Sec. Chertoff Reports Progress
on Disability Issues
by Tanya Cantrell
Speaking at a national conference marking the 15th anniversary of
passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Secretary Chertoff
said that the department will continue its proactive policy of hiring
people with disabilities as well as leading the government-wide effort
to address the needs of people with disabilities in emergency preparedness
plans.
The secretary noted that over the past 18 months the department
has encouraged people with disabilities to seek employment with Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) and has provided managers with education
and training to hire these applicants. Because the homeland security
effort is so vital to our country, we need the best and brightest
of all Americans to join us in our work, the secretary said. We need
people with excellent minds, innovative ideas, and a strong work
ethic. And we cannot afford to exclude whole categories of people
based on outdated and outmoded stereotypes.
DHS has made tangible progress in implementing its policy of recruiting
and hiring people with disabilities, Chertoff said, noting that 4,000
managers across the department have received training sessions on
the ADA and more than 150 interns with disabilities have been working
on a temporary basis at various DHS offices.
In a related development, the secretary last week issued a memo
to senior DHS leadership in which he said the department will redouble
our efforts to offer equal employment opportunities to people classified
as those with targeted disabilities, such as those with serious
hearing or vision impairments, use wheelchairs,
or have other significant mobility impairments. The memo builds on
an earlier directive sent to DHS leadership under former Secretary
Ridge in 2004.
The secretary said the department is also reaching out to disabled
veterans, especially those returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. I
want to pay special thanks to them for the tremendous sacrifice that
they and all their colleagues have made and are continuing to make
in fighting against terror, the secretary said.
The secretary said DHS is working closely with the Department of
Defenses Computer/Electronic Accommodations (or CAP) Program, which
provides employees with disabilities the assistive devices that they
need to do their jobs. As a result, CAP awarded DHS with the Model
Employer for Peoples with Disabilities Award in 2004, he said.
DHS has also taken the
lead in implementing President Bush’s
executive order of July 2004 that made it a national priority to
include people with disabilities in the emergency preparedness effort,
the secretary said. Since then, DHS convened an interagency council
made up of 20 federal agencies and has produced a report to the president
on the progress made to date, Chertoff said. Details of the report,
which was released on July 21, can be downloaded through the DHS
Web site at this address www.dhs.gov/disabilitypreparedness.
Additionally, the secretary
said DHS has awarded a $1.5 million grant to a consortium of organizations
that serve people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, and deaf-blind,
with the intent of better preparing this group for emergency situations.
By addressing this specific population’s needs, the entire
emergency preparedness effort is significantly improved and strengthened,
he said. For more information contact, Tanya Cantrell, Office for
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Department of Homeland Security
at 202-692-4253-V, 202-401-0470-TTY or by email at Tanya.Cantrell@dhs.gov
