Janet Fiore, CEO of The Sierra Group, is a national authority on disability policy and practices for business.
Janet Fiore, CEO The Sierra Group Inc. offers testimony for the Small Business Committee hearing on September 24, 2002.
The testimony focuses on the major role that small businesses are playing helping individuals with disabilities lead productive and self-fulfilled live through employment and ownership of small businesses.
We're all familiar with the often cited statistic of 54 Million Americans with Disabilities, but do we know 'who' is included in this group?
In a recent interview with the Philadelphia Business Journal regarding Best Practices in Employment, it became apparent to me that the journalist, like many folks that I meet, was not familiar with the broad list of impairments that constitute a disability. While there are several definitions of disability, the 54 Million Americans statistic that so many of us cite is based on a variety of functional limits. Perhaps the most important source of data on this number comes from an August 1997 Household Economics Study Report (P70-61) for the Department of Commerce that uses Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) data - that speaks to Americans with disabilities of all ages. While this data speaks to folks who are not necessarily 'in the job market' the definitions are relevant in clarifying the extent and types of disabilities that we may encounter in the workforce. The extensive information collected in SIPP makes it possible to relate disability status to a range of variables including income, employment, health insurance coverage, and the receipt of program benefits.
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