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Disability
Hiring Hindered...
The biggest obstacles for individuals with disabilities entering the civil
service is getting hired in the first place, not their ability to do the job
or agencies' ability to accommodate their needs.
Richard Horne, a disability
expert, said individuals with disabilities are often at a further disadvantage
because agencies limit the types of positions people with disabilities
can fill.
"It's not the disability that's the barrier, it's the culture
and environment," said Horne, Senior Policy Analyst for the
Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities.
However, the government has myriad of resources for managers to
learn about Reasonable Accommodations and how to acquire them, Horne
said during the Public Administration Forum's seminar
Federal Disability Employment Strategies: Hiring, Accommodating
and Retaining Employees with Disabilities.
In July 2000, former President Clinton issued Executive Order
13163, requiring agencies to hire 100,000 people with disabilities
over five years. But it has yet to have much of an impact.
The Office of Personnel Management's Rosemary
Downing said the
government has been trying to increase the representation of people
with disabilities for at least a decade. But in that time, their
representation has increased from 6.7 percent to 6.8 percent of
the federal workforce.
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