NAPAS National Association of Protection & Advocacy Systems

Testimony for Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel

Quarterly Meeting

August 20-22, 2001

Good morning. I am Dr. Kathy McGinley, Deputy Executive Director for the National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems (NAPAS). I am here to speak on what the P&A network sees as important public policy issues that must be addressed if we as a nation are going to successfully ensure that people with disabilities – who want to work – have the opportunity to do so. The P&A for Beneficiaries of Social Security (the PABSS) program was enacted to try and help people with disabilities reach their potential in new and exciting ways.

NAPAS and the P&A network strongly believe that people with disabilities are one of our nation’s most underutilized resources. This historically has been the situation for a number of reasons.

• For decades there has been a lack of understanding of the capabilities of individuals with all types of disabilities, instead people with disabilities have been seen as being dis-abled and as such they--and the contributions they can make--have been devalued. This has led to people with disabilities being segregated and uneducated or undereducated. Often, even if they were able to have the benefit of an effective education, they were not provided with the skills and the supports necessary to live their lives as independently as possible.

• Segregation (intended or unintended) and discrimination (intended or unintended) both have led to people with disabilities too often facing a world that is not prepared to provide them the supports they need to live in the community. The list of essential supports is long – access to employment that comes with health care and other benefits; access to decent, safe, affordable, and if necessary, accessible housing so individuals can live in the community and, therefore, work in the community; access to affordable, accessible, and reliable transportation so they can get to work and maintain their employment for the long term.

• The Social Security system was not originally designed for individuals with disabilities who want to work but need ongoing health care supports and services that are available only through Medicaid or Medicare and, unfortunately, not in the private sector. This problem speaks not only to the design of the Social Security and other public systems that require people to remain unemployed and impoverished to get the supports they need, but also to the many gaps in the private employment and health care systems -- gaps that have only worsened over the years.

NAPAS and the P&A network strongly urge the Panel and the Social Security Administration to look at the “big picture” of the lives of individuals with disabilities. Don’t just look at how to fix the problem through SSA. Look at an integrated approach of working with a variety of public and private entities and the impact that this could have on people with disabilities and their families.

NAPAS urges SSA to work with many other government agencies in this effort. SSA and the Department of Education should work together to ensure that children with disabilities not only get a worthwhile education that will serve them in their adult life, but that they also are exposed to useful and effective transition efforts that assist them to make a smooth move to adult life and employment. SSA and the Department of Education should also work together to ensure that vocational education programs, supported employment programs, and the Vocational Rehabilitation system actually meet the needs of individuals with disabilities with all types of disabilities and prepare them for the future.

SSA and the Department of Health and Human Services should work together to ensure that Medicaid and Medicare and other health related programs meet the needs of people with disabilities. SSA and HHS and the Department of Labor should also take a close look at the tattered private health care system that most workers in the nation face -- with the goal of actually making it work for them and for people with disabilities – and removing this major work disincentive.

SSA and the Department of Labor should work together to ensure that DOL mainstream programs are accessible to and effectively address the needs of people with all types of disabilities. They should also work together to ensure that DOL disability-specific programs actually reflect what people with all types of disabilities want and need.

SSA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development should work together to ensure that HUD programs, designed to benefit America’s workers and those coming off of welfare, also benefit America’s workers with disabilities and those trying to take advantage of work incentive programs. They should also work to ensure the fair housing rights of people with disabilities. Too often it is the violation of these rights that closes the doors in communities to individuals with disabilities, making it virtually impossible for them to be a participating member of the community.

SSA and the Department of Transportation should work together to ensure that DOT has programs in place or puts in place incentives for communities to develop transit programs that meet the needs of workers with disabilities. If transportation programs can be made to work for people with disabilities, they most likely will be successful with other workers with low incomes and high needs.

SSA and the Department of Justice and the enforcement arms of each of the previously mentioned agencies should also work closely together to ensure that more than “lip-service” is provided to people with disabilities. So much of the success of any program is based on implementation being accompanied by effective monitoring and a strong basis for accountability. In addition, there are a number of important civil rights protections guaranteed to people with disabilities that must be reflected in each and every program – Section 504, the Americans with Disabilities Act, etc.

NAPAS and the P&A network strongly believe that this need for an integrated approach must be reflected in SSA’s administration of the PABSS program. The P&As across the country must have the ability to respond to the wide range of needs of individuals with disabilities who come to them. These individuals are not only going to need assistance in finding a job and obtaining or maintaining federal and other benefits due them. They also will be likely to need support and assistance in finding and/or keeping affordable and accessible housing, in accessing transportation, and in navigating the public and private health care systems. As some people try to go back to work, and other people try to get jobs for the first time, new situations are continually going to arise – this is a new effort and it will take a new way of thinking to ensure its success. The old ways did not work.

The P&A network prides itself on its accomplishments over the last quarter of a century. However, many of these accomplishments are based on ongoing training and technical assistance provided to those who work in the network in the effort to ensure that they can be the most effective advocates possible. PABSS is a new program in a new and changing world. President Bush’s New Freedom Initiative emphasizes providing people with disabilities with the opportunity to live fuller lives in their home communities. Access to work and the removal of bureaucratic work-disincentives and a re-thinking of public policy are all critical parts of the success of this initiative. The P&A network looks forward to working with SSA and other agencies to find new and better ways in this new and changing world.