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  3. National Disability Employment Awareness Month

National Disability Employment Awareness Month

October 1, 2024

  ACL Blog: ACL Celebrates NDEAM’s “Access to Good 
Jobs for All”: The Spirit of the DD Act

Every October, National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) offers an opportunity to celebrate the many contributions of people with disabilities to America’s workplaces and economy. Led by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), NDEAM also showcases supportive andA promotional poster for National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) with the theme "Access to Good Jobs for All." It features several circular images of diverse people with disabilities engaged in various professional settings: a woman with gray hair reviewing a document with a younger woman, a healthcare worker using sign language, a woman with a prosthetic leg in a business meeting, construction workers reviewing blueprints, a woman in a wheelchair working on a laptop, and a man in a wheelchair using a desktop computer. The bottom of the image shows a road leading into the distance, symbolizing progress. The top-right corner includes the hashtag #NDEAM and the URL dol.gov/odep. The U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy logo appears at the bottom. inclusive policies and practices benefiting workers and employers.

“Our theme in 2024, ‘Access to Good Jobs for All,’ speaks to our commitment to expand the number of employment opportunities for people with disabilities and the quality of those opportunities,” explains Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy Taryn M. Williams. “Good jobs change lives and all workers — including disabled people — deserve the opportunity to prepare for success in high-quality, good-paying jobs in workplaces free of discrimination.” Read the press release.

NDEAM Materials from ODEP

ACL & Employment

Employment is an important part of community inclusion for people with disabilities. Competitive, integrated employment (CIE) – working in the community, alongside people with and without disabilities, at competitive wages – offers a direct pathway to greater independence and self-sufficiency for people with disabilities. Employers can also benefit by having a larger and more diverse talent pool when hiring.

ACL is committed to expanding employment opportunities for people with disabilities. In addition to funding programs that provide direct employment support services to people with disabilities and advocating for policies and practices that prioritize and support CIE as a key element of community living, ACL also is investing in research to increase knowledge about the benefits of employment of people with disabilities – both for the individual and for the employer – and to increase the availability of effective interventions to support employment. 

ACL-Funded Work
  • Community Collaborations for Employment: A five-year grant to seven grantees (six are UCEDDs). Launched in September 2021, these grants are designed to fund broad stakeholder collaborations that will increase community capacity to better facilitate the transition of youth with developmental disabilities between schools and the community and support adults to optimize their opportunities for competitive integrated employment.
  • Employment Longitudinal Data Project: A collaboration with the Institute for Community Inclusion / UMass Boston to identify trends and effectiveness of initiatives surrounding day and employment services to support the full inclusion of individuals with I/DD.
  • AoD Disability Employment TA Center: Transforming Networks through System Change, Innovation & Collaboration: A cross-program, evidence-based training and technical assistance center to support AoD grantees further expand their knowledge, skills, and partnerships to improve alignment around a common goal focused on increasing competitive integrated employment and economic self-sufficiency for people with disabilities.
ACL & Network Material Highlights
ACL Programs Working on Employment
Employment Research Grants, Including Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers

ACL's NIDILRR funds 40 active research grants focused on employment outcomes among people with disabilities. These include the following research and training center grants. 

Resources From ACL's Disability Employment Technical Assistance Center (DETAC)

Resources From Federal Partners

Past NDEAM Highlights

Advancing Equity and Access to Employment Through Assistive Technology
ACL blog post by Jennifer Johnson, Deputy Commissioner, Administration on Disabilities, and Rob Groenendaal, Assistive Technology Program Manager, 2023


Last modified on 11/01/2024


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