NCD Nominees Announced

FROM THE NRCA Capitol Insider:
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, announced on March 10 that the Committee had approved nominations to fill positions at the National Council on Disability and other federal agencies. The nominees now move to the full Senate for confirmation. The nominees for NCD membership are:

• Gary Blumenthal of Massachusetts
• Chester Alonzo Finn of New York (a board member of The Arc)
• Sara A. Gelser of Oregon
• Ari Ne'eman of Maryland (who formerly worked on UCP's Life Without Limits project)
• Dongwoo Joseph Pak of California
• Carol Jean Reynolds of Colorado
• Fernando Torres-Gill of California
• Jonathan M. Young of Maryland

NCD Quarterly Meetings in Washington, DC

The National Council on Disability Needs Your Input—Economic Stimulus Package
NCD is interested in examples of expenditures from the economic stimulus package being put to use in each state, and how it is affecting people with disabilities. For example, the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agency in Ohio is using stimulus money to hire retired VR counselors to handle the increased workload. If you know of other specific examples that will help people with disabilities, please send them to us at ncd@ncd.gov.

Future Quarterly Meetings
Summer 2009, July 20–22, Marriott City Center, 30 South 7th Street, Minneapolis, MN
Fall 2009, October 26–28, Holiday Inn Express, 920 Broadway, Nashville, TN
Winter 2010, January 19–21, Houston, TX
Spring 2010, April 26–28, Detroit, MI
Summer 2010, July 28–29, Renaissance Hotel, Washington, DC, immediately following the National Summit on Disability Policy at the same location.
Please visit http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/quarterly/quarterly.htm for updated information about all meetings when it becomes available.

NCD: More Fed Jobs for People with Disabilties

WASHINGTON VIA NRCA—The National Council on Disability (NCD) says current efforts to employ people with disabilities in the Federal Government have not worked well, and recommends reversing this trend in a new paper, "Federal Employment of People with Disabilities". It is available at: http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2009/pdf/Federal_Employment_of_People_with_Disabilities.pdf), Recommendations include improved federal hiring and advancement of employees with disabilities. The paper also summarizes legal authority, policy guidance, federal responsibilities, barriers to hiring and advancement, provisions for reasonable accommodations, and agency initiatives.

NCD Opens Phone Access for Report Releases

FROM THE NRCA LISTSERV:
In response to numerous requests, NCD has arranged for telephone access for those who would like to listen to the release proceedings of two important NCD reports on Tuesday March 31, 2009, at the NCD quarterly meeting in Washington.
The toll-free, call-in, listen-only number for each event is 888-790-6568, and the pass code is “NCD Meeting.”
Release 1: Federal Employment of People with Disabilities (An evaluation of the employment of people with disabilities within the Federal Government):
10:15 a.m. EDT – 11:00 a.m. EDT
Release 2: National Disability Policy: A Progress Report (This is the mandated report to the President and Congress prepared by the Council which includes 17 recommendations) 3:45 p.m. EDT – 5:00 p.m. EDT