Project: Part 3: Analysis of a Policy As an astute social worker and professional policy advocate, once you have selected and identified a social problem, you begin the process of creating and impleme

Running head: A PROPOSAL ADVOCATING FOR CHANGE FOR THE DISABLED 1

A PROPOSAL ADVOCATING FOR CHANGE FOR THE DISABLED

SummerLove Holcomb

SOCW 6361

Instructor: Terri Lewinson

07/092020

A PROPOSAL ADVOCATING FOR CHANGE FOR THE DISABLED

According to the Disability Discrimination Act, a disabled person is someone who has a mental or physical impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse impact on his or her ability to perform their daily activities like the ability to move or carry everyday objects, ability to concentrate or physical coordination (Oliver, 2016). In the world population, over a billion people live with some form of disability with the majority of them experiencing significant difficulties in carrying out their daily activities. Many of these disabled people in society require the assistance of innovated and improved technologies to help them function normally and they use gadgets and devices like hearing aids, wheelchairs, and low-vision devices.

The disabled people especially those from developing nations have higher rates of disability and this is attributed to their denied access to essential services like health care services which makes them to develop some physical anomalies or become physically or mentally impaired (Watson et al., 2019). Although this is not only confined to developing nations as it also affects the low-income families living in developed nations who cannot access health care services due to factors like economic and financial difficulties. In recent years, many countries have taken the social problem of disability seriously and moved it from the medical or physical perspective to a perspective that takes into account an individual’s social, physical, and political context. This has forced countries to develop policies that can help make the world more comfortable and accessible for people living with any physical or mental disability like the employment policies and etiquette.

In America, the enactment of the Disabilities Act of 1990 by President George H. W. Bush was the beginning of a long journey of securing civil rights protections for the disabled (Ekstrand et al., 2017). The Act was meant to address various issues and discriminations that people with disabilities faced. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) would provide equality and ensure that there is no discrimination of the disabled people when it comes to employment and access to state and local government services. The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employment discrimination by a covered entity that is an employment agency, an employer, or a labor organization. These entities have the mandate to maintain the best employment practices that do not discriminate job applicants or employees who have physical or mental impairment. ADA requires these entities to avail reasonable workplace accommodations to people with disabilities to promote access to employment. The reasonable workplace accommodations may include purchasing office stationery and equipment that are height adjustable to allow disabled people using wheelchair to use the work surfaces.

Many years after the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the goals of the Act have not been met. People with disabilities have not been given equality of opportunities in employment and there are still cases of employment discrimination to persons with disabilities. Significant changes and advancements have been made in the social life of disabled people but there are still hardships when it comes to employment (Oliver, 2016). Disabled people still face economic barriers and due to denied access to employment that has left many of them in poverty crisis. According to the U.S Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions report in 2014, twice as many disabled Americans live in poverty compared to those living without disabilities, less than 30% of disabled people work, and households with a disabled adult earn 38.4% less compared to a household without a disabled adult (Erickson et al., 2014). The statistics are proof that there are economic independence and self-sufficiency barriers for people with physical or mental disabilities.

To change the employment policy for employment agencies and entities to comply with the Federal and State laws concerning the employment of disabled people as per the rules and regulations stipulated under the Americans with Disabilities Act I propose for the following changes: -

1. To create social awareness of disability. Through social awareness campaigns and programs, cultural biases and prejudices will be addressed which will make employment agencies and entities to acknowledge the ability of disabled people to do meaningful work and accomplish assigned tasks like other people living without disabilities (Oliver, 2016).

2. Giving the disabled people access to high-quality education and expecting a lot from them that will make them be academically qualified for various job opportunities and gain the relevant skills and knowledge that will make them competitive in the employment market.

3. Removal of bureaucratic barriers like inappropriate work schedules and complexities for disabled people. This will ensure that employees with disabilities have enough time to complete their tasks and the work environment will be comfortable for them (Oliver, 2016).

4. Employers should participate in programs and services for the disabled persons that are funded by the federal or state government to provide their disabled employees access to accommodation and transport. This will ensure that they can easily access their workplaces (Oliver, 2016).

There is a need for continued policy advocacy to a make long-term impact on the employment policy because it will help in identifying some needs and address any concerns that may arise in the future (Oliver, 2016). The continued advocacy promotes change and ensures that there is an improvement made to a social problem.

References

Ekstrand, V. S. (2017). Democratic governance, self-fulfillment and disability: Web accessibility under the Americans with disabilities act and the first amendment. Communication Law and Policy, 22(4), 427-457.

Erickson, W. A., von Schrader, S., Bruyère, S. M., VanLooy, S. A., & Matteson, D. S. (2014). Disability-inclusive employer practices and hiring of individuals with disabilities. Rehabilitation Research, Policy, and Education, 28(4), 309-328.

Oliver, M. (2016). Rewriting history: the case of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Disability & Society, 31(7), 966-968.

Watson, N., & Vehmas, S. (Eds.). (2019). Routledge handbook of disability studies. Routledge.