David P. Rundle, a freelance journalist who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, had a column our Opinion pages last Sunday about how disability issues should be part of evaluating candidates. He argues that services to the disabled are important both financially (it’s cheaper to provide in-home care than put people in nursing homes or state hospitals) and morally (it says who we are as a society).
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is also trying to draw attention to the disabled. Its new initiative promotes the hiring of persons with disabilities into civil service jobs. The number of federal employees with severe disabilities has declined from a high of 31,337 workers in 1994 to 24,086 in 2005.
The 1973 Rehabilitation Act banned discrimination against people with disabilities in federal hiring. EEOC Commissioner Christine Griffin challenged federal agencies, “Congress directed the federal government to set the example for all other employers. Our example needs improvement.”
Posted by Angie Holladay