Disability employment programs to be discussed

By Shayna Coleon
Advertiser Staff Writer

A U.S. assistant secretary of labor will meet with Hawai'i representatives from disability employment programs Monday to discuss the president's New Freedom Initiative and the state's employment programs for people with disabilities.

Roy Grizzard, U.S. assistant secretary of labor for the Office of Disability Employment Policy, will explain President Bush's New Freedom Initiative goal to integrate individuals with disabilities into the work force, said executive director Francine Wai of the Hawaii Disability and Communications Access Board, a local advocacy group for people with disabilities.

The meeting at the Hawai'i Center for Independent Living will also provide key disability policy shapers in Hawai'i with an opportunity to more clearly understand how the Bush administration is handling disability employment programs nationwide, Wai said.

It is important to understand the administration's position because some state programs apply for federally funded grants, and others are receiving federal money, Wai said.

About 25 directors and staff of the state's Department of Human Services Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Hawaii Disability and Communications Access Board, Hawaii Centers for Independent Living and the Imua Keiki Project will attend the meeting.

The participants will also have a chance to talk about innovative and new disability employment programs they have started in the state, Wai said.

Members of the Imua Keiki Project, a program that helps disabled youths transition from high school to the work force, will update Grizzard on its two-year pilot program, said Dan Anderson, an official from the Pacific Basin Rehabilitation Research and Training Center that helps the state with the Imua Project.

"There's still room for improvement," Anderson said. "Everything we do is to improve the services for people with special needs, but to do that we are always looking at assessing what we do and sharing that information with others."