Text 5051, 167 rader
Skriven 2007-07-27 23:30:56 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0707272) for Fri, 2007 Jul 27
====================================================

===========================================================================
Fact Sheet: Six Years of Progress Under the President's New Freedom
Initiative
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary July 27, 2007

Fact Sheet: Six Years of Progress Under the President's New Freedom
Initiative 2007 Progress Report Shows Steps Taken To Reduce Barriers For
Americans With Disabilities

ÿÿWhite House News


Today, The White House Released The 2007 Progress Report On The President's
New Freedom Initiative For People With Disabilities.ÿAnnounced in February
2001, the New Freedom Initiative is President George W. Bush's plan to tear
down barriers to full integration into American life that remain for many
of the 54 million Americans with disabilities.ÿ This report highlights the
many accomplishments of the Administration in implementing the President's
vision and builds upon the reports issued in May 2002 and May 2004.ÿ
  þ The Full Report Is Available
    At:http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/newfreedom/newfreedom-report-2007.
    html

The Administration Is Increasing Access For People With Disabilities
Through Technology

The President Recognizes The Power Of Assistive And Universally Designed
Technology To Create Greater Access To The Workplace, School, And Community
Life For Persons With Disabilities.ÿ The Administration supports the
development of creative ways to leverage the power of new technologies and
the removal of financial barriers to acquisition of assistive technology.ÿ
The Administration has:
  þ Empowered states to develop plans for acquisition of assistive
    technology through the Assistive Technology Act of 1998 Amendments,
    signed in October 2004;
  þ Aided state efforts to incorporate assistive technology into their
    education programs;
  þ Streamlined accessibility standards for voting machines and other
    important technological advances;
  þ Provided grants to various agencies to develop and stimulate
    technological advances;
  þ Brought together a variety of agencies and organizations to better
    understand the need for assistive technologies and to discuss ways to
    make the technology a usable reality;
  þ Advanced the President's Executive Order centralizing electronic
    information of use to the disability community at
    www.DisabilityInfo.gov;
  þ Continued full implementation of section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act,
    making electronic and information technology acquired by the Federal
    government accessible to people with disabilities; and
  þ Worked to develop a robust assistive technology industry at home and
    abroad.

The Administration Is Expanding Educational Opportunities For Youth With
Disabilities

The President Recognizes That People With Disabilities Need A Complete And
Appropriate Education In Order To Join Their Communities As Equal Members.ÿ
In order to further this goal and ensure that no child with a disability is
left behind in the educational system, the President has emphasized the
importance of including youth with disabilities in the annual improvement
mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act.ÿ Agencies have responded to the
President's direction and furthered his agenda in the following ways:
  þ The Department of Education has issued final regulations implementing
    the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Elementary and
    Secondary Education Act, established the Teacher Assistance Corps,
    monitored the first annual state progress determinations under the
    IDEA, and launched various other initiatives;
  þ The Department of Health and Human Services has made specific efforts
    to reduce youth recidivism, homelessness, institutionalization, and
    other factors that inhibit a full and complete educational experience
    and that may disproportionately effect youth with disabilities; and
  þ The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has promoted
    voluntary compliance with applicable civil rights laws relating to
    students with disabilities, including fostering classroom inclusion and
    limiting references to disability on report cards, and has also
    developed other civil rights initiatives.

The Administration Is Helping Integrate Americans With Disabilities Into
The Workforce

The President Believes That Full Inclusion Of Persons With Disabilities
Into The Workforce Is Important Both For These Individuals And For Our
Economy.ÿ The unemployment rate for persons with disabilities, while
falling, remains unacceptably high.ÿ Including persons with disabilities
into the workforce is an important goal not only because of the positive
impact it will have on the worker but also because of the benefits to the
economy as a whole as production increases and people begin to leave
government assistance.ÿ The Administration has:
  þ Sought to increase the number of employees with disabilities in the
    Federal workforce by implementing innovative hiring and working
    practices, including telework; by revising Schedule A hiring authority;
    and by forming new disability coordinating councils to address
    employment within federal agencies;
  þ Established new initiatives integrating the efforts of the Justice,
    Labor, Housing and Urban Development, and Veterans Affairs Departments
    in advancing training and employment for persons with disabilities;
  þ Released "Disability Employment 101" companion materials with the
    collaboration of the Justice and Education Departments;
  þ Vigorously enforced the Americans with Disabilities Act;
  þ Begun implementation of the "Ticket to Work" program as part of the
    Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs to eliminate
    work disincentives among persons with disabilities; and
  þ Reached out to individuals with disabilities and employers to
    facilitate productive employment opportunities.

The Administration Is Promoting Full Access To Community Life

The President Believes That All Americans Deserve An Opportunity To Become
A Part Of The American Dream.ÿThis includes the opportunity to vote, to
participate in the marketplace, to own their own property, and to go about
their business free of barriers to full participation.ÿ This commitment
includes implementation of the Olmstead decision affirming the right of
persons with disabilities to live in their own communities, and goes
further by creating new initiatives to promote community participation.ÿ
The Administration has:
  þ Instituted the "Money Follows the Person" grant program through the
    Department of Health and Human Services, which includes $1.75 billion
    to support states in building Medicaid programs that enable recipients
    to live in their communities;
  þ Won a number of Title II and Title III victories under the Americans
    with Disabilities Act,ÿ successfully defended the constitutionality of
    the ADA before the Supreme Court, and worked with employers to ensure
    voluntary compliance with its provisions;
  þ Established the twenty-agency Interagency Council on Homelessness to
    seek innovative policy solutions to the high homelessness rate among
    people with disabilities.;
  þ Increased transportation options by securing disability provisions in
    the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity
    Act, and worked with the Federal Interagency Coordinating Council on
    Access and Mobility to simplify access to reasonable transportation
    options for all;
  þ Improved access to housing for all through the Department of Housing
    and Urban Development's enforcement of the Fair Housing Act and the
    Architectural Barriers Act;
  þ Issued an ADA checklist for polling places and administered the Voting
    Access for Individuals with Disabilities project;
  þ Improved access to healthcare with the Medicare Prescription Drug
    Program, and sought to increase accessibility of healthcare for the
    elderly, minorities, and other at-risk populations, including people
    with disabilities; and
  þ Taken numerous steps to modernize emergency preparedness plans and
    standards for persons with disabilities, including appointing a new
    director of disability preparedness at the Federal Emergency Management
    Agency.

The Administration Will Continue Its Work To Empower People With
Disabilities

The President's Vision For People With Disabilities Is Not Yet Achieved,
And Continuing To Implement The Provisions Of His New Freedom Initiative
Remains One Of His Highest Domestic Priorities.ÿ The Administration,
through the programs outlined in this document and others, will
aggressively pursue innovative strategies to ensure that people with
disabilities are included in the American Dream, and empowered to reach
their full educational, social, and professional goals.

# # #

===========================================================================
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070727-2.html

 * Origin: (1:3634/12)