School to Work Drake University Flyr Transition: School to Work Drake University Flyr

The Economy is not good!! People with disabilities are feeling the effects of the economy. In some ways these people suffer more. The reason is that these people do not have people to stand up and advocate for them or they do not understand how the systems work. That is why we all need to know about transitions.

Why we need to do something nationally! In December 2009, the percentage of people with disabilities in the labor force was 21.6 compared with 70.0 for persons with no disability.

(Office of Disability Employment Policy US Department of Labor) The unemployment rate for those with disabilities was 13.8 percent, compared with 9.5 percent for persons with no disability, not seasonally adjusted. (Office of Disability Employment Policy US Department of Labor)

According to NPR And the numbers look even more dire when you consider how many people with disabilities have given up looking for work altogether. They don't even get counted as employed or unemployed. In all, "21 million out of 26 million people with disabilities are not even in the labor force," says Richard Horne, with the Office of Disability Employment Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor. Surveys show that the vast majority of these people want to work, but after looking and getting nowhere, they stop trying.

Social Security The Social Security Administration has struggled with growing waiting lists of people seeking disability benefits. As the baby boom generation got older, more people got sick and disabled — and applied for benefits. Social Security Deputy Commissioner David Foster says there are even more requests in a bad economy. "We expect those numbers will go up very much in the next few years because of the recession," he says. "There's usually a correlation between the unemployment rate and then the amount of disability claims that we have."

Social Security continued.. One reason may be that people with disabilities and illness often try to keep working as long as they can. And when they lose a job, they have difficulty finding a new one. Social Security's rules are strict: To get disability benefits, applicants must prove that they can't do any work of any kind. That's one reason getting benefits is complicated and, for most people, takes multiple appeals.

Social Security continued… One and a half million Americans are now waiting for a decision. The backlog hit a peak late last year — and then started to drop. Social Security has used teleconferences and other innovations to speed things up. And Congress came through with money to hire 7,000 employees.

Social Security Continued.. But there's another problem that Social Security can't control. Ethel Zelenske of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives, a group of attorneys and advocates who represent people seeking benefits, notes that Social Security pays for employees in state governments to handle the first applications for benefits. "In the states, because of their own budget crises, they're either furloughing or laying off or there's a hiring freeze on all state employees,'' she says, "including those state agency workers that make the disability determinations for SSA, and that is really a big concern right now.“ Source of information (NPR)

What can we do? Gather specific information about students by performing transition assessments. With that information make sure that students are put in appropriate classes that will help them to prepare for post-secondary settings. Use that information to refer students to adult agencies that may be able to help them after school. Teach students how to be advocates by advocating for them to begin with. Get students interested in careers and try to get them as much work experience as possible.

The Value of Work Experience   “Young people should start looking for work experience as early as possible- whether it’s taking a job or starting their own “business.” Data shows that the young adults who are most likely to get jobs had some work experience during their high school years.  Statistics also indicate that young people who have worked before their 18th birthday are four times more likely to graduate from high school than those who have not, and that those who fared best on their own are those who have gained significant job experience while in foster care”.   Taken from Transition Funders Group Foster Care Work Group with the Finance Project (2004) Connected by 25: A plan for investing in successful futures for foster youth, p. 27

“Life is not fair”. This quote is especially true when it comes to people with disabilities. Throughout history people with disabilities have been put through many horrible things including death after they were born. The question you need to ask yourself is if you do not help your students with disabilities, who will?