Approximately 1.5 million adults are under active guardianship or conservatorship, according to Bloomberg Law. An unknown number of these adults are young adults with disabilities, often intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD). These young adults are often funneled into guardianship by what the National Council on Disability (NCD) in its 2018 report called the “school-to-guardianship pipeline,” a phenomenon where schools are, by default, recommending to parents that they start the process of assuming guardianship over their disabled child before they become an adult. Continue Reading
New Publication – BBI’s Senior Director for Law and Policy Jonathan Martinis featured in an article by the ABA today. Addressing the School-to-Guardianship Pipeline
New Research Brief – Exploring Disparities in Poverty Rates Among People with Disabilities
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted in 1990 to promote, among other goals, economic self-sufficiency for people with disabilities. Nevertheless, many people with disabilities do not achieve this goal. In fact, people with disabilities and other underserved groups are disproportionately affected by poverty. Research shows that having a disability results in a higher risk of experiencing poverty. Underlying explanations point to people with disabilities not only having fewer opportunities for well-paying jobs, but also having extra costs associated with their disabilities, including medical treatment, care, housing, and transportation. Despite this well-established link between poverty and disability, the relationship between these factors and other characteristics such as race, ethnicity, and gender, remains understudied. Continue Reading
New Research Brief – Dismantling Barriers: How Disability, Race, and Other Characteristics Influence Employment Outcomes
Because understanding intersectionality is critical in creating inclusive and effective policies and practices that reach all people with disabilities, we at the Southeast ADA Center are undertaking a four-part research project to identify the ways in which multiple forms of discrimination can intersect and compound and lead to disparate ADA-related outcomes. Continue Reading
Disability Inclusion in Corporate Supplier Diversity Initiatives
Author(s): Nanette Goodman, Fatma Altunkol Wise, Fitore Hyseni, Lauren Gilbert, & Peter Blanck
Citation:
Goodman, N., Wise, F. A., Hyseni, F., Gilbert, L., & Blanck, P. (2024). Disability Inclusion in Corporate Supplier Diversity Initiatives. Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 10.1007/s10926-024-10190-2. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-024-10190-2
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Overview:
Purpose: Since the 1960s, federal and state governments and private-sector companies have used supplier diversity initiatives to ensure their supply chains include businesses owned by traditionally economically disadvantaged or underrepresented groups. Originally concentrated on racial and ethnic minority groups, programs have expanded to include businesses owned by women, veterans, LGBTQ+ individuals, and, in some cases, people with disabilities. This study investigates the extent to which disability is included in supplier diversity initiatives of Fortune 500 companies.
Methods: This paper uses a novel data set created by the authors with information on supplier diversity initiatives and Disability, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statements in Fortune 500 companies extracted from public sources. This information is combined with data from Compustat, a corporate financial database published by Standard and Poor’s and additional variables from other sources.
Results: 75% of the Fortune 500 companies have supplier diversity programs that express a commitment to diversity yet only 49% of those with such programs include disability-owned businesses (38% of all Fortune 500 companies). Among the largest 100 companies, 89% had supplier diversity programs that included disability, almost 6 times the rate Ball et al. reported in 2005. This study finds disability inclusion varies significantly by company size, industry, and whether the company is a government contractor.
Conclusion: Despite the growth in disability inclusion, the absence of disability as a diversity category in regulations mandating supplier diversity initiatives for government contractors impacts disability inclusion. If we want to align our supplier diversity programs with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the first step is to address the issue in the Small Business Administration and federal contracting requirements.
Keywords: Corporate social responsibility#Disability inclusion#Disability-owned businesses#Supplier diversity