Proyecto Visión Reports Priorities to Improve Employment Opportunities for Latinos with Disabilities

Proyecto Visión, the National Technical Assistance Center on Employment for Latinos with Disabilities, released a report that examines the low employment status of disabled Latinos and recommends ways to improve their job and other opportunities. Latinos with Disabilities in the United States: Understanding & Addressing Barriers to Employment presents a snapshot of this growing population. It outlines factors affecting the extent of participation, and degree of success, of disabled Latinos in the service delivery system; highlights innovative research and employment projects that are working to reduce barriers; and presents profiles of individuals and families who have attained success and others who have fallen between the cracks.

"In 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau released data showing that 24 percent of working-age Latinos in the United States had a disability compared to 18.6 percent for all groups," said Arturo Lopez, administrator for the largely rural San Joaquin Valley district of the California Department of Rehabilitation. Lopez, a Proyecto Visión advisory board member, continued, "Working-age Latinos are becoming disabled from injuries in dangerous work environments and heavy manual labor including farm work; lack of access to medical care and insurance; complex health conditions such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes and obesity; and violence, including the effects of firearms."

"What happens to Latinos in the United States after they become disabled depends on many variables such as level of acculturation, English proficiency and where they live," said Proyecto Visión project director Kathy Martinez. "As a Latina with a disability, I have first-person experience with the low expectations and assumptions of the majority culture. I have seen many disabled Latinos live down to these diminished expectations. They become overwhelmed by isolation, are disconnected from the service delivery system and don't have disabled Latino professionals to look up to or network with. Unfortunately, even those who do access resources often are not receiving appropriate service."

The report combines information gathered from reviewing scores of studies and research papers with the first-hand knowledge that Proyecto Visión and its regional partners gleaned from five years of providing localized technical assistance to disabled Latinos across the U.S. in diverse communities including Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City and Salinas, California.

It summarizes innovative job preparation and placement programs providing culturally responsive services that address the multiple dimensions of jobseekers' identities, including disability, race/ethnicity, language and gender. In addition to featuring successful project models, the paper outlines four priorities for improving the success of vocational programs at including and serving disabled Latinos:

* Improve Vocational Rehabilitation Services for Latinos * Re-envision the Disability Community's Approach to Latinos * Build the Latino Community's Capacity for Including People with Disabilities * Increase Overall Visibility of Disabled Latino Leaders

About the World Institute on Disability Proyecto Visión is operated by the World Institute on Disability (WID) based in Oakland, CA. The mission of WID is to advance the human and civil rights of people with disabilities through research, training, advocacy and public education. WID emphasizes social and economic equity for people with disabilities by creating increased opportunities to live independently as productive and contributing members of society.

Development of this report was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration.

To purchase the report or for more information, visit www.proyectovision.net or contact Robin Savinar at robin@wid.org or (510) 251-4325