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1629 K Street, NW, Suite 503
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 457-0046 (V/TTY)
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February 29, 2008

The Honorable Henry A. Waxman
Chairman
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
U.S. House of Representatives
2157 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-0530

CC: Ranking Member Thomas M. Davis

Dear Chairman Waxman,

I write on behalf of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) to request that you call an oversight hearing on the employment of people with disabilities in the federal government, including a review of the Schedule A Hiring Authority of the federal government. AAPD is the largest national nonprofit cross-disability member organization in the United States, dedicated to ensuring political empowerment and economic self-sufficiency for the more than 50 million Americans with disabilities. AAPD works in coalition with other disability organizations for the full implementation and enforcement of disability nondiscrimination laws.

AAPD is greatly troubled by the steady decline in the employment rates of people with targeted disabilities in the federal workforce since 1996. Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act created a mandate that the federal government act as a model employer by hiring, placing, and advancing qualified people with disabilities in every “department, agency, and instrumentality of the executive branch of Government.” However, in a report¹ out last month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported that of the 2.6 million federal employees, less than one percent – 0.94% - are people with “targeted disabilities.” Even during time of net increase in the federal workforce (5.48% between FY 1997 and FY 2006), the number of federal employees with targeted disabilities still decreased during the same ten-year period by 14.75%. Items noted by the EEOC as common obstacles of federal agencies included:

• Inadequate coordination between the federal agencies and/or programs that were created specifically to meet the employment needs of individuals with disabilities
• Within the federal government, unfounded fears, myths and stereotypes persist regarding the employment of people with disabilities and may unlawfully influence employment decisions;
• Few agencies have developed strategic plans to improve the recruitment, hiring and retention of people with targeted disabilities;
• The federal application process is especially daunting to individuals with disabilities;
• Agency officials lack knowledge about how to use/implement the Schedule A appointing authority;
• Agency officials lack knowledge about how to appropriately respond to reasonable accommodation requests and how to implement retention strategies for people with targeted disabilities; and
• There is insufficient accountability among all levels of the federal government in setting and attaining goals to hire people with disabilities.

I urge you to demonstrate leadership by conducting an oversight hearing and probe into the substance of this report, which would include an analysis of the federal government’s compliance with the Section 501 mandate and the understanding and use of the Schedule A Hiring Authority. Thank you.

Respectfully,

Andrew J. Imparato
President and CEO
AAPD

[1] “Improving the Participation Rate of People with Targeted Disabilities in the Federal Work Force,” Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), January 2008.