In the News

Springfield Journal-Register, November 18, 2007

In 2005 and 2006, Kerry Jennings sent at least 150 resumes to employers in central Illinois. He found no takers.

The 36-year-old holds a bachelor's degree in social work and two related associate's diplomas. He also has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair.

For about a year now, he has worked part time for the Statewide Independent Living Council of Illinois, a Springfield-based advocacy organization. But come Dec. 31, his on-the-job evaluation grant from the state Department of Human Services will expire, and he'll likely be back on the job market.

If that occurs, Jennings will join 488,000 other disabled Illinoisans who are unemployed, according to DHS. Collectively, the jobless rate for the state's disabled is 67.8 percent. And that may be a lowball estimate.

"The 67.8 percent in my opinion are the people who are still looking," Jennings said, adding that he has friends who have become discouraged and have stopped trying to find jobs. "We believe it may be as high as 80 percent."

"A lot of employers are leery of hiring people with disabilities," said Gerard Broeker, executive director of the independent living council. They worry about how much physical accommodations might cost, or how much hiring a disabled person will add to their health insurance rates.

Those fears usually are unfounded, said Broeker, who is a quadriplegic as a result of a spinal cord injury. Most physical accommodations cost less than $500, he said, pointing to $15 mail-order rubber stands that raise the legs of the conference table in the agency's downtown Springfield office and allow his and Jennings' wheelchairs to slide under it. Some of the costs can be offset through federal tax credits, he said.

And depending on their pay rate, Broeker said, many disabled employees can qualify for a state program that allows them to obtain health-care coverage through Medicaid. In those cases, employers could simply pay the worker's Medicaid costs, so long as the state-federal pro-_gram offers an "equivalent benefit" to the health insurance other employees receive, he said.

Jennings calls such perceptions "attitudinal barriers."

"They perceive our disability before our ability," he said.

Broeker said that contrary to what employers might expect, disabled employees actually miss less work than their able-bodied counterparts. They are grateful to have a job, he said, and "they don't want to mess it up."

"The biggest thing that needs to happen is, potential employers need to be educated about misconceptions," Broeker said.

Janet Stover, executive director of the Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, agrees.

Barriers to disabled workers, she said, include "the lack of information that employers have about employing people with disabilities, and some myths that exist out there about their job readiness, their ability to do the job, the cost of accommodations and those sorts of things."

But perhaps even more critical, Stover said, are other impediments for disabled people to find work.

Those receiving checks under the federal Supplemental Security Income program actually could lose money in low-paying jobs. But worse, she said, they also could forfeit their health insurance if an employer doesn't provide it or they can't afford it because of pre-existing conditions.

"Those are the kind of employment disincentives that I think cause individuals with disabilities to be very concerned about taking employment," she said.

Also, Stover said the increased minimum wage - which her agency supports - attracts more non-disabled workers to training-level jobs that might otherwise go to disabled employees. Employers often are more willing to hire able-bodied workers because they don't have to make accommodations.

Several pieces of state legislation might reduce some of the stigma associated with hiring disabled workers, Stover said.

House Bill 3498 would provide state tax credits to employers who hire workers with disabilities, as well as for companies that subcontract with a community agency to provide job training.

Senate Bill 156 also would provide tax incentives, as well requiring state government to hire more disabled employees and setting up an education program to promote the benefits for companies and workers.

"The fact remains that the state doesn't do enough to reach out to people with disabilities," said Sen. Susan Garrett, D-Lake Forest, the sponsor of SB156. She said she has heard from many parents whose children are employable but have disabilities.

Jennings hopes money can be found to put him on full time at the independent living council, perhaps as an advocate in the legislature for those with disabilities.

"It's been really a big help having him," Broeker said.

As a single father trying to support two children, when Jennings lost his position at The Hope School in Springfield in 2005, "I struggled mightily to find another job."

"But unfortunately," Broeker adds, "there's not much out there to find."