Langevin.
The Chairman [continuing]. Or Jim Langevin from Rhode
Island. He does a great job.
You aren't after my job right now, are you?
[Laughter.]
Mr. Watters. I wasn't trying to push you out or anything.
[Laughter.]
I'm just ready to step in.
[Laughter.]
The Chairman. I think we met once before. We met last year
sometime.
Mr. Watters. We met during the summer when I was in
Washington.
The Chairman. That's right, that's right. I remember now. I
tell you, you remind me a lot of my nephew.
I shouldn't tell personal stories, but my nephew, a
strapping, big kid like you, 19 years old, decided to go in the
Navy. I was a Navy pilot. He wanted to serve on an aircraft
carrier, which he did. Nineteen years old, big kid, my sister's
boy. Nineteen years old, 1978, got sucked down the intake of a
jet engine, broke his neck, became quadriplegic. They sent him
back to California, the VA hospital there, and then went to
Craig because he's from Colorado. That was 1978.
If my brother Frank got me really interested in disability
policy, it was my nephew who really propelled me into looking
at the barriers that were out there, because he then wanted to
go to school, couldn't get his wheelchair anywhere. We didn't
have curb cuts in the 1980s. He went to Colorado State in Fort
Collins, and it was just hard to even get--some classes he
couldn't take because he couldn't get to the class. That was an
eye-opener to me.
And then he just persevered. Thank God for the Veterans
Administration. They were wonderful. But, how old is Kelly now?
He must be in his fifties, I guess. But he went on to start his
own business, to live by himself all his life, got married,
adopted a couple of kids. He's done incredible things,
incredible things.
He liked to boat, and he wanted to be independent. So he
rigged up a device. He bought a boat, a motor boat, and he
rigged up a crane, and he could get out there in his
wheelchair, and he had this crane. He'd push these buttons and
this thing would come down. It would get under his wheelchair
and pick him up. It just took my breath away to watch him do
this and set him in the boat. I thought, my God, what if this
thing breaks? I'm just saying----
Mr. Watters. My mom is cringing as you're telling this
story.
[Laughter.]
My wheels are turning, she's cringing.
[Laughter.]
The Chairman. And every time I visit him, what he's done
with his house and how he's made it--it's amazing.
I'd just say that, you can have a great life, things are so
different now in just accessibility and mobility and getting
around and things like that. I know how he's lived his life,
and I have no doubt that you're going to do whatever you want
to do in life, Alex. So keep pushing ahead.
Thank you all very, very, very much. These were great
testimonies.
The one question I have, Em, for you is, in your own words
tell me what's the best thing about owning your own business?
What do you like about owning your own business?
Mr. Imperato. What's your favorite thing to do when you're
at work? You like making hot chocolate. Anything else?
Ms. Hillman. Yes, I do, because----
The Chairman. Em, let me ask you this. Do you like going to
work?
Ms. Hillman. Yes.
The Chairman. So you look forward to it?
Ms. Hillman. I get up at 6, 6 o'clock every morning.
[Laughter.]
The Chairman. Every morning.
Mr. Imperato. Do you drink coffee?
Ms. Hillman. [Shakes head.]
[Laughter.]
But my sister does.
[Laughter.]
The Chairman. Well, Em, I have actually heard from people I
know in Independence who say they love to go into your shop
because you brighten their day, you just make people feel good.
You always have a smile and, as one person said, you're a real
personality.
[Laughter.]
I think that's good. But 6 o'clock every morning? Well, I
don't know about that.
[Laughter.]
Nate, one of the things you said is you like living with
roommates. So what do you like about that, living with
roommates?
[Pause.]
Ms. Symmonds. Can we get back to it?
The Chairman. OK, sure. Why don't I go to Ron? I wanted to
ask Ron something. Go ahead and continue, Nate.
I wanted to ask Ron, what do you think we can do to
encourage other Iowa businesses to make a similar commitment to
hiring people with disabilities? I have a sense that when I
talk to business people, they'd like to do it but, well,
they're afraid of a lot of things--bottom line, liability,
this, that--legitimate worries that business people might have,
and a lot of our small business owners, like Em, are just busy.
I mean, they're busy all day. They're working at their
businesses.
How do we encourage and how do we bring people together on
this in expanding these opportunities in businesses around
Iowa?
Mr. Frank. From what I've seen, part of it is fear. Part of
it is fear, like you mentioned, of the unknown, the
uncomfortableness, or they might look at it as a charity, and
what can I do, how much time is it going to take out of my
business to do this if they look at it as a charity.
Working with vocational rehabilitation, I think, and
getting with businesses and showing them some success stories,
and making sure that the agencies have everything in line as
far as what they can do for that business. If they're going to
approach a business and they don't know what they're going to
do or what job skills they're going to give this business, it's
not going to work. So they have to have their ducks in a row,
and they need to be organized, and they need to show, here,
this is what we're going to do for you.
They will see the benefit. I've seen the benefit for 5
years, and it's very amazing.
The Chairman. You also addressed yourself to the importance
of what I was talking to David about, and that's getting kids
in high school, getting them some summer jobs and work
experiences and internships. You also spoke about the
importance of that, too.
Mr. Frank. Well, it gives them some confidence, and it
gives them some skill sets that will help them get employed.
The Chairman. I would just say this again for the record.
I've said it many times. You think, with all the years I've
worked in disability issues, you'd think I'd know it all, but I
don't. So what really alarmed me, what really came home to me
was when this event happened at Atalissa, at the turkey plant,
and we found a lot of issues, but one thing was we found people
with intellectual disabilities working right alongside people
without disabilities, and they're getting paid $1 an hour or
something, and the people without disabilities are getting paid
$10 an hour, and they're doing the same work. I said, wait,
this can't be right.
Then we started looking at the whole issue of sheltered
workshops. I kind of grew up in that era of sheltered
workshops. And then it occurred to me that there are a lot of
people working in sheltered workshops that go in there and they
just are--that's it. They're just dead in there. They don't get
any more skill sets. They aren't provoked to do different
things.
That's why we have worked, in the Workforce Investment Act
reauthorization, which one of these days we'll get, to get more
involvement for VR early, in high schools and stuff like that,
to begin to move these young people into competitive
employment, so that sheltered employment is not the first
option but it would be the last. In other words, let's see what
you can do in competitive employment.
I've got to tell you, when I first brought this up and
talked about it, people said, ``Well, you know, you're going to
set up some of these kids to fail because they just can't do
competitive employment.'' I said, ``Well, you know, I treat
kids with disabilities just like I treat other kids.''
Sometimes you need to get a kick in the pants, you know? And
people thought I was being harsh.
I don't think I was being harsh. I'm just saying you've got
to have high expectations, and we have to let them know we have
high expectations of them. Then they get high expectations.
Sure, is everyone going to succeed at a certain competitive
employment? No, but that's life. We all fail at one thing or
another. I didn't start out to be this in my lifetime either.
But the idea being to prepare these young people for
competitive, integrated employment, because we've seen it work.
Will there be some who absolutely can't? Probably, but that
shouldn't be the first option. The first option should be
competitive, integrated employment, not at sub-standard wages
either, but at full wages.
So that's hopefully the direction we're moving in, and I
take it that's where you want to see us go also, right?
Let's see, I was going to come back to Vanessa and Nate.
Ms. Symmonds. He says he gets to see his friends.
The Chairman. What?
Ms. Symmonds. He gets to see friends.
The Chairman. You get to see your friends, yes, without
being isolated.
Mr. Imperato. Social networking.
The Chairman. Yes, social networking.
The Chairman. I wanted to ask Nate if he likes movies.
Nate, do you like movies?
While Nate is answering that, David or Richard, do you have
anything to add that kind of comes to mind or anything like
that? If not, that's fine.
Anybody else over here?
One of the things I also like to do at these hearings is, I
would like to open it if anyone in the audience has anything
that they want to say or add, or a question for one of the
panelists, or for me. I'll try to do that, but I must tell you
that this is an official hearing, so you have to tell us your
name, and you have to spell it so our court reporter can get it
accurately.
Mr. Imperato. Tamara has the mic.
The Chairman. Oh, Tamara has the mic. So we'll start here,
then we'll go to this gentleman right back here.
Yes?
Ms. Clark. My name is Cherie Clark, C-h-e-r-i-e C-l-a-r-k.
The Chairman. Got it.
Ms. Clark. First let me thank you, Senator Harkin, for
being here. And, Andy, thank you for coming back to be with
Senator Harkin. We love AAPD, but we also love Senator Harkin.
Thank you for coming back.
[Laughter.]
[Applause.]
I also want to thank the panelists.
But I have a question for the two panelists over here, and
it's kind of a question for both of these gentlemen.
David, you said that you wanted to eliminate the diagnosis.
That wasn't your exact word, but that was kind of the intent
that you were saying. And Richard, you said that you are big on
peer support for people with mental illnesses.
We know that peer support is very important for people with
all kinds of disabilities, and there just hasn't been that
emphasis on peer support for the broader disability community.
And in order to have that broader emphasis, we cannot lose that
identity of who we are as individuals with a disability. I'm
just afraid that if you take away my CP as an employee, I'm not
going to be able to connect with my peer here and there and
wherever they are out there in the real world. For me, that's a
concern.
The Chairman. Richard or David?
Mr. Mitchell. Thank you, Cherie. I think your work with
advocacy and the listserv really helps the State of Iowa also.
So I want to express acknowledgement of that, too.
I made a comment to Mr. Shults as Nate was talking about
his story about the importance of inclusion and integration,
and I think it tied in very well with Rick's efforts talking
about peer support.
Our efforts, as I talked about the labeling, was to move
away from the perceptions that labels cause to really look at
the individual's abilities and interests and preferences, and
certainly not to take away from any of the social networking
and peer-support efforts that occur daily with that movement.
So the effort is to look at individuals' abilities and
preferences and skills and learning styles, and not let the
disability drive that process.
Mr. Shults. And from our perspective, we use a term in our
office quite frequently where we talk about both/and, where you
can get the combination, getting away from the stigma and
getting away from the labels, but also have that kind of
additional support. There isn't any reason why it has to be one
way or the other. It can be both/and. The idea of expanding
peer support--and one of the things I'm pleased to be able to
do in Iowa is where we talk about mental health and disability
services becoming an umbrella and being able to cover that
whole span.
The areas we're looking at is expanding peer support in
other areas, and in particular one of the areas I'd like us to
be working on is peer support for youth. That's another area
where often getting peer support from an individual that's 36
years old may be different from someone who is your own age. So
those are the kinds of things that we need to be looking
forward to.
The Chairman. This gentleman back here. Oh, there was a
gentleman over here that had a--oh, I'm sorry. Kim has that.
Mr. Wright. Yes, my name is Adam Wright, W-r-i-g-h-t. I'm
from Cedar Rapids here, and I do want to thank the panelists
and the Senator for holding this hearing today.
I've actually got two different questions.
No. 1, I'm a person that's very active in the community who
has a diagnosis of Asperger's. I just recently did an
internship with Congressman Loebsack, and I'm going back to
school to get my B.A. in political science in my thirties.
My first question involves the PPACA, and it has to do with
the fact that right now a lot of people with mild disabilities
seek SSDI benefits due to the fact that they cannot get--for
the Medicaid or the Medicare benefits that go along with that,
to treat their disabilities. Will the PPACA allow more people
with mild disabilities to enter the competitive workforce due
to the fact that they will be able now to seek private health
benefits to care for their disabilities?
My second question has to do with we talk about folks with
disabilities entering the workforce, but I hear very little
conversation about sustaining that employment. I've often run
into experiences where I have been able to get a job, but
unfortunately it only lasts maybe 3 to 5 years for various
reasons, issues with social skills, issues sometimes with
understanding what the employer wants, and sometimes just
realizing that maybe the employment that I sought was maybe not
the right job due to my disability.
What type of things are on the table to sustain employment
for folks with disabilities?
The Chairman. Here you're going to learn the secret of
being a successful Senator. I have expert staff answer
questions like that.
[Laughter.]
All right, Andrew.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Imperato. He actually knows a lot more than he pretends
to.
So the PPACA, in case people here don't know what that is,
that is the full acronym for the Affordable Care Act. I think
the full name is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act, but most people in Washington stopped calling it the
PPACA. Some people call it Obamacare, some people call it the
Affordable Care Act.
I think it's a great question. Certainly, a lot of us in
the disability policy world and the advocacy world are hopeful
that when you get rid of pre-existing condition exclusions,
when you get rid of lifetime caps on benefits, annual caps on
benefits, that it becomes easier for people with disabilities
that affect health care to get the kinds of services and
support from the private health insurance industry that
historically have been very difficult, if not impossible, to
get and have forced people onto SSI and Medicaid, or SSDI and
Medicare, but especially SSI and Medicaid in order to get those
benefits.
So I think it's a great question. Senator Harkin is really
advocating that we have a robust benefits package so that the
actual benefits that people get will meet their needs. That's
still to be determined. A lot of that is getting worked out at
the State level.
Your other question was about--I think I understood it to
be about keeping supports, long-term supports while you're
working that can help you stay at work. That was something that
we tried to address as part of the Workforce Investment Act
that Senator Harkin mentioned.
There are some limits in the current Vocational
Rehabilitation Act which will cutoff your job coach when you
hit a certain threshold. I think it's 24 months in some States.
I don't know. Is that about right? Yes.
So that's a mission question, right? Is it the mission of
vocational rehabilitation to provide job coaches for longer
than that for people that need it? Not everybody needs it, but
for the people who need it. Is that a mission for Medicaid? Is
that a mission for some other entity? I think we have to figure
that out because there are people who need the services longer
than the limits, and in the Rehab Act we lengthened that limit
in our staff discussion of that, but it created a new limit, so
it didn't completely solve the problem. But it's an important
issue.
The Chairman. Thank you, Andy.
Yes?
Ms. Hudson. Hi. I'm Jane Hudson, J-a-n-e H-u-d-s-o-n, and
I'm the director of Disability Rights Iowa. I do have a
question. As I'm attending all of these meetings, I'm hearing
that getting a job, employment, is a barrier to getting out of
institutions, and it really puzzles me why someone should be
kept in an institution, like a State resource center or a
mental health institute or a nursing facility, because they
can't find a job.
So what I would like to ask the panelists is, it's
wonderful that you're living in your own homes and in the
community. Would it be harder for you to find a job, for
example, Alex, if you were in a nursing facility?
Mr. Watters. I don't know if it would necessarily be harder
for me to find a job, but I don't think I'd have the social
life I do.
[Laughter.]
I think, like Nate, I have been fortunate enough to make
wonderful friends and live with them. In graduate school I
lived with a fraternity brother and his fiancee throughout
graduate school, and I'm now living with one of my best friends
in a home. But I think that, like Nate was mentioning and kind
of focusing on, it's important that we either feel independent
and have our own home, and along with that the opportunities to
have gainful employment, not only because of that independence
but also because of that peer-to-peer support that Mr. Shults
was talking about.
I think that they go hand in hand. I think that when you're
living independently or you're with your peers, I think that
you're more likely to find and strive for that gainful
employment. I think it's kind of a motivating factor, if you
will. I don't know if that answers your question.
The Chairman. Thanks for mentioning Delta Sigma Phi. I
appreciate that.
[Laughter.]
I was in Delta Sigma Phi at Iowa State. It was the first
national fraternity to welcome kids with disabilities as
fraternity members, so I've always been proud of that.
[Applause.]
Jane, by the way, thanks for all your leadership in
Disability Rights for Iowa. Thank you very, very much.
Yes, sir?
Mr. Strong. Senator Harkin, ladies and gentlemen, my name
is Frank Strong. It's F-r-a-n-k S-t-r-o-n-g. I'm from Des
Moines, and I just wanted to share with you all. It's a
question I have.
Are you aware that we have a disability awareness lecture
every October during National Disability Employment Awareness
Month? And this year we are featuring Dr. Alan Hurwitz from
Gallaudet University. He's going to be talking to us about
deafness issues. We feel that it's very critically important
that we talk to people not only in the disability community but
in the community at large about being aware of folks with
disabilities.
And for folks, as Senator Harkin knows, folks that happen
to be deaf are a part of the disability community that's not as
visible as those of us who happen to be blind and carry white
canes and those of us in wheelchairs, that use wheelchairs for
mobility.
So this is why we promote our international disability
lecture every year. It's going to be on October 19. That's a
Friday, and we scheduled that especially for Senator Harkin. So
if he happens to be in the community, we'd like to invite him
to be part of that.
The Chairman. When is it again, Frank?
Mr. Strong. It's Friday, October 19. It's going to be at
the State capital building.
One of the neat things about Dr. Hurwitz--and if you don't
know about Gallaudet University, it's the quintessential
university for deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the world. It
happens to be in Washington, DC. It has a long history of
advocacy for people with disabilities, starting with advocating
for themselves, but it's still a great university.
One of the greatest parts about his lecture or making that
lecture is that he's not only a deaf person but he's also an
Iowa person. So I'd like everybody to come down. We would love
to see you come down to Des Moines to hear Dr. Hurwitz and
learn more about deaf and hard-of-hearing issues.
I just didn't know if you were aware of this or not,
Senator Harkin and others.
The Chairman. I am now.
Mr. Strong. OK.
The Chairman. And I'm going to try to be there.
Yes, Alan grew up in Iowa. In fact, his father and my
brother were in school together, the Iowa School for the Deaf.
Thanks, Frank. That's October 19. OK, got it. I got it.
Evelyne, are you next? Who is next over here? I'm sorry.
Mr. McDermott. Good morning, Senator Harkin, and thank you.
My name is Gary McDermott. I'm from Clinton. I'm a Vietnam
veteran. I've been using a wheelchair for close to 40 years
now, and I too went through the VA rehab system.
One of the things I see that we are having difficulty with
in employment for those of us that drive our own vehicles, and
not only that but enjoying life in general, is obtaining
refueling assistance with our vehicles.
I know the ADA covers that section about refueling
vehicles, but they are not listening to us, they are not paying
attention to us. There are short little fixes, easy fixes to
that, and sometimes I'd like to discuss that with you, if
possible, and bring it to your attention. I see Andy nodding.
He's probably aware of what I'm talking about.
The Chairman. Yes, we've heard this quite a bit in the
past.
Mr. McDermott. I've been working on this issue for probably
the last 3 to 4 years, and it's a nationwide problem.
The Chairman. The problem, as you probably all know, is
that when I was young, gas stations had attendants who would
come out. Now they don't have those attendants. Everything is
all self-serve.
Mr. McDermott. It's all self-serve, but there are systems
available where you can reach the interior people through a
button and they come out and pump.
The Chairman. That's right, that's right.
Mr. McDermott. But we're having trouble getting the fuel
stations to install that.
The Chairman. Some stations do have it. They have both
manually activated or voice activated systems.
Mr. McDermott. The ones that they have are small buttons
that are the size of a postage stamp on the pump, and you
cannot reach them from your vehicle. So, therefore, you have to
move your vehicle over, get out into the travel portion, go
around, push the button, have somebody come out and help you.
It's just not working. So we'd like to see some changes to
that.
The Chairman. Andy would you like to say something?
Mr. Imperato. Just real quick. We're aware that that's an
issue. I do a lot on Facebook, and I've seen a lot on Facebook
on that recently.
There's a company in Chicago called Inclusion Solutions
that has developed a solution with bigger buttons. Have you
checked out their technology? Does that work better from your
perspective? OK. So I think maybe the best thing for us to do,
and we can take this as homework, is followup with the Civil
Rights Division, the Disability Rights Section of the Justice
Department.
This is about enforcing the ADA, and I think that the
Justice Department could do a proactive technical assistance to
the station owners. So we can take that back and advocate for
that. We have a strong assistant attorney general for civil
rights who just testified in front of us on the Olmstead
anniversary. His name is Tom Perez, and he's got a strong
counsel who just testified with Senator Harkin in support of
the U.N. Convention named Eve Hill. So we'll followup with
them.
Mr. McDermott. OK. Hy-Vee Stores, who is based in Iowa, has
placed that particular button in 110 stores. It's been very
successful, and they love it, and so do the people with
disabilities love it. So if you could do that, we'd be very
pleased.
The Chairman. I asked Nate if he liked going to movies. I
want to get back. Did I ever get a response? Oh, Avatar.
Nate, you like science fiction. So do I.
I'll ask Nate another question as we go around. Is that
what you like best, science fiction movies? Or do you like
westerns, or romance?
[Laughter.]
I just wondered what you like the best, Nate. OK? We'll go
around.
Evelyne Villines.
Ms. Villines. Yes, I am Evelyne Villines. That's spelled E-
v-e-l-y-n-e, V as in village, i-l-l-i-n-e-s, and I'm from Des
Moines, and I'm delighted to be here today.
I know when they hand me a microphone it scares everybody
to death because they think I'm going to make another speech,
and they're right.
[Laughter.]
I just wanted to say I wanted to reminisce just a moment
about what it was like to be on the lawn of the White House
when we saw and had the opportunity to witness the signing of
the Americans with Disabilities Act.
There was a time when none of us ever thought it was going
to happen, and many of us had worked so hard. And to see people
sitting in wheelchairs and on stretchers and people on crutches
and people who were blind and people who were deaf, and to see
many of them with tears streaming down their eyes, and when
they played the Stars and Stripes Forever, I don't think I've
ever felt so American.
And I think, Tom, that this--pardon me, Senator.
The Chairman. No. Come on.
[Laughter.]
Ms. Villines. I think this is what you can carry in your
heart, that today we are meeting on this wonderful day to talk
about where do we go from here. You have been this magnificent
figure for us, and I think it's the same as when you came to
our congressional hearing, our congressional reception. People
started crying. That's who your Senator is, and that's what he
is, and I think for all of us, we have to be so very grateful.
You may applaud now, and then I have something else to say.
[Laughter.]
[Applause.]
I'm here today representing the AbilityOne Program and
NISH, and I just wanted to, at this time--the way you treat
your staff, Tom, I wanted to just remark to this guy over here,
Andy, what a magnificent presentation you made for our
audience, and how I heard you quoted several times after you
left. So I thank you for that.
The other thing I want to mention is that NISH, one of our
initiatives is called Pathways to Careers. It's a collaboration
between local non-profit agencies and school districts that
establishes career exploration, including internships for
students with significant disabilities. We are piloting the
program in Utah. That didn't please me entirely, but they
didn't ask me about it either.
We have come a long way. But sitting here today and
listening to our young panel, I just thought how lucky you are
for the opportunities that are out there for you, that you can
build your life, and thank goodness somebody started talking
about the social part of living with a disability. That is so
important that you are accepted, that you have fun, that you
have places to go, that people respect you. If I hadn't had
that kind of social opportunity as a young girl, I'd never be
sitting here with my daughter today, who is my chief caregiver
now. So there are a lot of things that can happen when all of
us work together.
Thank you for being here, and we look forward to seeing you
in Washington before too long.
The Chairman. Always, Evelyne, always. Thank you very much,
Evelyne. Thank you.
[Applause.]
I just want to say, Evelyne Villines has spoken in every
State in this Nation, and I believe, has been an inspiration
for so many people around the United States, and has hauled
that chair of hers--I bet the miles would go from here to the
moon and back three or four times, Evelyne.
But it's just been a wonderful inspiration. I thank you for
your lifetime of work. You were there at the beginning, and
you've never given up, and you've always fought so hard for
making life better and making sure we have full inclusion,
especially for the severely handicapped. That's been your focus
and that's been your driving focus for so long, and I just
can't thank you enough for your great leadership. You've been
an inspiration for me, too, for all these years. Thank you,
Evelyne, thank you.
[Applause.]
Ms. Fisk. My name is Kay Fisk, K-a-y F-i-s-k, and I work
for a non-profit neighborhood transportation service. One of
the things that we haven't talked about much here today is
transportation. Alex brought it up, and I was so glad to hear
him say that. Richard, you mentioned it, too, when you were
talking about Betty. You mentioned transportation.
Transportation is such a vital thing for anyone who has a
disability. There are not very many ways to get around if you
don't have good transportation. We're concerned right now in
our community because all of the other non-profit people here
that I work with have people who are concerned about
transportation needs being cut.
One of the things that happened in our redesign in Iowa was
that transportation was totally overlooked. I was at a meeting
in Des Moines on Wednesday and Theresa Armstrong gave a very
compelling presentation where she talked about the fact that
transportation wasn't brought into the conversation, that at
the end it was talked about but it was after everything had
already been decided.
This is something that we really need to look at. We really
need to have transportation put at the forefront so that the
people who have disabilities are not going to be
disenfranchised. It's a grave, grave issue.
The Chairman. Yes, it is, and we've been working on
transportation issues for a long time. We had some great
successes. We still have a long way to go.
One issue that Andy and I have been working on now for, oh,
a year or two, a couple of years or so--we're making progress.
You know, buses are accessible, trains are accessible,
airplanes are accessible. You can take your companion dog or
seeing-eye dog. Things are pretty good there. But the one we
haven't cracked yet is taxicabs. I know that doesn't seem like
a big thing here, but we're trying to get every taxicab in
America to be fully accessible.
This was brought home to me a couple or 3 years ago. I went
to London, and every taxicab in the city of London is fully
accessible, every single one of them. In America, you have to
call for one, and maybe a half-hour later or something it will
show up.
So we've been working with cities like New York and
Washington, DC and places like that to really get this thing
changed, because they're making them. I've seen examples of
fully accessible taxicabs. It's the same thing, my friends.
Whenever we design something to think that we're helping
accessibility for a person with a disability, we find out it
helps everybody. I mean, I always think of curb cuts. We always
think of the curb cuts as being for people with wheelchairs.
All of a sudden, mothers with strollers, elderly people using
walkers, the same way with ramps.
I said to Andy, I got this bill through for closed
captioning to mandate that all TV sets have to have a chip in
it that automatically decodes. That's a separate bill I got
through in the 1990s. I got it because I wanted people who were
deaf and hard of hearing to be able to know what was going on
with closed captioning. Well, now I find that a lot of people
are using it, especially in noisy environments like sports bars
and things like that. They seem to like these things.
Universal design. The more universal we make the designs,
the better off it is for everybody. And I'll tell you what, you
take one of these cabs that is fully accessible and put it next
to one that's not, and just take someone without a disability
and say which one do you want, I'll tell you which one they'll
take. They're just better. They're easier to get in and out of.
They have a little bit more room inside. They're more
comfortable.
But we just haven't quite gotten over that yet, but we're
working on it, we're working on it. And to make sure that we
have bus routes--Alex, you were talking about the route in
Omaha. Well, the paratransit only has to go the same route as
the normal buses. Well, that's got to be changed too, to make
sure that if you don't happen to live on that bus route, you
can still get the paratransit pickup and delivery at the same
time.
Well, I didn't mean to go off on that, but it is an issue
that we've just got to keep on it all the time, just keep on it
all the time.
Mr. Imperato. Let me just say, I think we need to wrap up
because I don't know--do we have the interpreters? We're OK?
OK.
The Chairman. I asked Nate if he liked science fiction
movies or westerns. Did I get a response, Nate?
Ms. Symmonds. He says funny movies are best, but he fears
scary movies.
The Chairman. What did he say?
Mr. Imperato. Funny movies are best, but he fears scary
movies.
The Chairman. Ah, funny movies. I should ask him if he
likes the Pink Panther series of Peter Sellers, but I'm dating
myself.
[Laughter.]
The Chairman. Yes?
Mr. Woodworth. Good morning, Senator Harkin. My name is Ben
Woodworth, W-o-o-d-w-o-r-t-h, and I represent the Iowa
Association of Community Providers.
The Chairman. Yes?
Mr. Woodworth. From our board of directors and our 140
providers statewide representing 25,000 employees and 100,000
Iowans with disabilities, we thank you for your support on
these issues, and we continue to look forward to common-sense
approaches both at the Federal and the State level to remove
the barriers to community-based employment.
Much as our providers answered the call in the 1970s, 1980s
and 1990s for deinstitutionalization and community-based
services, we look forward to working and partnering with both
the Department of Human Services and the Iowa Vocational
Rehabilitation Services to create policies and funding that
make sense for individualized services so people can experience
the outcomes we're looking for. We thank you for your
leadership on the national level with that.
The Chairman. Thank you very, very much. I appreciate that.
One more?
Ms. Reisinger. Hi, good morning. My name is Dolores
Reisinger. It's good morning because we didn't have lunch yet.
[Laughter.]
The Chairman. What are you trying to tell me? Get out of
here, Harkin?
[Laughter.]
Ms. Reisinger. I'm a retired teacher. I'm not looking for
work. I live alone, and I don't want to--I don't have a
caregiver. I'm a very independent person. I graduated with two
Master's degrees from two different universities: one, the
university in Sao Paolo, Brazil, with a Master's in history;
and the second, the University of Northern Iowa with a Master's
in Spanish, and I taught Spanish at Columbus High School in
Waterloo. Then I went to work for the Iowa Department for the
Blind as a vocational rehabilitation teacher for 19 years.
I'm wondering why the Department representative from the
Iowa Department for the Blind is not here today. I'm not
representing them. I'm here on my own.
I am also a member of the National Federation of the Blind,
and my comment is that last year the Federation here in Iowa
and other States demonstrated in front of the First Federal
Building in Des Moines, and the problem is--I would like for
you to comment and elaborate on this--when people are working
in sheltered workshops, if they are ready for competitive
employment but if they couldn't be placed in competitive
employment right away, should they be paid minimum wages?
I heard so much about sub-minimum wages. Why people who are
in workshops who are capable to do their jobs are being paid
sub-minimum wages? Thank you.
The Chairman. Well, Andy, go ahead. And I have something to
add.
Mr. Imperato. I think it's important. Thanks for the
question. I think it's important to recognize that Section 14C
of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is old and allows people
with disabilities to be paid less than minimum wage, you're
only allowed to do it if you have a certificate from the
government that lets you do it, and the person that you're
paying less than minimum wage is a person with a disability
whose productivity is affected by their disability to the point
where you can justify paying them less than minimum wage.
A lot of people would argue that that's old and we don't
need that anymore, but it seemed like in your question the
people you were describing are people that would have had the
same level of productivity as people without disabilities. So
even under current law, they should not be paid less than
minimum wage, and we certainly would not support paying anybody
less than minimum wage who has the same level of productivity
as any other worker.
As Senator Harkin said before, we worked in the Workforce
Investment Act to try to make sure that young people weren't
being tracked into sub-minimum wage jobs in sheltered
workshops, and we had a provision in there that required them
to try competitive integrated employment before they would be
eligible for anything else. That's an incremental step that we
think will help change the trajectory in terms of sheltered
workshops.
As Evelyne described, there are a lot of providers that run
sheltered workshops that also have other employment services
and want to give people other choices. Our feeling is if you
expose young people to alternatives, they will select
alternatives, and the providers will follow the demand the way
that Rick Shults talked about.
The Chairman. Well, I think--wait. Nate, I asked Nate a
question about Peter Sellers and Pink Panther.
Ms. Symmonds. This is what Nate said. He said Pink Panther
is for old guys.
[Laughter.]
[Applause.]
The Chairman. Boy, I've been shot down before, but that's
about the best I've ever been shot down.
[Laughter.]
That was very good. I should ask Nate if he's ever thought
about writing. He's a great writer. That's very good. He's got
good writing skills.
Nate, you have good writing skills.
Anybody else? Anybody else have anything to add before we
get out of here to go for lunch? Anybody at all? Ron? Alex?
Anything else?
[No response.]
Well, I was going to cut it off.
Mr. Imperato. We need to for the interpreters.
The Chairman. Oh, and for the interpreters, too.
Well, listen, first of all, I'd like to thank all the
witnesses for their testimony and insights and the progress
we've made, but also the challenges that lie ahead here for the
ADA generation. I'll keep using that phrase, the ADA
generation. I appreciate all of you taking time from your busy
schedules.
To the young people here, I commend you all for your hard
work and achievement. I encourage you to continue to follow
your dreams and to dream big, and don't take ``no'' or ``can't
do'' for an answer. You also set tremendous examples for other
people, too.
We'll leave the record open for 10 days to allow additional
statements or supplements to be submitted for the record.
Again, I can't thank you all enough. Let's celebrate the
progress we've made on the ADA in 22 years, but let's not rest
on our laurels. We've got a lot of other things we've got to do
to really make the dream of the ADA a reality for everyone.
Thank you very much for being here.
[Applause.]
[Whereupon, at 12:14 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]