Goodwill Industries International, Inc. » Advocacy Agenda

Advocacy Agenda

End Media Box, start main text

As a Nonprofit, we advocate in the following areas that impact our mission:

  • Consumer Product Safety
  • Volunteerism
  • Charitable Donations
  • Ethics and Nonprofit Governance

As a Human Services Provider, we advocate in the following areas that impact the people we serve:

  • Funding
  • Workforce Development and Job Creation
  • Older Workers
  • People with Criminal Backgrounds
  • Veterans
  • Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
  • Youth
  • Family Strengthening
  • Immigration

As an Employer, we advocate in the following areas that impact our mission and business:

  • Javits Wagner O’Day Act/AbilityOne Modernization
  • Enforcement of Wage and Hour provisions
  • Ticket to Work

Our Legislative Priorities as a Nonprofit

Consumer Product Safety
We urge Congress to develop legislation that would address the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act’s unintended consequences on charitable organizations, such as Goodwill®, that resell donated items, including children’s products, to derive revenue to support the delivery of mission services.

Volunteerism
We support the volunteers who help make a difference in the lives of Goodwill’s program participants, community partners, shoppers and donors.  Local Goodwill agencies support efforts that encourage people to engage in important community and national service efforts that help address pressing societal challenges.

Charitable Donations
Each year, Goodwills collectively raise billions of dollars by selling donated items. At least 84 percent of the revenues generated by this social enterprise is used to provide programs that help people overcome challenges that prevent them from succeeding in jobs and careers, and to supplement government funding for such programs.

Ethics and Nonprofit Governance
While the Sarbanes-Oxley Act largely applies to publically traded corporations, many nonprofit organizations such as Goodwill responded to the law’s enactment by implementing measures that increase transparency and accountability. Goodwill Industries International continues to monitor issues pertaining to Sarbanes-Oxley, including discussions about expanding other components of the legislation to nonprofits.

Back to Top ^

Our Legislative Priorities as a Human Services Provider

Funding
A range of federal funding streams supports our ability to help people in communities nationwide as they overcome employment challenges. Such federal funding sources include, but are not limited to the Workforce Investment Act, Vocational Rehabilitation and the Senior Community Service Employment Program. In addition, we support increased funding for the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

Workforce Development and Job Creation
As North America’s leading nonprofit provider of employment training, job placement services and other community programs for people who have a disability, lack education or job experience or are facing economic challenges, Goodwill advocates for training and employment opportunities that help these populations find jobs and careers.

Older Workers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for workers over 65 years old is at the highest level since such record keeping began in 1948. The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCESP) helps provide low-income older workers with community service employment and private sector job placements. As one of the newest SCSEP grantees, Goodwill supports policies and federal investments that help older workers participate in the workforce.

Individuals with Criminal Backgrounds
Of the nearly 700,000 prisoners who will be released this year, research tell us that two-thirds (67.5 percent) will return to prison within three years. There are many barriers to a successful re-entry to public life, including practices and regulations that limit ex-offenders’ access to housing and employment. As the nation’s largest provider of job-training services, Goodwill Industries® calls upon key stakeholders, including state and federal policymakers, judges, law enforcement officials, service providers (including local Goodwill agencies), educators, employers, and victims, to come together to create systemic changes that hold offenders accountable, minimize the negative effects on their communities and families, and support ex-offenders and returning prisoners who want to re-enter society and make a positive contribution.

Veterans
As the nation’s leading provider of job-training services, Goodwill has a long history (dating back to World War I) of helping returning veterans – many with disabilities and other employment barriers – reenter the workforce and society. Goodwill is committed to promoting policies and practices that help the nation meet the daunting challenge of seamlessly transitioning into civilian jobs and careers the large number of service persons returning from Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflicts — and despite a job market that is expected to remain tight in the near future.

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
The Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program was created in 1996,  replacing the Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program, which provided cash-assistance to poor families since 1935.  Since TANF was created, Goodwills have provided services to more than 1.5 million TANF recipients.

Youth
Employment opportunities for young people are expected to be few and far between as the job market slowly recovers. Historically, youth employment rates are the first to decline during times of recession, and the slowest to improve during times of recovery. Goodwill believes it is important for young people to have access to training and employment opportunities that teach them job skills that they will use as the make the transition into positive and productive adulthood.

Family Strengthening
Each year, community-based Goodwill agencies seek ways to provide an increasing array of services that help people become independent, productive, contributing members of their communities. In recent years, it has become apparent that local Goodwill agencies must increasingly practice a holistic approach to providing services,  to address the many aspects of life that can impact one’s ability to work and advance in a career and support their families and communities.

Immigration
Goodwill supports policies and resources that help Goodwill agencies across the country meet the needs of immigrant groups who need help finding jobs in their communities.

Back to Top ^

Our Legislative Priorities as an Employer

Javits Wagner O’Day Act/AbilityOne Modernization
The AbilityOne program is the largest provider of employment opportunities for those who are either blind or have significant disabilities, employing approximately 46,000 people through more than 600 nonprofit agencies, including Goodwill. Goodwill Industries provides a broad range of commercial business services to government agencies, such as custodial work, food service, landscaping, manufacturing, and document management and destruction.

Enforcement of Wage and Hour Provisions
Job opportunities for people with severe disabilities are limited, and would be even more limited if not for a special provision, Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which allows employers who receive Special Minimum Wage Certificates from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division to pay special wages (below the federal minimum) to employees who have disabilities that directly affect their job performance. When properly used, 14(c) is a critial labor-market-attachment tool for people with disabilities. However without adequate and strict enforcement, employees working under 14(c) certificates are vulnerable to exploitation. Goodwill supports efforts to provide DOL’s Wage and Hour Division with resources needed to ensure strict enforcement of 14(c), and stiffer penalties for employers who knowingly violate FLSA.

Ticket to Work
The goal of the Ticket-to-Work program is to provide people with disabilities with more choices and expanded opportunities to help them go to work. Social Security Administration (SSA) beneficiaries with disabilities can find employment, vocational rehabilitation (VR) and other support services from public and private providers through this program.

Back to Top ^