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October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and Fort McCoy observed it with a special event Oct. 26 on Microsoft Teams.
The guest speaker was Rob Lougee, the assistant national employment director for Disabled American Veterans (DAV). Lougee gave a presentation about DAV and the services it provides for all veterans and their family members.
DAV was created in 1920 in the aftermath of World War I. The nonprofit organization assists veterans by providing rides to medical appointments, assisting them in Veterans Affairs benefits claims, connecting them with employment opportunities, and providing additional resources they may need.
DAV currently helps more than 1 million veterans each year, providing services to them at no cost, according to the website www.dav.org. Lougee said 86 cents out of every dollar donated to DAV goes directly to veterans programs.
One of the resources DAV puts out specifically connected to veterans with disabilities is an employer’s guide, aimed at dispelling myths about disabilities and educating employers about the benefits of hiring disabled veterans. The guide is available online at https://www.dav.org/veterans/employment-resources/hiring-guide/.
“We want to ensure that quality lives are available to everyone who served their country honorably,” Lougee said. “We are there to assist them in achieving what they want to do and where they want to go to the best of our ability.”
National Disability Employment Awareness Month dates back to 1945 when Congress declared the first week of October to be “National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week.” Congress removed “Physically” in 1962 to include people with all types of disabilities. In 1988, the federal legislature expanded the week to a month and changed the name to National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
“People with disabilities” is a diverse group that includes people with sensory, physical, and mental conditions. People with disabilities cross lines of age, ethnicity, sex, race, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. It is a group that anyone can become a member of at any time.
Fort McCoy’s observance was coordinated by the Equal Opportunity and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) offices.
“The Army Reserve EEO Office is committed to ensuring that employment opportunities are fair, equal, and consistent for all employees and applicants,” said Senior EEO Specialist Derrick Caulkins, Disability Program manager for the Army Reserve EEO Office. “In maintaining a Model EEO Program, the Army Reserve EEO Office oversees many supportive programs, one of which — the Disability Program — is designed to assist and support the workforce with disability employment matters.”
The Disability Program helps both employees seeking reasonable accommodations and managers through the accommodation process. Employers are required to provide employees with reasonable accommodations, which is defined as any change in the work environment or processes that allows a person with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunities.
In addition, the Disability Program assists with recruiting, hiring, retaining, and promoting employees with disabilities, through both training and streamlining the hiring process through the Schedule A hiring authority. Schedule A is an excepted service hiring authority used to noncompetitively hire a person with severe physical, psychiatric, and/or intellectual disabilities.
More information about services provided by the Army Reserve EEO Office is available by emailing usarmy.usarc.usarc-hq.mbx.eeo@mail.mil or calling 608-388-3106.
| Date Taken: | 11.10.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 11.10.2021 17:07 |
| Story ID: | 409183 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 80 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fort McCoy observes National Disability Employment Awareness Month with special event, by Aimee Malone, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
