UNT offers support system to employ people with disabilities

According to the National Council on Disability, two-thirds of Americans with disabilities remain unemployed, despite being fully capable of working. The council also says that unemployment rates for people with disabilities are higher than those for any group in the country, even in the difficult, current economic times.

The UNT Urban Workforce Program was created to address this problem for people with disabilities in southern Dallas.

"The idea is to further solidify the bond between the university and the disabled community," says Paul Leung, professor of rehabilitation, social work and addictions and director of the Urban Workforce Program. Leung specializes in rehabilitating people with disabilities so they can join the work force.

"We're going out into the community to determine the employment-related needs of people with disabilities so that we can work together to address them," he says.

The Urban Workforce Program operates out of the UNT Department of Rehabilitation, Social Work and Addictions. It was created with a $200,000 two-year grant to provide intermediaries between employers and people with disabilities. The program will work in conjunction with established state and federal organizations that assist people with disabilities in the area as well as with employers and community organizations. Initially, the goal is to offer a discussion forum for people with disabilities.

Currently, members of the UNT Department of Rehabilitation, Social Work and Addictions are interviewing people with disabilities in the southern Dallas area to document their work experiences and determine their needs. Faculty will meet with both individuals and small groups.

Already, the faculty in the program have met with individual community members and found that some of the leading problems faced are transportation and discrimination.

Solutions to transportation problems can be as simple as altering a bus route to drop off individuals in wheelchairs closer to their workplace or as complicated as lobbying for changes to accommodate the disabled, Leung says.

"And even in modern times, people still feel a great deal of discomfort around persons with disabilities," he says. "Employers tend to limit or ignore the abilities of these individuals or steer clear of hiring them because of their disabilities."

BY RUFUS COLEMAN rcoleman@unt.edu

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