> Barriers keep employable people with disabilities from working
Barriers keep employable people with disabilities from working
Contact:
Adrienne Wasik, 1.250.267.8893 (cell), awasik@sfu.ca
Karen-Marie Woods, 778.322.0083, kmwoods@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, 778.782.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca
Adrienne Wasik, 1.250.267.8893 (cell), awasik@sfu.ca
Karen-Marie Woods, 778.322.0083, kmwoods@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, 778.782.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca
April 10, 2008
A new study co-authored by Simon Fraser University students says
several barriers are preventing potentially employable people with
disabilities in British Columbia from working.
The barriers include inflexible and poorly communicated income assistance policies and insufficient government funding for innovative and successful employment strategies for persons with disabilities.
SFU anthropology students Adrienne Wasik (doctoral candidate) and Karen-Marie Woods (master’s candidate) are among six authors of Removing Barriers To Work: Flexible Options for People with Disabilities in BC. They released their study through the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
Woods emphasizes, “the population that our report addresses are those people who are able to work part-time or episodically due to the nature of their disability. The structure of the system often hinders rather then helps people in these kinds of situations.”
Wasik and Woods compared income assistance, support and communication polices in provincial government-run employment programs with those run by eight community- and college-based employment providers and seven social enterprises. The latter hire people with disabilities and provide more on-the-job supports and flexibility than mainstream employers.
Wasik and Woods applaud the B.C. government for increasing the earning exemption for people on disability benefits. Since 2006, people claiming disability benefits can earn up to $500 per month in addition to their disability benefit. However, the study found that only 16 per cent of people on disability benefits make use of the earning exemption.
The government recently allowed people who move from disability income assistance to employment to maintain enhanced medical and dental benefits accompanying disability benefits. Wasik and Woods found that none of the organizations and social enterprises, and reportedly none of their clients or employees, in this study knew about the updated policy.
“What is the point of bringing in progressive policies like these if few can access them, or no one knows about them,” says Wasik.
Woods says community- and college-based employment programs and social enterprises are more flexible and sensitive to individual needs than government programs. “Many of the government-sponsored programs withdrew support two weeks or a couple of months after job placement,” says Woods. “We found that high success rates were connected to the availability of employment support six months or years down the road. Also, the most successful programs were ones that were tailored to an individual’s unique needs, interests and desires.”
The report makes several recommendations for increasing the employment of people with disabilities. They include making sure that front line Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance staff and agencies working with disabled people have clear and concise information about the ministry’s employment policies.
Note: Wasik, a Vancouver resident, is pursuing doctoral work in Williams Lake. Woods resides in East Vancouver.
Backgrounder: Barriers keep employable people with disabilities from working
The authors of this CCPA study wanted to know why, despite B.C.’s booming economy and need for workers, the number of people with disabilities moving off government income assistance into employment has declined in recent years. Only 44 per cent of adults with disabilities are employed. That compares to more than 80 per cent of people without disabilities being in the workforce.
“For those people on disability benefits who can work, their standard of living and quality of life depends on being able to access both the benefits of employment and provincial assistance. People on disability benefits fear testing their capacity to work because they are worried they will lose their provincial assistance.”
In this study, Wasik and Woods found that community- and college-based employment providers and social enterprises were significantly more successful in employing disabled people and sustaining their employment. While the province’s Employment Programs for People with Disabilities placed only 12.5 per cent of disabled people applying for jobs, external employment providers placed 36 to 81 percent. The drop out rate of people employed in the government’s program ranged from 59 to 78 percent; the drop out rate in the external programs was zero to 23 per cent.
— 30 —
The barriers include inflexible and poorly communicated income assistance policies and insufficient government funding for innovative and successful employment strategies for persons with disabilities.
SFU anthropology students Adrienne Wasik (doctoral candidate) and Karen-Marie Woods (master’s candidate) are among six authors of Removing Barriers To Work: Flexible Options for People with Disabilities in BC. They released their study through the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
Woods emphasizes, “the population that our report addresses are those people who are able to work part-time or episodically due to the nature of their disability. The structure of the system often hinders rather then helps people in these kinds of situations.”
Wasik and Woods compared income assistance, support and communication polices in provincial government-run employment programs with those run by eight community- and college-based employment providers and seven social enterprises. The latter hire people with disabilities and provide more on-the-job supports and flexibility than mainstream employers.
Wasik and Woods applaud the B.C. government for increasing the earning exemption for people on disability benefits. Since 2006, people claiming disability benefits can earn up to $500 per month in addition to their disability benefit. However, the study found that only 16 per cent of people on disability benefits make use of the earning exemption.
The government recently allowed people who move from disability income assistance to employment to maintain enhanced medical and dental benefits accompanying disability benefits. Wasik and Woods found that none of the organizations and social enterprises, and reportedly none of their clients or employees, in this study knew about the updated policy.
“What is the point of bringing in progressive policies like these if few can access them, or no one knows about them,” says Wasik.
Woods says community- and college-based employment programs and social enterprises are more flexible and sensitive to individual needs than government programs. “Many of the government-sponsored programs withdrew support two weeks or a couple of months after job placement,” says Woods. “We found that high success rates were connected to the availability of employment support six months or years down the road. Also, the most successful programs were ones that were tailored to an individual’s unique needs, interests and desires.”
The report makes several recommendations for increasing the employment of people with disabilities. They include making sure that front line Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance staff and agencies working with disabled people have clear and concise information about the ministry’s employment policies.
Note: Wasik, a Vancouver resident, is pursuing doctoral work in Williams Lake. Woods resides in East Vancouver.
Backgrounder: Barriers keep employable people with disabilities from working
The authors of this CCPA study wanted to know why, despite B.C.’s booming economy and need for workers, the number of people with disabilities moving off government income assistance into employment has declined in recent years. Only 44 per cent of adults with disabilities are employed. That compares to more than 80 per cent of people without disabilities being in the workforce.
“For those people on disability benefits who can work, their standard of living and quality of life depends on being able to access both the benefits of employment and provincial assistance. People on disability benefits fear testing their capacity to work because they are worried they will lose their provincial assistance.”
In this study, Wasik and Woods found that community- and college-based employment providers and social enterprises were significantly more successful in employing disabled people and sustaining their employment. While the province’s Employment Programs for People with Disabilities placed only 12.5 per cent of disabled people applying for jobs, external employment providers placed 36 to 81 percent. The drop out rate of people employed in the government’s program ranged from 59 to 78 percent; the drop out rate in the external programs was zero to 23 per cent.
— 30 —