National Council on Disability
Encyclopedia
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
to guarantee equal opportunity
Equal opportunity
Equal opportunity, or equality of opportunity, is a controversial political concept; and an important informal decision-making standard without a precise definition involving fair choices within the public sphere...
for people with disabilities. NCD is composed of 15 members, appointed by the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The Rehabilitation Act Amendments
1973 Rehabilitation Act
The U.S. Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by Federal agencies, in programs receiving Federal financial assistance, in Federal employment, and in the employment practices of Federal contractors...
of 1984 made NCD an independent agency
Agency (law)
The law of agency is an area of commercial law dealing with a contractual or quasi-contractual, or non-contractual set of relationships when a person, called the agent, is authorized to act on behalf of another to create a legal relationship with a third party...
. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
The overall purpose of the agency is to promote policies, programs, practices, and procedures to give all people with disabilities equal opportunity
Equal opportunity
Equal opportunity, or equality of opportunity, is a controversial political concept; and an important informal decision-making standard without a precise definition involving fair choices within the public sphere...
with the end goal being economic
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
self-sufficiency
Self-sufficiency
Self-sufficiency refers to the state of not requiring any outside aid, support, or interaction, for survival; it is therefore a type of personal or collective autonomy...
and independent living
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
.
Specific Duties
The statutory mandate of the NCD includes the following duties:- Review and evaluate federal policies, programs, practices, and procedures concerning people with disabilities, including programs established or assisted under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act.
- Review and evaluate all statutes and regulations pertaining to federal programs that assist people with disabilities, to assess their effectiveness in meeting the needs of these people.
- Review and evaluate emerging federal, stateU.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
, localLocal governmentLocal government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
, and private sectorPrivate sectorIn economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...
policy issues that affect people with disabilities, including the need for and coordination of adult services, access to personal assistance services, schoolSchoolA school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
reform efforts and the impact of these efforts on persons with disabilities, access to health care, and policies that operate as disincentives for individuals to seek and retain employment. - Make recommendations to the President, Congress, the Secretary of Education, the Director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and other officials of federal agencies regarding ways to promote equal opportunity, economic self-sufficiency, independent living, and inclusion and integration into all aspects of society for Americans with disabilities.
- Provide Congress with advice, recommendations, legislative proposals, and other information that NCD or Congress deems appropriate.
- Gather information about the implementation, effectiveness, and impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.
- Advise the President, Congress, the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration, the Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education, and the Director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research on the development of programs to be carried out under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.
- Advise the Commissioner on the policies and conduct of the Rehabilitation Services Administration.
- Make recommendations to the Director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research on research affecting people with disabilities.
- Advise the Interagency Disability Coordinating Council on priorities for its activities and review the recommendations of the council for legislative and administrative changes.
- Prepare and submit to the President and Congress an annual report, National Disability Policy: A Progress Report.
Consumers Served and Current Activities
While many government agencies deal with issues and programs affecting people with disabilities, NCD is unique in that it is the only federal agency charged with addressing, analyzing, and making recommendations on issues of public policy that affect people with disabilities regardless of age, disability type, perceived employment potential, economic need, specific functional ability, status as a veteran, or other individual circumstance. NCD recognizes its unique opportunity to facilitate independent living, community integration, and employment opportunities for people with disabilities by ensuring an informed and coordinated approach to addressing the concerns of people with disabilities and eliminating barriers to their active participation in community and family life.NCD is also proud to have played a pivotal role in the adoption of the ADA in 1990. Since that time, NCD has been a valuable contributor in promoting successful disability policies in many areas, including education, transportation, emergency preparedness, international disability rights, employment, foster youth with disabilities, vocational rehabilitation, livable communities, and crime victims with disabilities to name a few.
History
In 1984 a minuscule advisory body in the Department of Education (ED), known then as the National Council on the Handicapped, was elevated to the status of an independent federal agency. The legislation that made what is now called the National Council on Disability (NCD) independent also gave it an ambitious agenda that greatly exceeded its size and modest resources. Among other duties, it was charged with reviewing all federal laws and programs affecting people with disabilities and assessing the extent to which those laws and programs encouraged the establishment of community-based services; promoted full integration in the community, schools, and the workplace; and contributed to the independence and dignity of people with disabilities. NCD was then directed to use this assessment to recommend legislative proposals to increase incentives and eliminate disincentives in federal programs. Finally, NCD was to present this information in a report to the President and Congress. To complete this imposing task, NCD’s 15 Council members and its small staff were given two years.These responsibilities were in addition to other ongoing, statutorily mandated duties such as establishing general policies for and overseeing research activities sponsored by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR); reviewing and evaluating federal rehabilitation programs; and advising the President, Congress, the Commissioner of Rehabilitation, the appropriate Assistant Secretary of ED, and the Director of NIDRR on the development of programs carried out under the Rehabilitation Act. In periodic revisions to NCD’s statutory mission, Congress has not only continued most of the original duties assigned to NCD but has added more. In 1992, for example, NCD was asked to “review and evaluate on a continuing basis new and emerging disability policy issues affecting individuals with disabilities at the federal, state, and local levels, and in the private sector, including the need for and coordination of adult services, access to personal assistance services, school reform efforts and the impact of such efforts on individuals with disabilities, access to health care, and policies that operate as disincentives for the individuals to seek and retain employment.”
Out of a profound sense of the importance of its mission, unwavering optimism about the future of Americans with disabilities, and perhaps, at times, an underestimation of the massive tasks it undertook, NCD has never shied away from its designated duties. NCD believes that this determination has produced an impressive body of accomplishments. In some ways, NCD has been a “mouse that roared.” NCD is aware that during its 32 years it has been fortunate in having highly capable Council members and staff as well as the consistent support of Congress and the various administrations it has served.
The period since 1984 has been an important one in the evolution of the status and rights of people with disabilities in the United States. Although the 1970s have been characterized as a shift “from charity to rights,” when individuals with disabilities sought to establish through court cases and protest actions that they were entitled to basic civil and human rights, the past two decades have seen equal opportunity, independent living, integration, and full participation—values specifically adopted in NCD’s statutory purpose—emerge as the official objectives of the Federal Government’s laws, programs, and policies. Such progress has placed NCD front and center in offering recommendations for achieving these objectives and for identifying ways in which current efforts are falling short.
NCD’s key contribution has been to serve as a focal point within the Federal Government for issues affecting people with disabilities. NCD fields thousands of telephone calls, e-mail messages, and letters each year from concerned individuals and organizations, and its award-winning Web site receives nearly eight million hits annually. NCD disseminates important disability-related information through its monthly NCD Bulletin, special mailings, articles, special reports, annual reports, brochures, position papers, alerts to other disability organizations, the Internet, and ongoing interaction with the news media.
NCD Reports
In addition to the numerous meetings, discussions, consultations, comments, briefings, press events, awards, conferences, and various other activities in which NCD has engaged, NCD has generated a large quantity of documents over the past 32 years. NCD’s Web site makes available different kinds of written products, including reports, papers, news releases, presentations, speeches, testimony, and monthly issues of the NCD Bulletin. This section does not attempt to recount or summarize all these diverse documents, although they are often significant and informative. NCD reports can be reviewed and downloaded from its Web site.National Council on Disability Members
Jonathan Young, Chairman;Marylyn Howe, Vice Chairperson;
Gary Blumenthal;
Victoria Ray Carlson;
Robert R. Davila;
Chester Finn;
Sara Gelser;
Heather McCallum;
Lonnie Moore;
Dongwoo Joseph "Joe" Pak
Carol Jean Reynolds;
Fernando M. Torres-Gil;
Linda Wetters.