Ithaca Journal, September 30, 2009, Wednesday

Ithaca Journal

September 30, 2009, Wednesday

Ithaca Journal

Cornell institute gets grant for disabilities employment

Staff report

Cornell University's Employment and Disability Institute in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations will receive $1.6 million in a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy to establish a national technical assistance center for employers on employment of people with disabilities, the Labor Department announced Wednesday.

The center will conduct innovative research, assist the Labor Department in developing demand-side policy, and share best practices with employers on the recruitment, hiring, retention and advancement of people with disabilities.

Cornell's Employment and Disability Institute will lead a consortium to include the AFL-CIO Center for Green Jobs, the Altarum Institute, the Conference Board, the Institute of Educational Leadership, the National Business and Disability Council, Rutgers University's John J. Heldrich Center and the U.S. Business Leadership Network.

The agreement was awarded through a competitive process.

"Employers must create workplace cultures in which employees with disabilities are as fully integrated and valued as those without disabilities," said Assistant Secretary for Labor for Disability Employment Policy Kathy Martinez. "The national technical assistance center will be designed to identify how employers can change expectations and open the path to good jobs for people with disabilities."