People living with developmental disabilities face uphill battle accessing jobs

Dec. 17—FORT WORTH — Countless plastic bags and black boxes surround Nick Frey, 42, inside a Fort Worth building.

He is focused on his job. Earlier that day, Frey and his coworkers spent the morning putting together Bollé glasses.

Frey works in assembly and packaging at My Health My Resources (MHMR) of Tarrant County's Adult Day Habilitation Center. The organization provides services, including employment, for people living with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

An intellectual disability is a condition that can cause limitations on intellectual or cognitive functioning. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define developmental disabilities as "a group of conditions that are due to an impairment in physical, learning, language or behavior areas."

Frey has held several jobs within MHMR. However, he has career goals, and one of them is the chance to work at a grocery store. He likes helping people with their groceries and collecting baskets.

"I like my work," Frey said. "I work hard. I make money."

Discrimination in the workplace

The U.S. Census Bureau reported there were more than 200,000 people in Tarrant County living with a disability in its 2019 American Community Survey.

State law and the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), give people living with disabilities protections from discrimination.

Ted Evans, staff attorney at Disability Rights Texas, said employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to workers. Evans said the advocacy organization has seen some clients have difficulty receiving reasonable accommodations after they were hired, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In reality, a lot of what prevents someone from getting access to employment is because the environment has been tailored toward individuals that don't have disabilities," Evans said.

Disability Rights Texas and other advocates have worked to push more employers to pay at least the minimum wage to people living with disabilities. The Fair Labor Standards Act allows certain employers to pay less than the minimum wage to people living with disabilities, full-time students and those participating in vocational education.

A 2016 report by Disability Rights Texas found that many people living with a disability did not have the opportunity to have a job to develop their skills, some employers were miscalculating wages. The report also found that some people living with a disability were isolated from coworkers at work.

In 2019, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law legislation that requires state contractors to pay at least minimum wage. However, Evans said there are still some employers in Texas paying below the minimum wage.

"There was one woman I spoke to that has been in a subminimum wage facility since before the ADA and they weren't really aware that reasonable accommodations exist," Evans said.

Wanting a chance to work

Headphones. Goggles. Cape and gloves.

Derrick Jones, 41, gets to work shredding documents at MHMR. Jones started working his document destruction job in 2013. Jones said he loves his job and hopes to save money to buy his family gifts.

"Five days a week," Jones said. "That is what I need."

MHMR's Adult Day Habilitation program provides people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities the chance to socialize, learn life skills, volunteer in the community and other activities.

The program provides multiple employment opportunities for clients who want to work. Caseworkers at MHMR work with clients to understand their needs. During the process, a person can be placed in the employment program depending on their goals and skills.

Clients are able to work in the community or within MHMR's ABG Solutions program. The ABG Solutions program provides clients to work a part-time, minimum wage job. ABG jobs include document destruction, assembly and packaging, and vending services.

Teddi Berry, senior director of MHMR's Disability Services, has seen the impact of employment on clients.

"People feel more valued when they have the ability to really produce and earn a paycheck," Berry said. "They feel like they've really succeeded."

Source America and New Hope Academy, a Fort Worth nonprofit, helped MHMR clients receive the opportunity to do assembly and packaging work for Bollé. The company makes safety and sport eyewear.

MHMR clients are able to receive help finding a job in the community and take classes to learn skills like managing money and interviewing.

"They taught me how to read and count money," Frey said.

More job opportunities needed

Currently, there are 25-30 people participating in MHMR's ABG Solutions program. Berry said more jobs are needed to provide opportunities for clients.

"That is something that we are really looking towards, increasing the number of jobs that we have here for people," Berry said.

The Texas Workforce Commission stated in a 2020 Comprehensive Statewide Needs Assessment report that more work is required to help those in underserved communities. The commission's state-wide vocational rehabilitation program helps people living with disabilities find and retain employment.

In its report, the agency found that there were 219,000 people in its vocational rehabilitation program and only 60% of participants received their desired employment outcome.

Some of the underserved populations that still needed to be helped were:

— Those who are 55 or older and are unemployed.

— People who need supported employment to seek their first job.

— People who are wanting to advance their careers.

— People living outside of metropolitan areas.

— Students in rural and disadvantaged school districts.

Resources:

MHMR: 817-335-3022

Texas Workforce Commission's Vocational Rehabilitation Program: 512-936-6400

___

(c)2021 the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Visit the Fort Worth Star-Telegram at www.star-telegram.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.