New York disability rights advocates want state lawmakers to help disabled people with employment.
It comes after a State Comptroller report pointed out glaring disparities for workers with disabilities, despite progress to make workplaces more accessible. State lawmakers now have a number of bills before them to consider, including one that would increase certified rehabilitation counselors.
Dr. Sharon McLennon-Wier, executive director of the Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York, said these can be monumentally helpful.
“These are the mental-health providers that work with specifically people with disabilities,” she said, “and trying to deal with occupational barriers, and also dealing with biopsychosocial adjustments to disability that would impede someone’s ability to work.”
She said they can help people with disabilities review career options.
Other legislation relates to buoying people with disabilities out of poverty, since data show 25% of New Yorkers with disabilities lived below the poverty line in 2024. The bill would eliminate the sub-minimum wage for employees when that wage is based on age or disability, although efforts are underway to eliminate sub-minimum wages for many workers statewide.
However, work from nonprofits on this issue faces a major challenge from New York State. The state owes millions of dollars to nonprofits, with more than half worrying about how they’ll operate without these funds. Some take out interest-bearing loans, and others absorb the interest payments. Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill reinforcing deadlines for state reimbursement, but McLennon-Wier said the bill’s success is vital for the future of many nonprofits.
“There are some state contractors that are a year to two years behind,” she said. “Normal nonprofits cannot sustain that, and this is why they go out of business. It’s a real deficit for stakeholders that depend on these nonprofits within the communities to provide services local municipalities are not providing.”
Data from the State Comptroller shows more than 5,000 contracts between the state and nonprofits were processed late.
Edwin is a reporter and producer in North Tonawanda, New York. He’s previously reported for the Niagara Gazette and the Ithaca Times. Edwin got an early start in radio interning for WBFO-88.7FM, NPR’s Buffalo affiliate. In 2018, he graduated from SUNY Buffalo State College with a B.A. in Journalism, and in 2022, graduated from Syracuse University with an M.S. in Communications.