Category: Advocate

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month and Goodwill Industries International is proud to join service providers, advocacy groups and employers among other stakeholders, in acknowledging the importance of employees with disabilities as a vital component of the U.S. labor force. This year's theme, developed by the U.S. Department of Labor — "My Disability Is One Part of Who I Am" — underscores the fact that employees with disabilities bring a wide variety of skills to the table. However, it is evident that more work needs to be done to educate employers and support people with disabilities. Approximately one in five Americans has a disability and they make up nearly 20 percent of America's workforce, yet their unemployment rate is more than twice that of workers without disabilities.

READ MORE from Goodwill® Celebrates National Disability Employment Awareness Month

Yesterday, Congress passed H.R. 719, a continuing resolution (CR) that keeps the lights on in the federal government for another ten weeks. Since 2001, Congress has approved dozens of CRs, some just to keep the lights on in order to resolve a few issues in one or two appropriations bills, but at other times like yesterday because Congress hadn’t approved a single funding bill.

READ MORE from FY 2016 Budget: Tell Congress to “Raise the Caps”

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, workers who are 55 and older will make up one-quarter of the civilian workforce by 2020. This stark figure demonstrates that older workers will continue to need support. You can show your support for older workers by telling Congress to support S. 192, the Older Americans Act Reauthorization of 2015. S. 192 reauthorizes the Older Americans Act and key services and programs for America’s seniors including the Senior Community Service and Employment Program (SCSEP). The Goodwill agencies that serve older adults 55 and older through SCSEP served 8361 new participants since 2006 and have placed 2444 to employment with full benefits. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, workers who are 55 and older will make up one-quarter of the civilian workforce by 2020. This stark figure demonstrates that older workers will continue to need support.

READ MORE from This Week, Tell Congress to Support Older Workers

I remember the first time I cast my ballot in an official election. I voted for my father who was running for city council. I was so proud that day, not only of my dad, but that I was able to execute my civic duty. I was able to easily register to vote by simply filling out a form at my high school and a teacher gave the class a ton of resources to turn to in order to learn about all of the candidates on the ballot. There was a presidential election that year, so there was certainly a lot to learn.

READ MORE from Celebrate Democracy by Taking Action on September 22

Congress returned from their annual summer break in August and found themselves already behind in their homework. Awaiting completion are the FY 2016 appropriations bills, though Congress will likely need a short term continuing resolution to complete that assignment. Also due is a vote on the Iran agreement, the debt ceiling, highway bill reauthorization and funding, and finding bridge funding for the SSDI program whose trust fund runs dry in a year.

READ MORE from Congress is Back in Session and Already Behind in Assignments

Many associate Labor Day with the end of summer, a three-day weekend and the start of a new school year. Families and friends gather for barbecues and one last outing to the pool until next year. Rarely do folks sit around on Labor Day and actually celebrate America’s workers, think of ways to get more people in the workforce or consider how to lessen the unemployment rate. Unless, that is, you work for Goodwill®.

READ MORE from On Labor Day, and Every Day, Goodwill® Thinks About How to Put People to Work

On August 26, 1920, following a long and hard-fought political campaign, women in the United States won the right to vote. Research shows that 95 years after securing the right to vote, more and more women execute this right of citizenship. Women have had larger voter turnout than men in every presidential election since 1980. Some attribute this to women having more interaction with government.

READ MORE from Women’s Equality Day Commemorates Strides to Narrow the Gender Gap

On August 26, 1920, following a long and hard-fought political campaign, women in the United States won the right to vote. Research shows that 95 years after securing the right to vote, more and more women execute this right of citizenship. Women have had larger voter turnout than men in every presidential election since 1980. Some attribute this to women having more interaction with government.

READ MORE from Women's Equality Day Commemorates Strides to Narrow the Gender Gap

I visited the Hudson County Jail in northern New Jersey. Twenty years later, I can still vividly remember the rhythmic sound of sturdy locks opening, followed by heavy doors slamming shut, and then the locks swinging back home. It was a deafening and consistent reminder to the residents of that institution that they were “inmates” who were very, very bad.

READ MORE from Urge Congress to Support the Second Chance Reauthorization Act

Last year, Congress voted overwhelmingly to pass the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The moment represented a bipartisan beacon of hope on Capitol Hill. Goodwill Industries International was pleased with the overall outcome in this new Act which provides opportunities for community based organizations, like Goodwill, to do more to help people build their skills and connect with career opportunities.

READ MORE from Bipartisan Innovation at Risk of Being a Missed Opportunity

Congress left town this week for the month of August. When they return after Labor Day they might just turn around and leave again. Why? Because all the tough calls they couldn’t make before August will still be here when they get back and with even less time to get it all it done.

READ MORE from Procrastination: Congress Style

In 1971, while struggling to find an exit strategy from the Vietnam War, President Nixon declared a new war – the War on Drugs. He proposed fighting this war on both the supply side, by cracking down on drug pushers, and on the demand side by investing in strategies to rehabilitate people who were dependent on drugs. Unfortunately, drug abuse remains a serious problem. However, tough sentencing for drug-related crime has done little to deter those on the supply side. Instead, incarceration rates have steadily increased from just under 200,000 people in state and federal prisons in 1971, to more than 1.5 million in 2013.

READ MORE from Help End the Nation’s Prison Dependency Problem