ANKENY – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) last week joined Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds to co-host a forum entitled, “Empowering Individuals with Disabilities through Employment.” Harkin was the Senate author of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act and is the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
At the forum, business leaders, individuals with disabilities, and various stakeholders gathered for two panels to explore best practices for employing persons with disabilities and improving the bottom line of Iowa businesses.
“We are going to hear some great stories of successes in disability employment from across the state. I know there will be great lessons from those successes,” Harkin said. “Let’s use what we learn from these examples and work together to create a plan to improve the situation. I want to challenge all of us, including myself, to expand the collaboration and partnership among businesses, the state government and the federal government in order to improve disability employment in Iowa, and to involve as many employers and prospective employers as possible.
“Let’s not leave here today without committing to one another to put a plan in place. Together, we can, must, and will significantly increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities. It’s the right thing to do – for our relatives, for our neighbors, for our businesses, and for everyone in our state,” Harkin continued.
Below are Harkin’s remarks at the forum, as prepared for delivery.
“Thank you, Governor Branstad and Lieutenant Governor Reynolds, for convening us to address this important challenge. I want to recognize a few folks, here in the audience, who have been great leaders in the effort to increase the employment of people with disabilities. Many thanks to David Mitchell, director of Vocational Rehabilitation Services here in Iowa. You’ve been a great leader for the state and I thank you for your service.
“Many of you know that, for all of my public life, I have been dedicated to making our society more accessible to people with disabilities. Of that group of 55 million people with disabilities, over 15 million are of working age. Do you know how many of that group are in the workforce? Just under five million. Five million! Less than a third of working age individuals with disabilities are in the workforce.
“This low workforce participation affects every single one of us—from Sioux City to Davenport; from Ottumwa to my hometown of Cumming. Because we know that when people work, their lives are better. They are happier. They are healthier. And they have more control over their lives. And we know that when people do not have the opportunity to work, their lives are worse off in a multitude of ways—materially, socially, emotionally, and spiritually.
“Let’s be clear: the low participation rate is not because people with disabilities do not want to work. Study after study indicates that people with all sorts of disabilities want to work. It doesn’t matter if someone has a physical disability, an intellectual disability, a sensory disability or a mental health disability. When asked, more than 80 percent say they want to work. And they don’t just want to work—they can work!
“So for the past several years, I have taken every opportunity to shine a spotlight on this issue. From all the investigation and outreach I have done, I am convinced we can dramatically improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Why am I convinced? Because I’ve seen great successes. I’ve seen outstanding business leadership from such major companies such as Walgreens.
“The work that Walgreens is doing in their distribution centers is astounding. In places like Hartford, Connecticut and Anderson, South Carolina, Walgreens has made their centers accessible for people of all types of disabilities. But they haven’t only made them accessible—that was just one part of their leadership. They took the next step—Walgreens’ management went out and actively recruited employees with disabilities.
“Their recruitment has been so successful that close to 50 percent of Walgreens’ workforce in two of their distributions centers is made up of people with disabilities—all types of disabilities. Those who are deaf, those who have visual impairments, people with autism and other intellectual disabilities, and people with cerebral palsy and other physical disabilities.
“That great success at Walgreens’ distributions centers has led to a new goal of recruiting, training and hiring people with disabilities in their retail stores, as well. Inspired leadership results in great outcomes – and corporate American can and is helping us lead the way forward.
“Leadership can also take place at the local level, and at the personal level. Another reason I know we can address this concern is because of the skills and abilities and the perseverance of individuals with disabilities themselves. A little more than a year ago, I met a remarkable Iowan named Emilea Hillman, or ‘Em’ as she likes to be called.
“Let me tell you about Em. She found herself in a situation where she was no longer happy with where she was working and decided she could do better. Em, with the help of her loving family—especially her mother and sister—took a look at her skills. She looked at what she liked to do. She looked at what she was good at. And she looked at her community and what it needed. Just like any good business person would. Just as any smart entrepreneur would.
“Em loves to interact with people. And she knew her town needed a place for people to gather. So she decided to open a coffee shop. With the help of her family and community, she did. She opened ‘Em’s Coffee Company’ in Independence, Iowa.
“Em and those who support her helped to fill a need in the community, and they are doing well. It reminds me of a phrase my old friend from Minnesota, Senator Paul Wellstone, used to use: ‘We all do better when we all do better.’ When Em does better, so does her community. And when her fellow townfolk do better, so does Em.
“So I know we can rise to the challenge of low employment among people with disabilities. We can do it thanks to inspired, determined business leadership. And we can do it because of the great skills and abilities and dreams of people with disabilities.
“But there is one more component we need in place to improve disability employment. We need leadership and smart coordination of supports from governments at all levels—local, state, and federal—and committed participation by employers.
“At the federal level, I have been working to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act for the past three years. That reauthorization includes the Rehabilitation Act. And we’ve put some things in the reauthorization of the ‘Rehab Act’ that should provide a real kick-start to employment.
“One of the most important things we do is to focus on youth. We know that when a young person has the opportunity to volunteer, to serve as an intern or have a part-time job, then the likelihood of their getting a job after high school graduation increases exponentially. In our bill to reauthorize the Rehab Act, we have included a requirement that vocational rehabilitation programs focus on exactly those types of activities for young people—before they leave school, so they can gain the experiences that will help them obtain a job.
“This morning I know we are going to hear some great stories of successes in disability employment from across the state. I know there will be great lessons from those successes. Let’s use what we learn from these examples and work together to create a plan to improve the situation.
“I want to challenge all of us, including myself, to expand the collaboration and partnership among businesses, the state government and the federal government in order to improve disability employment in Iowa, and to involve as many employers and prospective employers as possible.
“For my part, I promise two things—to work as hard as I can to reauthorize the Rehabilitation Act and bring a focus to the law that will ensure people with disabilities secure jobs in competitive integrated settings. The other thing I promise you is to continue to seek as much funding as possible for essential services and supports such as transition services, support services, and job coaches that will increase real job opportunities for people with disabilities.
“The private sector representatives here have done so much good already. You are leaders in this arena. To continue that leadership, I propose that you consider creating a private sector working group that can reach out to other employers and help them create their own plans for increasing the employment of people with disabilities in their businesses.
“From the experience of Walgreens, we know that employees with disabilities work hard. But some employers are scared. They are scared of the possible accommodations necessary when they hire people with disabilities. They are scared of how their customers might respond. An employer leadership working group in Iowa could help business overcome those fears and spread the good work you have done to many more businesses throughout the state.
“And at the state level, I appreciate the Governor’s commitment toward making progress on this challenge. I salute Governor Branstad for convening this forum, and for shining a spotlight on this issue. The state has been fortunate to have a budget surplus this past year. It would go a long way to addressing the challenge of disability employment to use some of the state’s resources to provide additional job coaches, supported employment services, and transition services.
“I know we can improve the employment situation for people with disabilities. Iowans see a problem, and we can fix it. As I look around this auditorium, I see that I have many partners in this effort.
“Let’s not leave here today without committing to one another to put a plan in place. Together, we can, must, and will significantly increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities. It’s the right thing to do – for our relatives, for our neighbors, for our businesses, and for everyone in our state.”
