Is Your Government Working Toward “Jobs for All?”

Blind since birth, Ms. Martinez is the head of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). Ms. Martinez advises the Secretary of Labor and works with all DOL agencies to lead a comprehensive and coordinated national policy regarding the employment of people with disabilities.

Disaboom: In an interview with the IRL School of Cornell University, you said that the biggest obstacle of hiring people with disabilities is fear, and one way to eliminate this fear was through the media. In the summer of 2011, the government initiated a program titled, “Lights Camera Action.” What results are you seeing from this initiative?

Kathleen Martinez: “I was in New York recently for a bi-coastal meeting of the tri-union effort called I Am PWD. Anita Hollander, the chairperson, posted a recap on the National Endowment for the Arts’ website at: http://www.arts.gov/artworks/. She said, ‘The unions are beefing up the PWD element of their diversity committees, and there is an overall sense that performers with disabilities are more on the minds of people in all the various areas of our industry.’”

Disaboom: In that same interview, you spoke for the need of President Obama’s Commission which will integrate public policy in terms of Labor, Social Security, Health and Education. How close are we to having a commission that provides a solution to an immediate benefit loss?

Kathleen Martinez: “While a commission has not yet been established, many Federal agencies including the Department of Labor, Social Security Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Education have been collaborating closely on efforts to facilitate improved return to work options for people with disabilities on disability benefits. This includes making improvements to the Ticket to Work program and promoting available work incentives that allow people to transition to employment without immediate benefit loss.

Disaboom: So, at this point, how does the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) interact with other Departments such as the VA and State Department?

Kathleen Martinez: “We have some very strong and long partnerships in place with other federal departments, such as the ‘United We Ride’ program with the Department of Transportation. Additionally, we co-lead the ‘Workforce Recruitment Program’ with the Department of Defense. We share information with the State Department to help their missions abroad, and we support their international efforts. Perhaps most importantly, we are partnering closely with our sister agencies inside DOL to get people with disabilities off the ‘special shelf.’

Disaboom: ODEP and the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) have an Alliance for education and training. Will this type of Alliance be replicated with other government departments? If so, which ones?

Kathleen Martinez: “CBP is our first Alliance with a federal agency. We expect  it to be  a model for other agencies to reach out to us for support, and to help us in turn by  disseminating effective practices we have identified and our resources. It’s too soon to say who else might want to form an Alliance. However, the lines are open, and we are very excited to see this is already making a difference.” 

Disaboom: The Department of Labor and ODEP have produced multiple tools to help not only those who are seeking employment but companies who are hiring and training people with disabilities. The “Add Us In” Campaign and “Return to Work” program come to mind, can you give us an update on these and other outreach programs? 

Kathleen Martinez:“Yes, we have the ‘Return to Work’ toolkit and one other program that  supports federal employers. In December of 2011, we launched our newest toolkit on ‘Integrated Employment.’ And in February, 2012 we are launching our Soft Skills curriculum, entitled ‘Skills to Pay the Bills.’ ’Applied skills'’ such as teamwork, critical thinking, problem solving, and communication are fundamental to workplace success in the 21^st century. We also just updated our ‘Building an Inclusive Workforce’ flipguide, a rich compilation of resources to assist employers in their  recruiting and hiring efforts. The soft copy version is now on our website, and the print versions will be available for order in February.” 

Disaboom: What other initiatives are in place to help people with disabilities?

Kathleen Martinez: “Our ‘Add Us In’ initiative is designed to identify and develop strategies to increase employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities within small businesses, including  those located in or serving underrepresented and historically excluded communities.  In addition, through our Sector Summits we are continuing to pave the way for talented job candidates with disabilities in certain high growth fields. Building upon our prior Sector Summits which focused on the entertainment and the health care industries, in June we will be convening a Manufacturing Sector Summit in collaboration with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) at their annual conference.   We will also be convening another sector summit focusing on education later this year.  Our ‘Campaign for Disability Employment’ (CDE) has been a great success in getting out the message that ‘at work, it’s what people CAN do that matters.’ More than 100 thousand copies of the CDE posters and discussion guides have been ordered. The Public Service Announcement has received three prestigious media awards and has generated over $22 million worth of earned media since its launch last year.” 

Disaboom: Are companies and individuals taking advantage of these tools?

Kathleen Martinez: “Yes, they are. For example, The ‘Campaign for Disability Employment’ message was adopted formally by Massachusetts, Montana and Ohio. We anticipate more states will do the same this next year.

“Employers are also using the CDE resources.  AMC theatres first used our Public Service Announcement (PSA) and its message two years ago, and then they created their own PSA which ran on their theatre screens during National Disabilities Employment Appreciation Month. Another successful example is how Special Olympics adopted the messaging and the discussion guides for use in their outreach to youth and for training their chapter leaders.”

Disaboom: Other than your web site, how is your department informing citizens that those resources are available?

Kathleen Martinez:: “We send our weekly eNewsletter to over 45 thousand subscribers and our monthly, Business Sense news brief to nearly 50 thousand small businesses. We partner with our funded resource centers such as JAN, EARN, the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth T/A center.  In addition, through  Disability.Gov, which we manage we reach more than 235,000 subscribers to help us spread the word[RLB1] . Additionally, we have print resources managed through the Federal Citizens’ Information Center, and they include those resources on their website and in their consumer catalogs. We also take advantage of the Department of Labor’s newsletter, blogs, tweets, and other social media tools to share our information. . I personally am out there talking to stakeholders as often as possible. From October through December I spoke to over 30 organizations around the country.”

Part 2 of Disaboom’s Interview with Kathleen Martinez is coming soon. To learn more about the initiatives that Ms. Martinez mentioned, go to these web sites for more information:

Lights, Camera Action (I Am PWD): http://www.iampwd.org/

United We Ride: http://www.unitedweride.gov/

Workforce Recruitment Program: https://wrp.gov/LoginPre.do?method=login

ODEP and CBP Alliance: http://www.dol.gov/odep/alliances/USCBP.htm

Add Us In: http://www.dol.gov/odep/Addusin/

Return to Work (see individual state guidelines)

Integrated Employment: http://www.dol.gov/odep/ietoolkit/

Soft Skills: http://www.itgovernanceusa.com/category/290.aspx

Skills to Pay Bills: http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/softskills.htm

Building an Inclusive Workforce: http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/20100727.pdf

Sector Summits example: http://www.dol.gov/odep/pdf/20110719.pdf

Campaign for Disability Employment: http://www.dol.gov/odep/topics/CampaignForDisabilityEmployment.htm