In the News & Happenings
Nov 17, 2006 1:23 PM
Historic Richmondtown Presents Interpreted Tours for the Deaf
Date: Sunday May 6, 2007 and every first Sunday of the month after that
Time: 2:00 pm
Place: Historic Richmondtown 441 Clarke Avenue SI NY
Price: $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3.50 for students with ID and children 6-17
Interpreters will be provided by The Seymour Joseph Institute of American Sign Language
To register call Historic Richmond Town at 718-351-1611 and press #280 for registration, or email Nicole Rego at Singhands@tmail.com subject Historic Richmondtown
To learn about Historic Richmondtown go to their website: http://www.historicrichmondtown.org
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ODEP News Release: [05/29/2007]
Contact Name: Richard Manning or Jennifer Kaplan
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676
Release Number: 07-0555-NAT
‘Workers with Disabilities: Talent for a Winning Team!’ is 2007 National Disability Employment Awareness Month theme WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced that "Workers with Disabilities: Talent for a Winning Team!" will be the official 2007 theme for National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which is observed in October nationwide.
"The 2007 'Talent for a Winning Team' theme captures the heart of the president's New Freedom Initiative, which is that Americans with disabilities are an underutilized reservoir of ambition, talent and skill ready to make great contributions in the workplace," said Secretary Chao.
Each October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month by congressional designation. The Labor Department's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) leads the nation's activities and produces materials to increase the public's awareness of the contributions and skills of American workers with disabilities. Typically, private sector; federal, state and local government; and advocacy organizations piggyback on the same theme to plan events and programs that showcase the abilities of employees and job candidates with disabilities.
"America's employers benefit when they provide opportunities for Americans with disabilities to work," said Roy Grizzard, assistant secretary of labor for ODEP. "A winning team will include people with disabilities."
ODEP is the nation's first assistant secretary-led office that specifically addresses policies that impact the employment of people with disabilities. For example, ODEP has developed methods for the 3,500 One-Stop Career Centers nationwide to serve people with barriers to employment, including individuals with disabilities. Also, collaborating with sister Labor Department agencies — the Employment and Training Administration and the Civil Rights Center — ODEP developed a disability checklist to assist with implementation of Section 188 of the Workforce Investment Act at the local level.
1-866-4-USA-DOL
TTY: 1-877-889-5627
Contact Us
U.S. Department of Labor
Frances Perkins Building
200 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20210
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UNITED NATIONS ADOPTS DISABILITY RIGHTS TREATY
From Disability Rights online News, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
On December 13, 2006, the United Nations adopted the first international human rights treaty of the 21st century, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It was the most rapidly negotiated human rights treaty in the history of international law, concluding a process that began five years ago. The treaty will be open for signature and ratification by U.N. member states beginning on March 30, 2007, and will enter into effect as soon as at least 20 countries have ratified it, which is expected to occur sometime within the next two years. Member states that have not yet enacted comprehensive domestic legislation protecting the rights of people with disabilities will be required to enact disability rights legislation upon ratification of the treaty. Currently, only 45 of the 192 countries that are UN members have such laws. In addition, member states that ratify an optional protocol to the treaty will confer upon their citizens the right to petition an international Committee on Rights of Persons with Disabilities once they have exhausted all avenues for relief within their own country.
The treaty was spearheaded and driven by the international disability community and was the first human rights treaty to gain momentum from lobbying conducted extensively through the Internet. It was negotiated by an Ad Hoc Committee of the General Assembly comprised of all U.N. member states. A Working Group of the Ad Hoc Committee led by disability NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) produced the draft text that formed the basis for the negotiations, an unprecedented level of NGO involvement in the treaty negotiation process.
Ambassador Don McKay of New Zealand, who chaired the Ad Hoc Committee sessions during the final two years, provided excellent stewardship of the negotiation process and is widely regarded as the key to the treaty becoming a reality. The United States was an active participant from the beginning, represented by a delegation of State Department officials and technical advisors from the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services who shared their expertise and experience with U.S. disability rights laws and helped to improve the text in several key areas.
Hailing the treaty on the day of its adoption, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated, “Today promises to be the dawn of a new era an era in which disabled people will no longer have to endure the discriminatory practices and attitudes that have been permitted to prevail for all too long. This convention is a remarkable and forward-looking document. While it focuses on the rights and development of people with disabilities, it also speaks about our societies as a whole – and about the need to enable every person to contribute to the best of their abilities and potential. Throughout the ages, the treatment of people with disabilities has brought out some of the very worst aspects of human nature. Too often, those living with disabilities have been seen as objects of embarrassment, and at best, of condescending pity and charity. Societies have even gone out of their way to ensure that persons with disabilities are neither seen nor heard. On paper, they may have enjoyed the same rights as others; in real life, they have often been relegated to the margins and denied the opportunities that others take for granted. . . [The treaty] will offer a way forward to ensure that those with disabilities enjoy the same human rights as everyone else.”
The treaty reaffirms the fundamental principles of the disability rights movement that was its inspiration and extends those principles globally. Recognizing that “persons with disabilities continue to face barriers to their participation as equal members of society and violations of their human rights in all parts of the world” and that “a comprehensive and integral international convention will make a significant contribution to redressing the profound social disadvantage of persons with disabilities and promote their participation in the civil, political, economic, social and cultural spheres,” the treaty’s central purpose is “to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities.” Among the core principles reflected in the treaty are respect for individual autonomy, nondiscrimination, accessibility, equality of opportunity, full and effective participation and inclusion in society, respect for difference, and acceptance of disability as a part of human diversity and humanity.
The treaty’s many detailed articles address issues such as access to justice, voting rights, and equal participation in political and public life; the right to be free from abuse, exploitation, medical or scientific experimentation, or institutionalization without due process; accessible buildings, communication and information technology; equal access to education, employment, health care and rehabilitation; independent living; protection during wars and humanitarian or natural disasters; participation in cultural, recreational and leisure activities; equal protection with respect to end-of-life decisions; availability of mobility aids; right to privacy; respect for choices relating to marriage and reproduction; and right to an adequate standard of living and social protection. The full text of the treaty is available at http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/convtexte.htm. Additional background information is available at http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/disovlf.htm.
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ODEP News Release: [08/30/2007]
Contact Name: Jennifer Kaplan or Richard Manning
Phone Number: (202) 693-5052 or x4676
Release Number: 07-1254-NAT
U.S. Labor Department awards nearly $1.9 million grant to establish National Technical Assistance Center on Transition and Employment for Youth with DisabilitiesWASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) today awarded a 24-month cooperative agreement for $1,850,000 to the Institute for Educational Leadership's Center for Workforce Development in Washington, D.C., to establish a National Technical Assistance Center on Transition and Employment for Youth with Disabilities.
"It is essential that youth with disabilities receive the support they need to stay in school and succeed in the workplace, so that they can realize their dreams and ambitions for the future," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "This nearly $1.9 million grant is to help ensure that youth with disabilities graduate from high school and get the assistance they need to continue their studies or enter the workforce."
The purpose of the National Technical Assistance Center will be to build the capacity of workforce development, economic development and educational service delivery systems to ensure that youth with disabilities graduate from high school and either enter employment or continue their education. A consortium led by the Center for Workforce Development will develop and promote quality collaborations and service coordination among agencies, programs and service providers at the national, state and local levels.
Through the new national center, the consortium will provide technical assistance to a minimum of three competitively selected states currently implementing individual learning and graduation planning strategies to ensure that policies and practices respond to the needs of youth with disabilities. It will conduct research, disseminate information and serve a wide range of stakeholders on topics relevant to improving postsecondary outcomes for youth with disabilities. Additionally, the consortium will advance youth-centered planning, development and leadership opportunities.
The other members of the consortium include the National Youth Employment Coalition, Washington, D.C.; the PACER Center, Minneapolis, Minn.; the Center on Education and Work at the University of Wisconsin — Madison; and the University of Minnesota's Institute for Community Integration in Minneapolis.
The Center for Workforce Development was selected as the lead entity of the consortium from grant applications submitted in response to a solicitation by the Labor Department.
ODEP is leading a 21st century federal response to the historic underemployment of people with disabilities. In collaboration with other government agencies, public and private employers, and additional stakeholders, ODEP facilitates the development and implementation of innovative policies and practices necessary to achieve a fully inclusive workplace. ODEP's work primarily falls into three categories: employers and the workplace; workforce systems; and employment-related supports, which include education and training, health care, reliable transportation, affordable housing and assistive technology.
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Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center and its venues are now more accessible to people with disabilities than ever before. Visitors are invited to take guided tours of the Lincoln Center complex on a daily basis.
For group reservations, please call one day in advance at 212-875-5351.
If you are a person who uses a wheelchair, please let the Tour Desk know, so that accessible entrances can be opened.
For patrons who a deaf or hard of hearing, American Sign Language tours are offered the last Thursday of every month at 1 pm. Sign Language tours must be reserved two weeks in advance. To make reservations for Sign Lanuage tours, please call 212-875-5374.
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Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway
Special Tours for adults who are blind or partially sighted and their friends
Every Tuesday afternoon
FREE guided tours, including touch tours, of selected Museum collections, on Tuesday afternoons between 2 and 4 p.m.
Reservations are required three weeks in advance; space is limited to ten people.
Call 718-501-6225 or email access@brooklynmuseum.org
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TTY: 1-877-889-5627
Contact Us
Frances Perkins Building
200 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20210
Contact Name: Jennifer Kaplan or Richard Manning
Phone Number: (202) 693-5052 or x4676
Release Number: 07-1254-NAT
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) today awarded a 24-month cooperative agreement for $1,850,000 to the Institute for Educational Leadership's Center for Workforce Development in Washington, D.C., to establish a National Technical Assistance Center on Transition and Employment for Youth with Disabilities.
"It is essential that youth with disabilities receive the support they need to stay in school and succeed in the workplace, so that they can realize their dreams and ambitions for the future," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "This nearly $1.9 million grant is to help ensure that youth with disabilities graduate from high school and get the assistance they need to continue their studies or enter the workforce."
The purpose of the National Technical Assistance Center will be to build the capacity of workforce development, economic development and educational service delivery systems to ensure that youth with disabilities graduate from high school and either enter employment or continue their education. A consortium led by the Center for Workforce Development will develop and promote quality collaborations and service coordination among agencies, programs and service providers at the national, state and local levels.
Through the new national center, the consortium will provide technical assistance to a minimum of three competitively selected states currently implementing individual learning and graduation planning strategies to ensure that policies and practices respond to the needs of youth with disabilities. It will conduct research, disseminate information and serve a wide range of stakeholders on topics relevant to improving postsecondary outcomes for youth with disabilities. Additionally, the consortium will advance youth-centered planning, development and leadership opportunities.
The other members of the consortium include the National Youth Employment Coalition, Washington, D.C.; the PACER Center, Minneapolis, Minn.; the Center on Education and Work at the University of Wisconsin — Madison; and the University of Minnesota's Institute for Community Integration in Minneapolis.
The Center for Workforce Development was selected as the lead entity of the consortium from grant applications submitted in response to a solicitation by the Labor Department.
ODEP is leading a 21st century federal response to the historic underemployment of people with disabilities. In collaboration with other government agencies, public and private employers, and additional stakeholders, ODEP facilitates the development and implementation of innovative policies and practices necessary to achieve a fully inclusive workplace. ODEP's work primarily falls into three categories: employers and the workplace; workforce systems; and employment-related supports, which include education and training, health care, reliable transportation, affordable housing and assistive technology.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center and its venues are now more accessible to people with disabilities than ever before. Visitors are invited to take guided tours of the Lincoln Center complex on a daily basis.
For group reservations, please call one day in advance at 212-875-5351.
If you are a person who uses a wheelchair, please let the Tour Desk know, so that accessible entrances can be opened.
For patrons who a deaf or hard of hearing, American Sign Language tours are offered the last Thursday of every month at 1 pm. Sign Language tours must be reserved two weeks in advance. To make reservations for Sign Lanuage tours, please call 212-875-5374.
*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway
Special Tours for adults who are blind or partially sighted and their friends
Every Tuesday afternoon
FREE guided tours, including touch tours, of selected Museum collections, on Tuesday afternoons between 2 and 4 p.m.
Reservations are required three weeks in advance; space is limited to ten people.
Call 718-501-6225 or email access@brooklynmuseum.org
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