NAD Meets with HHS to Discuss Disability Hiring Initiative

Submitted by Jesse.Ragsdale [1] on Mon, 04/26/2010 - 18:31

I had the opportunity to represent the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) in a Disability Resources Group meeting hosted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on April 21st to discuss the progress on their Disability Hiring Initiative. Here is a recap of the meeting and various employment initiatives in the Federal Government.

Two percent by 2010
The HHS briefly reviewed their progress on "Two percent by 2010" which includes the Disability Hiring Expo on April 26th. HHS explained that if they can't fill their vacancies on the 26th, they may implement a Direct Hiring Authority for Health Care Implementation. A Direct Hiring Authority is an appointing authority that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) can give to Federal agencies for filling vacancies when the agency is unable to fill the vacancies through conventional means. "Two percent by 2010" is an initiative by the Computer/electronic Accommodations Program and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, set up to bring up the number of federal employees with disability to at least two percent by the end of 2010. Last year, Christine Griffin, Deputy Director of the OPM said that the number of targeted people with disabilities who work for the federal government was 0.8%. To bring the percentage up, the Department of Labor (DOL) and OPM set up the Disability Hiring Initiative, similar to a job fair for persons with disabilities. The HHS reported that there are 70 vacancies at HHS and more than 150 interviews scheduled for April 26th to fill these vacancies, out of 500 applicants.

Disability Hiring Day
There will be an overflow room for those not invited, or show up anyway. There will be people to advise and assist deaf and hard of hearing applicants who show up uninvited, but they will not get an interview or meet with any of the agencies on the 26th. If any vacancies cannot be filled as is hoped, they will be posted in USAJobs.

Training and Including the "Up and Coming" Disabled Workforce
We also discussed the Workforce Recruitment Program [2] (WRP). HHS set a goal to hire 90 college students with disabilities and give them the training and experience they need to go out in the world and get jobs. Additionally, the Veteran Hiring Initiative will give disabled vets internship opportunities to get the experience they need to qualify for positions in their field. HHS also set up a Leadership Development Program which is a two-year paid federal internship in where candidates will quickly learn how to be promoted from GS-9 to GS-12.

Last, but not least, we briefly discussed the Project SEARCH pilot program, in which 5-10 high school students with disabilities will be recruited and trained for jobs they would like to pursue. The goal of Project SEARCH is to provide younger generations with the skill set they need, with the hopes that they apply for a full-time job with the federal government.

NAD Advocacy of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Federal Jobs
The NAD will continue to advocate increasing the employment of deaf and hard of hearing people in the federal workforce by actively meeting with and advising federal managers about initiatives focused on hiring people with disabilities, including from the deaf and hard of hearing community. The NAD supports and collaborates with key organizations promoting deaf and hard of hearing people in the government, such as the Deaf & Hard of Hearing in Government (DHHIG).  Along with other disability organizations, NAD has called for a national level commission to develop new employment initatives. NAD has information for federal employees [3]. The NAD will continue to work to help the federal government become a model employer of deaf and hard of hearing people.