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Employing People with Disabilities: Good for Business’ and Delaware’s Bottom Line

Written on: May 31st, 2013 in Job Creation

As Chair of the National Governors Association, I’ve had a unique opportunity to tell the story of Delaware’s successes to leaders across the country and demonstrate ways in which our state has set examples for others to follow on issues such as education reform and health care innovation.

I’m particularly proud that the First State has shown leadership in the area of my national Chair’s initiative: employing people with disabilities. Today, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, who helped author the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rogers, the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress and founder and co-chair of the Congressional Down Syndrome Caucus, have joined me in Wilmington, along with the event’s co-hosts The Council on Foundations and the US Business Leadership Council, for a summit on boosting education and employment outcomes for Americans with disabilities. We are joined by representatives of the philanthropic community, policymakers and experts from around the country . The goals of the conference include increasing awareness of chronic unemployment of individuals with disabilities, including our veterans, and examining ways to bring together the business, philanthropic, and public sectors to address this challenge.

Chip Rossi, Bank of America’s Delaware Market President and our site host for the summit, writes about the event and Delaware’s proactive efforts in today’s News Journal. Highlighting our recent passage of the Employment First Act, sponsored by Representative Debra Heffernan, Chip notes that we now require state agencies to make skill development and mainstream employment a priority in serving the disabilities community. Chip also emphasizes the most important message of the summit and NGA initiative: from a business perspective, this is not about charity. Businesses that embrace a diverse workforce are robust in the long run.  The focus should be on a person’s ability, not their disability.

While it can be seen as a moral issue, our effort to increase the employment of people with disabilities is about a better bottom line. I can find no better example of that than this week’s announcement by Delaware-based Computer Aid Inc. that it plans to employ people with autism in over 3% of its consultant workforce by 2015. With passionate support from Secretary Rita Landgraf of Delaware’s Department of Health and Social Services, the company has formed the first U.S. partnership with Specialisterne, a business founded in Denmark that identifies employment opportunities for individuals with autism. These employees not only hold down jobs, but in some fields that require tedious tasks like software testing and programming, they are among the best qualified.

Our greatest asset is our people and we need to take advantage of everyone’s abilities. Making disabilities employment a priority will not only allow more Delawareans to reach their potential, but also help ensure our state can compete and win on the global stage.

Tags: Bank of America, computer aid inc, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rogers, Council on Foundations, Delaware, disabilities, employment, Health and Social Services, jobs, National Governors Association, quality of life, Senator Harkin, Specialisterne, US Business Leadership Council

It’s Time to Improve the Odds for Young People in Foster Care

Written on: May 10th, 2013 in Helping Our Neighbors

As a parent of a 17 and 20 year old, I understand the balancing act of parenting teens. We still operate under those protective instincts we had when our children were small, yet the job of parenting adolescents brings a whole new set of challenges. For example, we know it’s good to give them the space they need to test out their decision-making skills, gain independence, and assume personal responsibility. All too often, these fundamental life skills are learned “the hard way,” but they provide the building blocks that help our children become successful, productive adults.

Teenagers in foster care are no different. They need the same kind of parental support as their peers, yet too often the foster care system isn’t adequate to provide them with that support and those important “growing up” experiences. Youth in foster care often lack the stability, the tough love, and the assurance that someone will be there for them, to help them learn when they make mistakes and bad choices (because they – like all teenagers – will make them).

Let me be clear: We must improve the way we support teenagers in foster care. We need to work harder to give them the same support and guidance parents provide their own teenagers. It’s a critical ingredient to improving the odds for these young people and helping them build better adult lives.

In Delaware, I’ve made it a top priority to make sure our public agencies are doing all they can to support older youth in foster care, smooth their transition to adulthood, and ensure they are on a path to success. We’ve created opportunities to let these young people have a direct say in decision making related to their lives, invested in supportive services, and formed key public-private collaborations with community leaders to support these kids. I am proud of our progress.

Other states are also taking steps to support older youth in foster care, but more is needed. Unfortunately, across America, too many youth age out of the foster care, often at age 18, without a family or access to other basic needs such as housing or employment. As a result, they are more likely than their peers to drop out of school, become parents before they are ready, experience homelessness, or end up in jail – costly consequences that impact all of us. In fact, a newly published analysis by the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative estimates that, on average, for every young person who ages out of foster care in America, the costs incurred to taxpayers and communities equal $300,000 over that young person’s lifetime – or $7.8 billion in total costs to the U.S. every year.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We have an unprecedented opportunity to create a better path for young people transitioning from foster care to adulthood. The latest adolescent brain research shows that the teen years offer a second chance to help kids overcome adversity and begin to thrive. And like Delaware, a number of states are increasing their focus on better meeting the needs of young people in foster care, starting at age 14, and extending beyond age 18. But not all are – yet.

That is why I joined the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative in Washington, D.C. to launch a national campaign to create a better path for young people transitioning from foster care to adulthood. Through the Success Beyond 18 campaign, I’m calling on my fellow governors to take a fresh look at how their states are serving foster youth, making sure these young people have the opportunities they need to succeed along their path to adulthood.

Parents know the teen years are a time of great change and transition, in which young people are rapidly maturing and preparing to take their place in an exciting but challenging world. We also know that well beyond age 18 – or age 20, or 25, for that matter – our children benefit from our guidance and support. We must apply what all parents know toward better serving teens and young adults in foster care. It’s the right thing to do.

Video from the campaign launch is available online.

Tags: aging out, courts, Delaware, Delaware Youth Opportunities Initiative, family services, foster care, Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, quality of life, Youth Aging Out