A new hiring initiative that launched this spring aims to make CUIMC more disability inclusive by matching individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities with employers at CUIMC.
Project PossABILITY is spearheaded by co-director Keith Diaz, PhD. Diaz is an assistant professor of behavioral medicine, the employee leader of CUIMC’s Disability Employee Resource Group, and the father of a four-year-old son with an intellectual disability.
“Like any parent, I’ve thought about what my son’s future will look like,” Diaz says. “It was depressing to find out that around 80% of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are unemployed or don’t have community-based jobs.” said Keith Diaz.
According to the National Report on Employment Services and Outcomes, 63% of people with intellectual disabilities like autism, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy are unemployed. Another 17% work in sheltered workshops, where they are segregated from the community and it is legal for employees to be paid less than minimum wage. Only 20% have a paid job in the community.
As a result, poverty and disability go hand in hand: according to a 2017 report from the National Council on Disability, people with disabilities make up more than half of people living in long-term poverty.
“As a father, I think about those statistics,” Diaz says. “It’s a rare few who find meaningful employment, and we know that employment is linked to independence—making our own decisions about what we do, where we go, and how we live our lives. That’s what I want for my son and that’s what we hope our project will help accomplish for our community members with disabilities.”
Ten CUIMC departments attended an initial information session on Project PossABILITY, which covered the hiring process for employees with intellectual disabilities. One employee has already been hired in the Department of Medicine through the project’s pilot program.
As part of the program, hiring personnel at CUIMC partner with the Consortium for Customized Employment (CCE), a collective of 14 nonprofit organizations across New York City dedicated to expanding employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities. The CCE uses customized employment, a research-based method that matches an individual’s interests and skill set with prospective job openings to place individuals where they are most likely to succeed. Support services, including a job coach, are also provided by the CCE to assist the employer and employee.
Diaz notes that initiatives like Project PossABILITY not only benefit the employee, but the employer as well. The project is as much about fostering inclusivity as it is about expanding the talent pool and creating real value for the University.
