TASH Connections Volume 39 Issue 3

TASH Connections Volume 39 Issue 3 Letter from our President Dear TASH Members, As The Beatles said in one of their songs, Money don’t get everything, its true...What it don’t get I can’t use! We all recognize the value of money, even if we don’t have much of it. One of the best known facts about people with intellectual or developmental disabilities is that their unemployment rate far exceeds the national average. What is less known, but understandable, is that they are disproportionately represented among those living in poverty. In other words, not only are they less likely to have a job, they are less likely to have any accumulated assets. While many of us support their rights to a quality education, an inclusive life, and self-determination, what people with disabilities often lack, and what they likely could benefit a great deal from, is being able to build and control their financial assets. This why Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), which are discussed in the articles in this issue of Connections, are so important. If you are professionally or personally connected to a person with disabilities, of any age, you will want to read these articles carefully. The information they provide could change a life. IDAs offer a new tool in the never-ending campaign for equity and justice. Most importantly, they let people have dreams about what they would like in their lives, and give them a way for achieving the dreams. Yes, there are a number of things that money can’t buy, but, let’s face it, it gives those who have it a sense of control over their lives which is the purest form of self-determination. I know you will find this issue of Connections informative, and I hope it will influence the actions of many people with disabilities and their families. Sincerely, David L. Westling, President, TASH Board of Directors Letter from our Executive Director One Step Forward --- On February 12th, it became easier for some individuals with disabilities to build financial assets. On this day, President Obama made good on his promise to raise the minimum wage for Federal contract workers to $10.10 per hour. In an Executive Order, the President outlined the details, which are included in a Fact Sheet (view it here). He made history by including workers with disabilities – including those currently paid less than minimum wage! Although this action only effects service workers – those working in food service, janitorial, and grounds crews, for example – it is estimated that thousands of workers who would otherwise be paid an average of $2.50 will make real wages for the work they do, beginning January 1, 2015. We applaud the President and the US Department and the US Department of Labor for taking this important step to chip away at an archaic and discriminatory practice. There are a few important things we can celebrate about the President’s action. For example: • The President of the United States made it clear that workers with disabilities should be paid a livable wage for their work. This is an important “bully pulpit” statement. It’s also the first time any enforceable federal action contradicts 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which allows for sub-minimum wage payment to workers with disabilities. • Some people with disabilities will actually benefit, making their chances for financial self- sufficiency much greater. That said – there is so much more to do. Here’s why-- • The numbers of people benefiting from this action will be small. Many of the workers involved in service contracts are already making minimum wage or above. This action helps a tiny fraction of the estimated 420,000 people still subjected to “wages” less than minimum wage. • It does nothing to mandate integrated work – many of the workers with disabilities in federal service contracts work in enclaves – and remain separated from the rest of the community. • It does nothing to confront the prevailing belief that measuring “productivity” of workers against arbitrary standards is a real measure of their actual worth. Productivity measures will still play a role in determining an employee’s wage. This is why H.R. 831, The Fair Wage for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2013, is so important. This bill calls for the phasing out of certificates that allow sub-minimum wage payment over a three year period. Sixty-five congressional representatives have co-sponsored the bill: find out if yours has at http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house- bill/831/cosponsors?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22The+Fair+Wage+for+Workers+with+Disabilities+ Act+of+2013%22%5D%7D. If not, please ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 831 by following the prompts at http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/. TASH joined with the Collaboration to Promote Self Determination, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network and many other advocacy organizations to call on the President to include people with disabilities in his Executive Order. TASH’s Policy Statement on Subminimum Wage (2012) states: While section 14(c) was intended to prevent the curtailment of opportunities for people with disabilities to work in the mainstream workforce, the program has largely become a tool for Medicaid-funded habilitation service providers to maintain artificial and segregated work environments which have proven ineffective in enabling individuals with disabilities to gain the competencies, skills and opportunities to transition to employment in the general workforce at competitive wages. These segregated environments are also in contradiction with the intent and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision. Other public funding streams and proven rehabilitation strategies now exist for enabling individuals with disabilities, who might otherwise be paid sub-minimum wages, to obtain and maintain employment in the general workforce. There is no longer a need, nor a justification for the continuation of section 14(c). Letter from our Guest Editor, Abby Cooper Asset Development: The Need for Broader Thinking. We are a society that cares about money. Since the 1800’s when Horatio Alger sold his first rags to riches dime novel spinning the tale of the American Dream we brought into it. Anyone, regardless of their beginnings can, with hard work and good fortune, or, as Alger would say “pluck and luck” become wealthy. Even with today’s complex financial structure, the multiple and extensive changes in our economy, and the hardship many are experiencing, we still hold to the belief that with hard work and luck we will at least be financially comfortable. Yet for some this myth is just that: a myth. People live outside of the financial mainstream, worse yet we have created systems, policies and approaches that trap a portion of our population in poverty regardless of their hard work and luck. We are not outraged by the fact 28% of working age adults with disabilities are living in poverty (http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/p60-239.pdf). Many are encouraged to accept low paying jobs at or even below minimum wage based on the assumption everyone starts somewhere and one day moves up the economic ladder. For many in the disabled community that day will never come without new approaches and assumptions. Our approaches and thinking on obtaining living wages for individuals with complex needs have been, at best ineffective, and at worst, antiquated. Our field can no longer seek prosperity in the antiquated solutions of the past. We need to look beyond what we have already done: it is not just a matter of how we pay for services to expand individual employment but how that employment places a person on a pathway to financial stability. We all work for money: wages matter. Employment is not work without pay – employment is real work at real, livable wages. So while getting a job is the first step, sustaining and increasing income over time should be a goal established early on in the planning process with jobseekers with disabilities and their families. We need to strive for the best possible wage for individuals with disabilities, particularly when public dollars are part of the equation. Does this sound counter to some of the concerns providers and families express about individuals with disabilities earning too much income and thus jeopardizing their Medicaid, SSI and other public benefits? Well, that’s because it is. According to the Aversion Theory, all people are more afraid of what they will lose then what they will gain. The perception that public benefits will be lost due to working becomes a major barrier to obtaining financial stability. The fear and risk connected to the impact of earnings on access to the long-term supports and services can be very real. That is why it is imperative that financial conversations are part of the entire planning process. Jobseekers with disabilities and their families need to think about what are the essential benefits. What are benefits they are willing to let go of now and over time. Financial planning and the implementation of specific asset building strategies, needs to be part of the conversation. We need to be concerned not just with the front-end service goals of attaining employment, but in the long-term goals of helping individuals achieve and sustain optimal economic advancement. Giving individuals with disabilities more viable options to achieve and sustain integrated employment will require the incorporation of financial planning and asset building strategies as part of an individual planning process from youth forward. By infusing a more strategic focus on both long-term employment and asset development, individuals with disabilities will have a game plan in place that allows them to advance economically while still maintaining access to critical long-term supports and services.

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