12:00:03 Everyone, we''re going to start at 12:00, just so you know.
12:00:04 All right.
12:00:05 It''s 12:00.
12:00:07 We''re going to get started.
12:00:08 Welcome, everyone.
12:00:14 Let me start the slides.
12:00:22 >> The national trends and disability employment for nTIDE lunch and learn series.
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12:00:40 We will post an archive of each read, each month, on our website, at www.researchondisability.org/nTIDE.
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12:01:21 If you have any questions following this recording, please contact us at disability.statistics@UNH.edu or toll free, and enjoy today''s read.
12:01:36 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  This is Andrew Houtenville from the University of New Hampshire, welcome to the nTIDE Lunch and Learn, we''re getting -- this is the first time we''ve ever done a first Thursday presentation.
12:01:39 Of course, that''s because of the holiday.
12:01:48 If you''re interested in using closed captioning, you can use the closed captioning button or link in Zoom.
12:01:51 And it will show subtitles.
12:02:02 Click on full transcript, and a transcript will be -- transcript will appear on the side on your screen.
12:02:07 You can also adjust the caption size by selecting subtitle settings.
12:02:15 All right.
12:02:27 Lunch and Learn occurs every Friday, except this week, with the nTIDE report, which John will describe in a minute.
12:03:01 This is the joint effort on the University of New Hampshire, Kessler Foundation, and the association of university centers on disability, AUCD, and funded by the National Institute on Disability and Research, and part 1, we''ll go through the numbers, part 2, we''ll have some news from Denise, our guest speaker, Charles Catherine, from the national organization of disability, and Q&A for all.
12:03:18 If you do have questions as we go along, feel free to ask them in the chat, not the Q&A box, and sometimes we can answer some questions as the webcast goes along.
12:03:19 So part one.
12:03:21 Take it away, John.
12:03:24 >> JOHN O''NEILL:  Hello.
12:03:27 John O''Neill from the Kessler Foundation.
12:03:30 Next slide, Andrew.
12:03:37 The monthly nTIDE report is a press release and infographic.
12:03:56 This month, it''s infographics, looking at the latest employment statistics and uses data from the jobs report, which is released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, usually on the first Friday of every month.
12:04:05 This is, as Andrew mentioned, very unusual to have the Friday jobs report offered on a Thursday.
12:04:13 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  We have 113 viewers.
12:04:17 >> JOHN O''NEILL:  Very nice.
12:04:23 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  Celebrating Independence Day.
12:04:36 >> JOHN O''NEILL:  The USBLS is the source of the official unemployment rate, which the media makes a lot of.
12:04:54 Civilians, ages 16 to 64, not living in institutions, and the data on individuals with disabilities has been included in the current population survey every since September 2008 onward.
12:05:03 The data is not seasonally adjusted, which is why we compare to the same month last year.
12:05:06 We''re doing that now.
12:05:11 We''re following the tradition now and our entire report.
12:05:20 But because of COVID, we''re also comparing the current year month-to-month statistics.
12:05:23 Andrew, I''ll hand it back to you.
12:05:32 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  Hey, John, at the end of presenting numbers, I''m going to hit you up for comments, so be apprised.
12:05:33 >> JOHN O''NEILL:  I will.
12:05:35 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  So the numbers.
12:05:39 Here''s the -- I''m going to jump to the long-term trends.
12:05:45 So this goes back, as John mentioned, back to September, 2008, and you can see The Great Recession.
12:05:56 You see the recovery from The Great Recession, the slow recovery that occurred, and then for people with disabilities, it actually was slower to recover.
12:06:00 And we didn''t show signs of improvement around 2016.
12:06:10 That actually coincides with the economy tripping into full employment, meaning below 4 1/2 or so percentage.
12:06:12 So this is March.
12:06:29 What you''re seeing here is the big dots are for June, so as John mentioned, we usually compare June to June to June to get away from the soft, seasonal patterns that you see.
12:06:36 However, you know, this first mark, the 77.3 and 34.9 is from March.
12:06:54 And, of course, the gap between people with disabilities is long-standing and -- what we have seen, a closing of the gap, particularly over the 2017 with one of the biggest kind of improvements, really great to see.
12:06:59 And, again, that''s really when the economy was jumping into full employment.
12:07:00 All right.
12:07:01 Notice that this is March.
12:07:06 And we actually see, for the first time, a little bit of decline.
12:07:09 The early impacts of COVID.
12:07:19 This was the second -- this was basically the second week in March that they answered the survey in the third week of March and answer questions about the second.
12:07:23 And the employment status in the second week of March.
12:07:33 So we decided to already see a bit of decline for people with disabilities, for people without disabilities, there was actually an improvement in March.
12:07:39 It''s important to keep in mind that these statistics, we''re basically in the second week of the month.
12:07:46 And so, you know, the very recent stuff that we''re experiencing now won''t be reflected in the numbers.
12:07:52 And, you know, to keep in mind, San Francisco was the first major city to shut down.
12:07:53 That was March 16th.
12:07:59 So these data actually predate that time as well.
12:08:02 Just to get that.
12:08:04 Now, I''m going to go through the months.
12:08:05 Let''s look at April.
12:08:08 Now we see the big decline, right?
12:08:11 This is when the country, really, started to shut down as a whole.
12:08:15 So this is the second week in April.
12:08:28 People without disabilities, percentage-wise, declined substantially, like 63.2 to -- 73.2 to 63.2.
12:08:29 All right?
12:08:32 And people without disabilities declined.
12:08:51 But notice, people without disabilities, these are -- 26.3 are numbers we saw in the early to mid 2000s, and 2010, people without disabilities had never seen such a low number.
12:08:53 Let''s add in May.
12:08:55 So May, we see a jump up.
12:09:01 So a few states started to reopen.
12:09:08 We saw some improvements, the country as a whole had seen some improvement in COVID.
12:09:14 On average, across the states, and so we see a little bit of improvement.
12:09:26 You know, about a percentage and a half point jump for people with disabilities and about a 2 1/2% jump for people without disabilities.
12:09:28 So that was encouraging, right?
12:09:33 Now let''s add in June.
12:09:35 So here are the new numbers.
12:09:38 Is everybody ready?
12:09:44 I don''t see anybody, but I can just feel the vibe that you''re all shaking your heads that you''re ready.
12:09:46 Well, it''s probably not a big surprise.
12:09:53 If you think of this as being numbers from early June, there was actually a pretty substantial rise.
12:10:01 Certainly, not a full recovery by any means, but, you know, there are rises of percentages of people who were employed, right?
12:10:07 So people were coming off of temporary layoff, meaning furlough.
12:10:15 People were also entering -- there were a lot of new entries into the job market as families tried to adjust as well.
12:10:23 I''ve been looking at numbers about new entrants or people who reentered the workforce during this period.
12:10:26 And really, what we''re seeing is, improvement.
12:10:34 Again, so this is June of -- this is the first week -- the second week in June, right?
12:10:42 With states starting to, you know, slow down their opening and in some sense go back on openings.
12:10:54 For July, I would expect to see, you know, the data for July will be for next week, and -- or maybe the week after.
12:11:02 And I expect that we''re going to see, you know, continued -- maybe some leveling off of this trend.
12:11:08 So maybe going sideways, maybe going back down a little bit.
12:11:14 Will it ever go below what we had in April?
12:11:22 As a university professor, you know, I think about the fall and all the people that were temporarily laid off for the summer.
12:11:26 They might not come back in the fall, because the students will not come back in the fall.
12:11:32 Universities are, for the most part, planning for students to come back.
12:11:38 I''m sure they''re starting to rethink that strategy as things change.
12:11:43 Just for posterity, let''s look at June to June.
12:12:03 So June to June, we see almost what are -- I can''t see that -- we see a decline for people with and without disabilities percentage-wise, and percentage-wise too, the decline for people without disabilities is actually smaller.
12:12:05 So that''s what we have now.
12:12:12 Now, many of you may know that mid-month we actually get a lot of data.
12:12:26 These statistics are based off of statistics that are posted on the Bureau of Labor and Statistics web page, and we scraped them off this morning and put them in the report.
12:12:29 We also get the raw data about mid-month.
12:12:40 So I can do things that I can''t get from the BLR pregenerated website statistics.
12:12:53 So on July 17th, in the meantime, we''ll be holding another webcast, and I''m going to look at not the percentage furloughed but the percentage that lost their job.
12:12:56 That''s certainly one thing we''ll be focusing on.
12:13:07 We''ll be focusing on people leaving the workforce altogether, not even looking for work, they stopped looking for work and no longer temporarily furloughed.
12:13:20 And we''ll also try to look at reentry into the market, so people who have previously not been in the labor market reentry as families scratch for income.
12:13:33 John, I''m going to turn it over to you to see if you have any comments before turning it over to Denise.
12:13:34 John O''Neill?
12:13:39 >> JOHN O''NEILL:  I am here.
12:13:44 I don''t exactly have any comments at this point.
12:14:19 One comment I will make that kind of -- is in my consciousness frequently is thinking about so many people who are losing their jobs and people with disabilities and new jobs may have to be found and I think that will be a challenge, particularly for individuals who have found their employment through the state/federal rehabilitation program.
12:14:35 It will be quite a challenge for that program to help to support individuals as they look -- return to the labor market, possibly in new and different jobs and in new and different ways.
12:14:37 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  Yeah, I agree.
12:14:46 I think -- yeah, sometimes I think that''s what may have caused the slowness in recovery, something we''re looking to figure out with the data.
12:14:53 Whether those loss of classic jobs during The Great Recession led to that slow recovery.
12:15:20 As we go forward with the COVID recovery, April, kicking back in, are people with disabilities taking longer to reenter, to find a job, because those crafted jobs with the help of VR or the help of their previous employer, they may have aged -- aged with a disability into a job with their previous employer.
12:15:31 But if they lost their job permanently, they''re going to have to find a new one, and finding those kind of crafted jobs is always difficult.
12:15:51 Even in traditional economics for many, many years, we''ve known that when you leave a company -- either the company has shut down or the company, for whatever reason, you''ve lost that, you lose all the fund specific -- company-specific knowledge, and it''s hard to build yourself back up.
12:16:02 And slow recovery from The Great Recession for all people, especially for men over 50 and people with disabilities, that may be reflected in that slow outcome.
12:16:06 >> JOHN O''NEILL:  A loss of human capital as well in terms of skills.
12:16:18 But also, earnings over one''s lifetime, which is -- people with disabilities often live in poverty, and this isn''t assisting that at all.
12:16:24 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  It certainly is going to pose a challenge in the coming years.
12:16:44 If it bounces back really fast, I would say that a lot of people on temporary layoffs, in other words, furloughed, the longer this goes, people without disabilities will be losing their jobs temporarily because the company shuts down.
12:16:48 Chuck E. Cheese just shut down.
12:16:50 That''s a perfect example.
12:17:02 Because they do, you know, fun, interactive entertainment, couldn''t sustain during COVID.
12:17:03 So that''s the numbers.
12:17:20 Hopefully Denise is going to come in and give us great stuff, including the stimulus package for people with disabilities.
12:17:22 >> DENISE ROZELL:  You can dream.
12:17:32 I want to apologize before we start because my internet is slow, and I have a lot of information on the slide this time, so it actually works out okay.
12:17:36 I have a little bit of news on the stimulus packages.
12:17:44 As before, consumer package passed the House back on May 18th.
12:17:46 It was not a bipartisan bill.
12:17:48 It was a partisan bill.
12:18:02 We weren''t sure what was going to happen and we keep waiting and waiting to see what the Senate is going to do and the Heroes act or from another place.
12:18:04 So we have part of the answer.
12:18:20 The Democrats have, again, partisan bill, the Senate Democrats have introduced a bill, introduced a series of bills, and that was negotiating as opposed to taking up the House (indistinguishable).
12:18:28 So the one that has been introduced so far is the one around career Ed, education, childcare.
12:18:43 That was introduced on June 30th, the Coronavirus Childcare relief act.
12:18:58 Good news, $4 billion for career and tech Ed, and that kind of goes towards what some, I believe, what we were talking about, what John and Andrew were talking about with retraining.
12:19:18 Someone asked this question the last time, too, the gap -- broadband and internet to everybody, broadband has been a huge issue for people -- without which, we know, the intersectionality of people with disabilities.
12:19:21 Areas, differences, you get the idea.
12:19:56 There''s $12 billion in there for IDEA, i-d-e-a, $345 billion for the educational stabilization fund to get it moving again, and we talked about whether there would be waivers to IDEA, and states have to sign an assurance to get their money that students with disabilities are getting the full benefit of their IDEA or title 504.
12:20:07 This is the base of how -- how the negotiation will start in the second on how the Senate is.
12:20:09 Next slide, Andrew.
12:20:25 I thought it would be out before we talked today, but we anticipated it before the July 4th (indistinguishable), and enough Medicaid -- with all of that, and again, there''s some really good things that we asked for, we as a disability community.
12:21:01 There''s a designated FMAP bump, that the federal government pays to the state that is specifically targeted to HCBS, home and community-based services, and also, a traditional FMAP bump in the past, of course, again, federal government payments to states, that has been, just for traditional Medicaid, that one is in there as well.
12:21:06 And the other thing that''s really interesting, we anticipate -- again, we think.
12:21:07 There is no bill.
12:21:10 It has not been introduced yesterday.
12:21:22 But we think that the professionals -- awful of the work with hazard pay and overtime and shift differential and the PPE, and that would include things like employment coaches.
12:21:41 So that''s something that I know our friends at AUCD and a lot of disability communities have been pushing for and we think it will be after -- a lot of thinking, but more than I''ve been able to tell you in the last several months.
12:21:42 Next slide, Andrew.
12:21:46 Then there are a few things you need to know about.
12:21:49 I mentioned APSE a minute ago.
12:22:17 Is doing a survey, and -- I don''t think I talked about this last month, and they were doing a really quick turnaround, but they are still collecting data, thus far, and all employment services and what''s going on right now in employment services, what businesses is directly impacted, how has it been affected, employment and retention of supported workers and challenges.
12:22:21 They have 612 responses so far from 47 states.
12:22:25 We are still pushing this out.
12:22:35 I talked to Julie Christensen, from APSE, and she said they''re looking at new data.
12:22:52 I''ll give you a hint -- next slide -- the link for it, APSE.org/COVIDsurvey.
12:23:07 Before COVID, 32.02 of agencies were utilizing virtual supports, now, 87.14 are utilizing virtual supports.
12:23:17 This is going to directly to the Hill to impact legislation on what''s happening with people with disabilities, so that''s why I stress that.
12:23:29 76% of agencies reported job losses, 56.5% of agencies reported success in connecting individuals to essential jobs even during this time.
12:23:40 And the most commonly closed services are facility-based day has been, 48%, and supported employment, 33%.
12:23:42 Julie will have more.
12:23:50 I sent her an email, do you have anything top level that I can show people what you''re talking about, and this, we got so far.
12:23:54 There will be a lot more data coming.
12:24:12 The survey, it takes 10 minutes, and the few that we''ve got right now, not as quick, and can get the data right away, particularly to get to Congress, which is really what this is targeted to do, what is happening and how can we show what is happening on the ground.
12:24:19 So APSE.org/COVIDsurvey.
12:24:26 Mathematica just came out, with COVID, these are the things I''m trying to pull for you right now.
12:24:30 What does COVID-19 mean for youth on employment?
12:24:40 This is not specific to youth with disabilities or disability youth, but the stark shift in youth unemployment in 2020, as you can imagine.
12:24:48 1 out of every 4 young people between 16 and 24 is unemployed.
12:25:01 Youth unemployment is typically two times as high as adult unemployment, and if you see an adult unemployment number, you can assume that youth is about double that.
12:25:13 And it''s interesting, it has spiked, the unemployment rate speaking with every gender and ethnic group.
12:25:22 When you look at the comebacks, what rate unemployment declined, the rate for Hispanic, African-American, and Asian youth continues to grow.
12:25:26 So good data and immediate data out of Mathematica.
12:25:28 Next, Andrew.
12:25:42 Disability IN also has some interesting COVID stuff on their website, and this is different than some of the stuff we''ve seen elsewhere, and that''s why I''m highlighting it to you.
12:25:56 A lot of people have information, but this is industry-specific, so the corporate partners, and I think Charles will talk about more things on the national organization side coming up.
12:26:06 Disability and inclusion resources, here are some examples, on the website how they''re doing that.
12:26:10 Other digital accessibility and other best practices for remote work.
12:26:15 There''s a lot up there right now on how to do remote work.
12:26:21 Coming from Disability IN, I thought this might be useful.
12:26:25 A couple of things on racial discrimination.
12:26:46 Obviously, I''m trying to hit on the things that are front of mind right now in the country, and racial discrimination among Asian and Latinx populations, it''s not in the -- given the racial issues that we''re seeing right now, this is interesting.
12:27:00 We don''t see that much, on the one hand, we don''t see that much on disability and race, although we''re seeing more, but this was specifically targeting Asian and Latinx populations, I thought was interesting.
12:27:19 And we see perceived racial discrimination positively and significantly predicted impairments across a variety of disability domains, and cognition, mobility, time out of role, and social interaction.
12:27:21 Next slide, Andrew.
12:27:31 And then the rehabilitation efforts to -- social context, we talked about that.
12:27:53 The other, racial discrimination may contribute to the stress for Asians and Latinx, not having data ready to show that also, I don''t know that it''s surprising, but I think having the data to back up some of the things we think are going on is interesting.
12:27:55 Next slide, Andrew.
12:28:01 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  We developed the numbers from that, of course, we knew that.
12:28:03 >> DENISE ROZELL:  What do you do with the numbers?
12:28:05 Again, I''m a policy worker.
12:28:08 I take those numbers -- I take those numbers to local government.
12:28:14 I take those numbers to the state and say, here is something, we need to do something about this.
12:28:15 So new bill.
12:28:17 That''s how I use it.
12:28:21 I''m guessing there are others out there that use it in different ways.
12:28:28 Ex-offenders with disabilities may experience racial gaps in employment and earnings.
12:28:30 I thought this one was also interesting.
12:28:41 They looked at 32,000 people who received VR services, and how many employment, how many not, you know, how many did they earn.
12:28:58 It''s interesting, the earnings piece, nonLatino, African-American individuals were employed, this one you can look up.
12:29:01 Next slide, Andrew.
12:29:03 Yes.
12:29:03 Exactly.
12:29:17 The authors noted that, although the African-American individuals in this study experienced higher rates of successful employment than the white individuals, they may have obtained less competitive jobs that paid less per hour.
12:29:28 Further, the Latino individuals in this study were both employed at lower rates and paid less than white individuals.
12:29:41 And this was the rehabilitation counseling, the VR experiences of minority and ethnic populations, and it''s available online, and the link is here as well.
12:29:43 Next slide, Andrew.
12:30:28 Pathways to work, evidence clearinghouse out of OPRE, the office of planning, research, and evaluation, and the administration for children and families, again, not specifically targeted with people with disabilities, but we know intersectionality, a lot of people are in these categories, and they have 216 studies, 161 interventions so far, there''s a bunch of that coming up in a panel discussion afterward on July 16th, you can register for that.
12:30:35 There''s a link how to sign up with that.
12:30:39 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  They''re going to have to pay us for the advertising.
12:30:40 >> DENISE ROZELL:  Okay.
12:30:43 You go back to them and tell them that.
12:30:45 We''ll do that.
12:30:46 Next slide.
12:30:49 There you go.
12:31:13 2018 study on ODEP, I don''t want to take too much much of Charles'' time, they voiced concerns, they''re doing a lot of things, but really interesting what is on the next slide.
12:31:32 Fascinating, companies are implementing some inclusive practices, inclusive business, with the most potential were increasing employment for people with disabilities were not the ones that they were using.
12:31:33 I thought that was fascinating.
12:31:53 The ones that have the -- goals for hiring, the partnerships with companies, the active recruitment, the accessible online application, a lot of people are doing the accessible interview locations, but they say they''re doing things, so this is an interesting one.
12:31:57 This is one I want to go back and dig into a little more.
12:32:02 Federal contractors were more likely than others to implement disability practices.
12:32:04 I think the next is on contracting too.
12:32:17 Yeah, the GAO report is out too with employment of people with disabilities in federal agencies, 2011 to 2017.
12:32:26 39% hired, stayed less than a year, compared to 43% of those without disabilities.
12:32:32 60% of hires, both those with and without disabilities, stayed less than two years.
12:32:37 So there''s turnover in those types of agencies, and that''s not a surprise.
12:32:43 This is the one I need to dig a little bit more into, that I wanted to make sure you knew was out.
12:32:44 Next slide.
12:32:46 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  That was a surprise to me.
12:32:49 I thought it was the deep state.
12:32:50 Come on, now.
12:32:56 >> DENISE ROZELL:  I''m not responding to that.
12:33:05 (Interference) Charles Catherine is the special assistant to the president at the National Organization on Disability.
12:33:20 Prior to that, a background in (indistinguishable), the surgeon for hope and led his expansion throughout, also a marathoner and a triathlete and coming to us from France.
12:33:23 He''s further away than I am today.
12:33:39 And he is a member of the NID roundtable, so we are thrilled to have him here, just as the computer says I have internet problems, so I''m going to stop my video and turn it over to Charles.
12:33:40 >> CHARLES CATHERINE:  Thank you.
12:33:41 What an intro.
12:33:46 And you might hear my accent.
12:34:00 I am from France, I''m delighted to be with you because I follow your reports and we use your data at NID quite often, and, you know, I am someone with a disability myself.
12:34:07 I am completely blind, so I can''t see my slides and Andrew, thank you for moving those along.
12:34:35 And for some of you who may not know, the National Organization of Disability, which is hard to say for a French person, so I''m going to say NIT, was started in 1982, and some of the things we''re known for is AR and employment tracker, we have a survey to measure best practices.
12:34:59 In 2020, for example, we had about 200 companies, 8.5 million employees as a tracker, and also known for the leadership council, which I will call the CLC, a membership-based group of right now, some 60 organizations, and we want to share best practices and be a part of this network.
12:35:08 And also for the roundtable, the advocacy work which AUCD is a member, and you mentioned APSE, and they''re also a member.
12:35:16 So, you know -- and by the way, I would appeal to the survey from -- it''s a great initiative.
12:35:28 So today, what I''m here to do is share what we''re hearing from the people, from the tracker, the CLC, from the roundtable and the advocates.
12:35:53 As you know, this is no news now, COVID-19 proportionately affects minorities, and I can give some examples here, blacks are more likely to die of COVID than whites, but we know people with disabilities, right, about 90% of people who are hospitalized that have underlying condition, and often, that is a disability.
12:35:58 But on the flip side, no disability doesn''t mean being unhealthy.
12:36:02 I am blind, but I am perfectly healthy.
12:36:20 So we''ve seen a lot of prejudice and, you know, this crisis really highlighted all the stigma around disability and medical action is a good example because it''s often based on disability and age and the perceived lower quality of life.
12:36:29 But there''s also a rise in disabilities, mental health issues, depression, anxiety, to give the main others.
12:36:30 Next slide, Andrew.
12:36:46 So on the short term, you know, our priorities -- and that is mainly driven by our conversations with the roundtable, 17 largest disability organizations that are gathering every quarter to discuss all of this.
12:37:04 And, you know, lack of PPE was a huge issue, and we know that people with disabilities are disproportionately employed in essential jobs, like in grocery stores and et cetera, a problem.
12:37:10 SSDI waiting periods, we know that people don''t have an income, waiting six months is a long time.
12:37:20 Food insecurity, online accessibility, food stamps, was not online to pay deliveries and people weren''t able to move.
12:37:30 It was a big problem for online accessibility at large is also a big problem with transportation, just to name a few.
12:37:48 One I would like to emphasize, also bringing people out of hospitals and long-term facilities, because we know these are places with significant risks, the long-term facilities and mental health institutes have been stuck there.
12:37:51 And exposed to the risk.
12:37:52 Next slide, Andrew.
12:38:11 Now, for the medium and long-term, Denise, you mentioned HCBS, and this is a priority, and being at the table when decisions are made.
12:38:15 Nothing about us without us, right?
12:38:35 And we also want to be mindful of the fact that states are in a real quandary, because we know that taxes evaporate and that spending really soars, and that''s why Governor Larry Hogan called for federal support there.
12:38:42 And we know that employment services that are sometimes funded by states will be affected.
12:38:48 Medium and long-term, through Medicaid and VR funding.
12:38:50 Next slide.
12:38:53 Now, there has been a lot of bills.
12:39:06 And, you know, it is CARES Act is the most important one, I think, and there were some gains for people with disabilities, and it''s important to realize those.
12:39:15 People, for instance, SSDI and Medicaid are eligible for emergency income relief and that was a tough negotiation.
12:39:45 Besides that, there''s also close to a billion dollars for existing grantees in the network, and larger access to mental health services and health services and also, the PPP which is not specific to disability but covers people as well.
12:39:46 Next slide, Andrew.
12:39:53 However, there are a lot of things that are not included.
12:40:16 I''m not going to cover everything, but HCBS is a top priority and funding for voc rehab, expansion of the PPP for nonprofits, and certain programs that have Money Follows the Person, which has been extended until November, but should be permanent.
12:40:17 Next slide, Andrew.
12:40:32 And so among those, I think if we have to remember three, I would say HCBS funding, and I''ll give you just a few more details here, because it''s not just important for healthcare needs, but also, employment services.
12:40:40 For example, could be used for direct support staff, job coaches, but also for assistive technology.
12:40:58 When voc rehab -- I think I''m preaching to the choir here, but there need to be on-ramps for people who return to work, and voc rehab helps people achieve those goals.
12:41:06 And the extension of the PPP, because, as I said, giving those supports is essential.
12:41:06 I''m sorry.
12:41:14 Funding for businesses and nonprofits that employee and support people with disabilities is key as well.
12:41:16 Next slide, Andrew.
12:41:38 Now, the House -- and Denise, you gave us some hopeful news here about the progress being made in the Senate, the heroes act and how the conversation is evolving, and we know that HCBS and fund something included there.
12:41:41 We remain hopeful.
12:41:42 Next slide, Andrew.
12:41:57 Now, let''s talk a little bit about our corporate leadership council and what we are hearing from companies, and most of our contacts are people in the HR departments, right, HR, et cetera.
12:42:08 And the three teams that have been priority work, mental health, digital accessibility, and support for caregivers.
12:42:17 Now, there have been a lot of demand for community services in that field, so we''ve provided resources and webinars and calls.
12:42:23 And, you know, I want to conclude here on the -- pretty hopeful note.
12:42:27 I''m a hopeful person, and I think it might change things for the better.
12:42:29 In certain ways, at least.
12:42:34 And coincidence -- remote work, you know, here from France, speaking with you.
12:42:51 And I find also many things are more accessible, including people like me who are (indistinguishable) users, blind or visually impaired and flexible hours, but also, the fact that we can show that employing people with disabilities is not charity.
12:42:53 That it''s good business.
12:43:04 And we''ve seen that essential workers, for instance, in grocery stores, but there are many examples where disability workers have really risen to the occasion.
12:43:11 That''s all I have for you, but I look forward to this conversation and some questions.
12:43:12 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  All right.
12:43:14 Let me just flip through.
12:43:23 Again, for questions and answers, you can go on Zoom, wherever your control panel is and click on Q&A.
12:43:44 Also, we do have a survey at the end and you can -- there''s the contact information on the screen, if you have any questions, 866-538-9521.
12:43:49 >> DENISE ROZELL:  Can I jump in for one second?
12:43:52 Julie Christensen is on the line.
12:44:01 The number for the Senate Bill on education that I talked about is 4112.
12:44:10 S4112 is the new Senate Bill, and obviously, as I said, we don''t have the Medicaid HHS bill yet.
12:44:13 So thanks.
12:44:14 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  Okay.
12:44:15 Great.
12:44:25 Denise, can you -- there''s a question for you about how -- the bill from slide 20, different --
12:44:26 >> DENISE ROZELL:  Yeah.
12:44:28 Yeah, thanks, Amy.
12:44:34 Slide -- that was the one where I talked about this education bill that just got introduced.
12:44:40 I think a lot of -- a couple of things are different in Heroes.
12:44:45 One -- one, quite frankly, it''s starting in the Senate.
12:44:49 In this political environment, that''s important.
12:44:53 Whether or not it''s in the Senate, they have their own bill, they''re starting from there and moving forward.
12:44:55 So I think that''s really important.
12:45:02 It''s also only the education pieces of what might (indistinguishable) before.
12:45:05 And then I don''t think all of the numbers are the same.
12:45:15 But, you know what, Amy, was just introduced on the 30th of June and I have not been through it in detail to be able to tell you.
12:45:33 If you have that or if Julie is still on the line, if she''s read it, the similar, meaning types of things in there, certainly Heroes includes, includes some money for IDEA, money for the education stabilization as this bill does as well.
12:45:37 I don''t know if all the numbers match.
12:45:40 So I would have to go back and look at that.
12:45:41 Thank you.
12:45:43 I''ll try to bring that information back.
12:45:46 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  Great.
12:45:49 That was answered live.
12:45:50 Okay.
12:46:03 So there were several questions about statistics and kind of an understanding of telework, online work, working from home, working at a distance.
12:46:19 Certainly, COVID has seen expansion of that, you know, as many, many people have thought who have the capacity to work from home in terms of both their job and their, you know, infrastructure of their home.
12:46:27 It really has led many people, including in my own organization, to rethink how they do things.
12:46:29 And sometimes, many things are getting better.
12:46:40 We have 70 employees at the Institute on Disabilities, and almost everyone says they''re either doing their job at the same level or even more effectively.
12:46:48 Very few people, you know, said that they were -- they couldn''t do their job effectively.
12:46:51 I don''t know if anybody did, out of 70.
12:47:15 Now, this creates for me, personally -- well, data-wise, the office of disability employment policies, ODEP, has some of the same data that I showed here, looking at industry and occupation that are likely to have the capacity to work at a distance.
12:47:36 The detail is not as good as some of the bigger surveys in terms of getting that really finite work task and finite disability -- finite disability type, that''s true, too, but also, finite jobs, very specific jobs.
12:47:37 So they''re working on that.
12:47:43 I haven''t talked to them in about a week or so, but they''re actually looking at that.
12:47:57 And one thing we could do is track the trend pre-COVID and see, you know, if people are doing things more from home or more at a distance.
12:48:04 I think there''s a double-edged sword there, of course, because there''s a chance for social isolation.
12:48:23 But, of course, when the transportation barrier, which is frequently cited as a barrier for certain types of people with disabilities is removed, it has the potential for opening up greater opportunities for people with disabilities.
12:48:37 What I''d love to do is look at all the occupations that people with disabilities were doing before COVID and map them with the jobs they''re doing five years after COVID and see if there was a shift.
12:48:56 We did that kind of analysis from the shift from manufacturing to service over the ''80s and ''90s, and some felt that was important for people with certain types of disabilities and also harmful for the opportunities with people with other types of disabilities.
12:49:01 So it doesn''t mean that bias won''t come in.
12:49:27 There is a comment in the question and answer area, one concern arising in the literature related to telework, the ways in which a camera in someone''s home may see unconscious bias against people of color.
12:49:33 HBR has a recent article on this, something for people to think about with disabilities as well.
12:49:59 Certainly, it has -- unconscious bias, it''s a different work environment, so some forms of unconscious bias can come in, and vice versa, some of the unconscious bias that was part of the, you know, I guess we''ll call it the standard workplace may go away.
12:50:12 So it really is -- reminds me more of psychology study in depth and I can imagine -- I''ll be interested to take a look at that article.
12:50:26 If you can send a link to that article, more comprehensive citation, that would be helpful.
12:50:40 On telework, there''s a question.
12:50:49 Let''s see.
12:50:59 There''s a question for Charles, can you elaborate on the point how employees with disabilities is good for business?
12:51:11 >> CHARLES CATHERINE:  Yeah, I mean, the business case traditionally, is, you know, we know -- the diversity argument?
12:51:22 We know that talent is equally distributed and if you don''t hire people with disabilities or if they''re underrepresented, you''re missing out on talent.
12:51:59 But also, I think, the fact with this crisis and the new regulations and the new habits, you know, we''ll realize that some people who weren''t able to do certain jobs before, that had certain disabilities issues or with me, certain visual impairments, might have access to certain jobs or interview differently and that pays the same type of biases or discrimination and (indistinguishable), and I hope that answers the question.
12:52:17 Otherwise, the larger business case is also, you know, people with disabilities -- (indistinguishable) in America and that is a huge pocket and if you want to design products for people with disabilities, Apple has done very well, but other companies have as well.
12:52:19 You want to tap into that market.
12:52:23 I hope that answers the question, in a nutshell.
12:52:36 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  Yeah, we have a paper that I did years ago with Robin Shepherd looking at the spending power of people with disabilities.
12:52:46 And, you know, so employing people with disabilities, being engaged with people with disabilities may lend people to spend money at your business.
12:52:48 That''s one of the elements of the business.
12:52:55 >> CHARLES CATHERINE:  I''ll share one, that might shed some light on this.
12:53:05 Once I was talking to a web designer, and he said he was working for a car company that was asking why there should be accessible for people who are blind.
12:53:06 Blind people don''t drive.
12:53:10 And that is true, driverless cars soon.
12:53:25 But the fact is, obviously, I might purchase a car or be a part of a decision for my family, my parents, my children, et cetera, and so that''s just how companies are still thinking in those sort of ways.
12:53:29 And it is changing, but it takes time.
12:53:31 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  Great.
12:54:03 There was a comment, for those inclined to impact their members, the US Senate, they will be home and on recess until July 20th, so there''s a nice chunk of time, two weeks, beginning next Monday, to organize calls, social media, as well as local press to impact the education and HCBS message as a critical priority for people with disabilities and their needs.
12:54:06 This needs to be a bipartisan effort.
12:54:09 >> DENISE ROZELL:  I''m going to jump in there.
12:54:12 Thanks, Alan.
12:54:46 It''s the policy -- go and talk to members -- literally, tell your stories, the stories that you have, the story of your employment issue, if you''re an employment coach, have people that work for you, why being in the community is so important, the issues that you''re facing in this time, people that -- the workers, the workers -- all messages, could be heard by all members of Congress, particularly Senate at this point.
12:54:51 You have your connections, I know you have to, so -- send an email, make a call.
12:54:54 If you can''t get out, I understand.
12:54:56 Social media works really well now.
12:54:57 All of the above.
12:55:06 And a lot of folks -- AUCD''s website, I''m sure does, there''s all kinds of things free to use.
12:55:14 So go to your favorite advocacy group and use the information that''s there.
12:55:15 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  Okay.
12:55:17 So thank you, Denise.
12:55:34 There''s a question about visual association and societies, people with blindness, visual impairment, and ability of the government to provide job opportunities.
12:55:37 And new professional job offerings.
12:55:46 So, you know, certainly, with people with visual impairments, there are specific programs in the federal government designed.
12:56:01 Charles and Denise, can you talk a little bit about some of these issues, the initiatives on current and past, related to people with visual impairment?
12:56:04 >> DENISE ROZELL:  Do you want to go first, Charles?
12:56:04 Go ahead.
12:56:07 >> CHARLES CATHERINE:  Go ahead, Denise, actually.
12:56:10 >> DENISE ROZELL:  There are a number of projects out there.
12:56:33 Certainly, department of -- in terms of the United States, within the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, their states have specific agencies targeted to people who are blind or visually impaired, and even though a state doesn''t have a specific target to the population, that population is addressed within the larger vocational rehabilitation agency.
12:56:41 I used to be involved in this field, I used to be able to tell you how many separate states but I can''t anymore.
12:56:50 There are some very specific agencies who target the blind and visually impaired, and also, provider organization that do that.
12:56:57 I think this is an international person, so you may not know some of that.
12:57:04 There are specific federal agencies who target the population as well as generic agencies who target all sorts of disabilities.
12:57:23 There are some very specific advocacy organizations, the national association of the blind, the American Council of the Blind, NCB in particular has a lot of job training and assistive tech programs, but ACB does as well.
12:57:26 There are a variety of things out there.
12:57:34 What you were asking were new things, and I''m not sure what I can say to you right now about things that are new.
12:57:46 Targeted -- we tend to be focusing more in the United States on targeting disability as a whole, as opposed to doing specific services.
12:57:50 But that doesn''t mean there aren''t some.
12:57:54 It''s been a while since I worked in that field.
12:57:55 Charles, anything you have?
12:58:04 >> CHARLES CATHERINE:  I''m here, Denise, you summarized it, very much on top of the recent initiatives in this particular field.
12:58:13 As far as the blindness as a group and a few others, I''d be happy to connect to those groups.
12:58:24 They are a part of the roundtable as well with NID.
12:58:26 >> ANDREW HOUTENVILLE:  Thank you, both.
12:58:30 That is a good segue to answer the last question I have on the board.
12:58:41 So if people are interested in talking to the panelists, there are some websites on -- there are some contact information on the screen.
12:58:53 The best way is probably just to get ahold of anyone would be to email us at disability.statistics@unh.edu.
12:59:02 Again, that''s disability.statistics@unh.edu.
12:59:04 University of New Hampshire.
12:59:07 Thanks, everybody, feel free to reach out.
12:59:10 We''d be happy to chat with people.