The United Kingdom has started a big effort to force disabled people off benefits and get them back to work. The BBC tells us that things haven't been going so well. A recent report of the House of Commons says that changes need to be made "immediately." The contractor hired to get people back to work was "not achieving its purpose of getting people back to work" and has been fired. There won't be a replacement contractor until next year. An executive of one non-profit helping disabled people called the program "a shambolic and hopeless system that cruelly penalises the most vulnerable amongst us."
here's the problem...the jobs aren't available.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget, our system doesn't say that you need to actually find a job to be found disabled. This is quite confusing to many (including many reps it appears).
Lots of people that aren't disabled can't find a job. Seeking to get people on disability rolls back to work is a noble goal, but a more realistic one is to get them back to the point that they can work, thus no longer disabled. Those are two different things.
With a disability myself,only a federal employment program can ease disability related barriers. Similar to an enhanced or muscular ADA.
ReplyDeleteBut i agree with the first comment.
This country's american dream has passed. A previous dream that limited access to an impaired/disabled individual because of their medical condition.
It's almost like looking for water in a desert.
If you start with a strict disability standard and then expect you can get a lot of the people who meet that standard back into the competitive work force, you are dreaming. Time has shown that, with supports, the percentage of success will hover in the low to mid-single digits.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it's still worth committing resources to help people with disabilities who want to work. It gives them hope and each success saves the system a significant amount of money. However, forcing a lot of seriously disabled people off benefits when they genuinely can't work is just stupid and inhumane.