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Bush urges federal agencies to purchase from blind, severely disabled
The Bush administration is encouraging agencies to purchase goods and services from a federal program employing thousands of blind or severely disabled workers.
On Monday, President Bush signed a memorandum reminding federal acquisition executives, purchase cardholders and other procurement officials to utilize the AbilityOne program.
"Americans with disabilities make valuable contributions to our country's workforce that help keep our nation the world's economic leader," the president said. "Expanding employment opportunities for these individuals will help ensure that our economy is drawing on the talents and creativity of all its citizens and that America remains a place of opportunity for all. Supporting the AbilityOne Program is one good way to achieve this goal."
Bush said that in recent years, AbilityOne has begun embracing widely used business practices such as e-commerce and performance-based contracting.
Formerly known as the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Program, AbilityOne is a federal initiative that generates jobs and training opportunities for disabled Americans. The program encourages the government to use its buying power to procure an array of products and services provided by nonprofit agencies that employ disabled workers. It is part of the president's New Freedom Initiative, which helps Americans with disabilities integrate into the workforce, according to a spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget.
The program, administered by an independent federal agency known as Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, currently employs nearly 43,000 people in more than 600 community-based nonprofits nationwide. Purchases from AbilityOne help the agency overcome the 70 percent unemployment rate the blind and severely disabled face, according to the committee. OMB's Office of Federal Procurement Policy enforces federal policies and regulations related to AbilityOne.
The president's memorandum coincided with a ceremony on Monday in which 16 people associated with the program were honored at the White House by first lady Laura Bush.
Among the honorees were members of the committee -- comprised of 15 presidentially appointed members -- as well as employees from the National Industries for the Blind and NISH, two nonprofit groups that help distribute the government's procurement orders under the program.
"AbilityOne is not just a federal initiative that works with public and private organizations to generate employment for individuals who are blind or who have other severe disabilities," OMB Director Jim Nussle said at the event. "It helps create opportunities for people who might otherwise not have them, and that's pretty special."
Congress created the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Program in 1938 to allow the blind to manufacture mops and brooms to sell the federal government. In 1971, under the leadership of the late Sen. Jacob Javits, R-N.Y., the law was extended to include people who had severe disabilities and to expand the program to also provide services to the government.
In 2006, the committee announced that it was changing the name of the program to better convey its employment mission and link participating organizations.
COMMENTS
- There is no doubt that AbilityOne has provided many working opportunities to the people with disabilities. However this program still seems to focus on the nonprofit agencies, which mainly employee the handicapped people for the physical labor work. Since we are now in 21st centry, more private companies have begun to hire handicapped people like me in the areas of high technology. So the Federal Government should open its door wider to the people with disabilities for the high intelligence and senior level positions. Ren Wang Posted February 23, 2008 12:35 PM
- I am not great math guy. What is Federal (direct hire and/or indirect hire) employment ratio of severly disabled people -- 1/million in work force? Take polulation of disabled people seaching for jobs that are hard to find. Next take small ratio of cherry picked jobs given to an elite minority to futher myth of humanity. In analogy to racial minorities. If there are 30 million Blacks and Federal Gov hire 100, would this be correct ratio 100/30 million? Disabled people in 2008 are behind every racial minority group for so called "quota jobs" in Federal, State and local governments. More feel good federal symbols. The majority of diabled who are employable are still in 2006 -- a small voice in the wilderness. Peace. Mark St. Denis Posted February 15, 2008 8:01 PM
- The AbilityOne program is a great program! It gives over 40,000 blind or severely disabled people the opportunity for meaningful employment. I am one of those people. What needs to be understood about this program is that it is an employment program for people, not a procurement program. The leakage that has occurred within the federal government on procurement has lead the hundreds of thousands of federal credit card holders to go outside of the mandatory status of the JWOD Act and purchase commercial equivalant products that could be purchased through the AbilityOne program. Small business also crowds out JWOD procurement to a point. Contracting Officers have a set goal to meet for purchasing from small businesses, but there is not such a goal set up for buying from a JWOD distributor/agency. Contracting officers are therefore more focused on meeting their numbers for small business than buying JWOD. The results from this leakage in purchasing is that fewer jobs are being created by AbilityOne agencies across this country. If the federal dollars are going to a commercial supplier, than less is being put into this program. Fewer jobs for the blind and severely disabled means more people drawing off of Social Security instead of being put into the workforce and becoming tax paying citizens. Educating contracting officers and card holders in the purchasing of JWOD products is something that needs to happen. Goals for contracting officers to meet, the same as with small business, needs to happen as well. Pulling these dollars into JWOD agencies will afford them the opportunity to train and hire more blind and severely disable people into the workforce. As far as hiring into the federal government. Take a look at the USDA. What a champion of the cause. They employ more disabled people than any other federal agency. They should be the model for the entire government. I applaud the USDA for their efforts. R. Oliver Posted February 15, 2008 10:11 AM
