October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month

Helping Families. Supporting Communities. Empowering Individuals.

10/1/2018

Illinois Department of Human Services Celebrates

National Disability Employment Awareness Month

National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) is a national campaign that raises awareness about disability employment issues and celebrates the many and varied contributions of America's workers with disabilities. This year's theme is: "America's Workforce: Empowering All."

Presidential Proclamation

2018 National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) Poster

2018 October Disability Employment Events 

Date Event
October 3 Leveraging the ADA to Engage Customers & Employees Living With Disabilities
by WeCo's Accessibility Team
Industrious Chicago River North
320 W. Ohio Street, Suite #3w
Chicago, IL 60654
8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
  •  Registration required with no cost. Register.
October 4

Interagency Committee on Employees with Disabilities (ICED) is hosting its Annual Awards Ceremony. This event is FREE and will recognize outstanding state employees, state agencies, non-profit groups, and businesses for their support of employees with disabilities and for promoting a greater awareness of disability issues.

Illinois Department of Natural Resources (lower level)
One Natural Resources Way
Springfield, IL 62701.
11 AM - 12 PM (Program)
12 PM - 1 PM (Reception)

To RSVP and to request reasonable accommodations based on disability, contact: 217-725-4297 (voice and text) or 312-957-4881 (video phone)
October 4

Deaf Awareness Day 
hosted by Columbia College of Chicago 

Columbia College of Chicago
Conway Center
1104 S. Wabash Ave, 1st Floor,
Chicago, IL 
10:00 am - 3:00 pm

  • Free admission
October 10

possABILITY: Disability Employment Awareness Event

Aon Center
200 E Randolph Street, 44th Floor Think Tank
Chicago, IL 60601
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Registration required with no cost. Register.
October 19

4th Annual Disability Inclusion Opportunity Summit
hosted by Chicagoland Business Leadership Network (CBLN)

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois
300 E. Randolph
Chicago, IL 60601
8am - 4pm

  • Registration with cost required. Please click on the title link above to register.
October 19

IDHS Celebrates National Disability Employment Awareness Month

Clinton Building
401 S. Clinton St, 1st Floor, Training Room 1
Chicago, IL

12pm - 2pm

  • Speakers
  • Demonstrations
  • Games, Prizes, and Fun
  • No Registration required
October 23 5th MOPD/ODLSS Transition F.A.I.R
South Shore Cultural Center 
7059 S. South Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60649
9:00am - 2:00pm
October 24

Eugene J-M.A. Thonar, PhD, Awards and Luncheon

Rush University Medical Center
Searle Conference Center, Brainard, Fifth Floor
Reception to follow in the Main Lounge
Professional Office Building
1725 W. Harrison Street
Chicago, IL 60612
Kyle Schulze, the Deaf Ninja Warrior, will be a guest speaker.

To attend, please respond to Paula Brown at (312) 942-7094 or email Paula_J_Brown@rush.edu by Oct. 17.

Job Accommodation Network's Multimedia Training Microsite

The Job Accommodation Network's Multimedia Training Microsite provides convenient Just-In-Time Modules for use by employers, educators, nonprofit organizations, and others. These materials may be used in group training or by individuals, and may easily be incorporated into larger training events. Topics include disability awareness, the Americans with Disabilities Act, ergonomics, the interactive process, and more. All include a PowerPoint presentation and a downloadable transcript of the training.

Public Awareness Campaign

Interagency Committee on Employees with Disabilities (ICED)

  • ICED Website - ICED serves state employees with disabilities and state agencies on issues relating to disability

Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) Success Stories

Jobs Sites for People with Disabilities

  • AbilityLinks.org - The job opportunity website for people with disabilities and inclusive employers.
  • DisabilityWorks - Increases employment opportunities for people with disabilities throughout Illinois.
  • Federal Employment of People with Disabilities - Helps people (with or without disabilities) better understand how to hire and retain persons with disabilities in federal government.

August 2018 Disability Employment Statistics (Ages 16 years and over)

Labor Force Participation

  • People with disabilities: 20.8%
  • People without disabilities: 68.2%

Unemployment Rate

  • People with disabilities: 8.0%
  • People without disabilities: 3.8%

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Disability Statistics

2017 Persons with a Disability Labor Force Characteristics & Employment Facts and Statistics

Demographic characteristics

  • Persons with a disability tend to be older than persons with no disability, reflecting the increased incidence of disability with age. In 2017, 48 percent of persons with a disability were age 65 and over, compared with 16 percent of those with no disability. Overall, women were somewhat more likely to have a disability than men, partly reflecting the greater life expectancy of women. In 2017, the prevalence of disability continued to be higher for Blacks and Whites than for Hispanics and Asians.
    (Source: Table 1, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Statistics)

Employment

  • The employment-population ratio for persons with a disability increased from 17.9 percent in 2016 to 18.7 percent in 2017. The ratio for those without a disability, at 65.7 percent, also increased over the year. The lower ratio among persons with a disability reflects, in part, the older age profile of persons with a disability; older workers are less likely to be employed regardless of disability status. However, across all age groups, persons with a disability were much less likely to be employed than those with no disability. (See tables A and 1.)
  • Among persons ages 16 to 64, the employment-population ratios rose for both persons with a disability (29.3 percent) and persons without a disability (73.5 percent) in 2017. The ratios for persons age 65 and over with a disability (7.3 percent) and without a disability (23.4 percent) showed little or no change. (See table A.)
  • Persons with a disability are less likely to have completed a bachelor's degree and higher than those with no disability. Among both groups, those who have completed higher levels of education are more likely to be employed than those with less education. Across all levels of education in 2017, persons with a disability were much less likely to be employed than were their counterparts with no disability. (Educational attainment data are presented for those age 25 and over.) (See table 1.)
  • Workers with a disability were more likely to be employed part time than those with no disability. Among workers with a disability, 32 percent usually worked part time in 2017, compared with 17 percent of those without a disability. A slightly larger proportion of workers with a disability worked part time for economic reasons than those without a disability (5 percent versus 3 percent). These individuals were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table 2.)
  • In 2017, workers with a disability were more concentrated than those with no disability in service occupations (20.2 percent, compared with 17.3 percent) and in production, transportation, and material moving occupations (14.1 percent versus 11.6 percent). Persons with a disability were less likely to work in management, professional, and related occupations than those without a disability (34.1 percent, compared with 39.9 percent). (See table 3.)
  • In 2017, workers with a disability were more likely to be employed in government than were workers with no disability (14.4 percent, compared with 13.6 percent). Persons with a disability were also more likely to be self-employed than their counterparts with no disability (10.6 percent versus 6.0 percent). Persons with a disability were less likely to be employed as private wage and salary workers than those without a disability (74.9 percent, compared with 80.3 percent). (See table 4.)

Unemployment

  • The unemployment rate for persons with a disability was 9.2 percent in 2017, more than twice that of those with no disability (4.2 percent). (Unemployed persons are those who did not have a job, were available for work, and were actively looking for a job in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.) The unemployment rates for persons with and without a disability were both lower in 2017 than in the prior year. (See tables A and 1.)
  • In 2017, the unemployment rate for men with a disability (9.0 percent) was about the same as the rate for women (9.5 percent). The unemployment rates for both men and women declined from 2016 to 2017. Although jobless rates for persons with a disability declined among all major race and ethnicity groups in 2017, Blacks (13.8 percent) continued to have a higher unemployment rate than Hispanics (10.2 percent), Whites (8.5 percent), and Asians (6.6 percent). (See table 1.)

Not in the labor force

  • Persons who are neither employed nor unemployed are not in the labor force. A large proportion of persons with a disability--about 8 in 10--were not in the labor force in 2017, compared with about 3 in 10 of those with no disability. In part, this reflects the older age profile of persons with a disability; persons ages 65 and over are much less likely to participate in the labor force than younger age groups. Across all age groups, however, persons with a disability were more likely to be out of the labor force than those with no disability. (See table 1.)
  • For persons with and without a disability, the vast majority of those not in the labor force do not want a job. In 2017, 3 percent of those with a disability and 7 percent of those without a disability wanted a job. Among those who do want a job, a subset is classified as marginally attached to the labor force. These individuals wanted and were available to work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (Persons marginally attached to the labor force include discouraged workers.) About 1 percent of persons with a disability and 2 percent of persons without a disability were marginally attached to the labor force in 2017. (See table 5.)

Other Statistics

  • People with disabilities represent the third largest market segment in the U.S., surpassing Hispanics, African Americans and Asian Americans, as well as Generation X and teens. Add in their families, friends and associates, and you get a trillion dollars in purchasing power.
    Source: Campaign for Disability Employment
  • Job accommodations for people with disabilities are usually low cost or no cost. A recent study conducted by the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) revealed that 56 percent of workplace accommodations cost absolutely nothing, Of those accommodations that did have a cost, the typical one-time expenditure by employers was $500. 
    Source: Campaign for Disability Employment

Resources

  • Fighting Discrimination in Employment Under the ADA
    The ADA expands equal employment opportunity and full inclusion for people with disabilities. Through its work to implement the ADA, the Department of Justice is breaking down barriers to employment for individuals with disabilities.
  • Breaking Down Barriers to Employment for Individuals with Disabilities
    In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the Civil Rights Division is highlighting the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as a gateway to equal opportunity in the workplace.
  • Final Report on Best Practices For the Employment of People with Disabilities In State Government
    by The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
  • Assistive Technology Videos: A series of short videos to demonstrate available assistive technology. Videos include screen magnification software, speech recognition software, assistive listening devices, closed circuit televisions, digital pens, embedded technology and others. To view these videos and others, please visit: www.youtube.com/thedodcap
  • CAP App: Stay up to date on new assistive technology, disability events and more on the go! Available for Android and Apple devices
  • CAP Posters: CAP created a series of outreach posters for use at your agency or organizations. They can be located under "Outreach Materials" at www.cap.mil
  • Listserv: Sign up to receive information on a variety of topics including CAPTEC, Telework, CAP initiatives, CAP's support for wounded Service members, and other disability employment resources. Subscribe at: http://www.cap.mil/subscribe.aspx
  • Online Trainings: A series of online training modules to help federal employers understand how simple and beneficial hiring employees with disabilities can be. Titles include Increasing Federal Employment of People with Disabilities, Providing Reasonable Accommodation Solutions, and Providing Reasonable Accommodations for People with Dexterity Disabilities
  • Quick Tips: A series of short videos to help answer CAP's most frequently asked questions. To view these videos and others, please visit: www.youtube.com/thedodcap
  • Ready to Publish Articles: Are you looking to mention CAP in your next newsletter or on your website? We've drafted the articles for you!
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