[La-students] National Service Opens Door Wider for People with Disabilities

[Joe Orozco]

For Immediate Release 
Contact: Sandy Scott

October 26, 2007 
202-606-6724,
sscott at cns.gov


National Service Opens Door Wider for People with Disabilities

 (Washington D.C.) -- The 50 million Americans who are living with 
disabilities will have an easier time learning about and participating in 
national service
and volunteer programs thanks to new initiatives announced today by the 
Corporation for National and Community Service.

 The Corporation is the latest partner in
DisabilityInfo.gov
, a collaborative effort among 22 federal government agencies dedicated to 
making it the leading, one-stop federal source for disability-related 
information.
The site provides information on benefits, civil rights, community life, 
education, employment, housing, health, technology and other subjects.  The 
Corporation
will be providing content about service and volunteering opportunities, 
grants, special initiatives, and training resources geared to including 
people
with disabilities in service.

 "We hope people with disabilities will come to
DisabilityInfo.gov
 not just to receive services, but to find ways to serve," said David 
Eisner, CEO of the Corporation.  "We know that service connects people with 
disabilities
to skills, networks, and career paths that can bring added value to their 
lives."

 Eisner announced the agency's participation at event marking the fifth 
anniversary of the website this morning at the Department of Labor.  The 
department's
Office of Disability Employment Policy manages the website.

 The Corporation has a longstanding commitment to bring more people with 
disabilities into its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, VISTA, NCCC, and Learn and 
Serve
America programs.  It has committed over $50 million to inclusion of people 
with disabilities over the last 10 years, and supported more than 144 
national
and local organizations since 2001.  Through the National Service Inclusion 
Project, it has provided training and technical assistance to over 11,000 
participants
at 300 regional and state events and developed over 88 training tools.

 As part of its inclusion goal, the agency is working with Congress and the 
Social Security Administration on a legislative change to make AmeriCorps 
more
welcoming to people with disabilities.  Under current law, participation in 
the AmeriCorps VISTA program does not affect an individual's eligibility for
Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance. 
However, participation in the AmeriCorps State and National and NCCC 
programs is
not currently treated the same way, and some individuals have been directed 
to repay disability payments because they served in an AmeriCorps program 
other
than VISTA.

 One of the provisions of the "Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act 
of 2007" which was discussed in a
House Ways and Means Committee hearing
 on October 17 takes an important first step in addressing this difference, 
by excluding AmeriCorps benefits from being counted as income for purposes 
of
SSI eligibility.  David Rust, Acting Deputy Commissioner for the Disability 
and Income Security Programs of the Social Security Administration, 
expressed
the Administration's support for the AmeriCorps policy change, noting that 
"Expanding the earning exclusions to participants in the other two programs
would provide equity for our beneficiaries, administrative simplification, 
and presumably enable AmeriCorps to enroll more participants with 
disabilities."


 The Corporation for National and Community Service improves lives, 
strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and 
volunteering.
Providing service opportunities for millions of Americans of all ages and 
backgrounds, Corporation programs include Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and 
Learn
and Serve America. For more information, visit
nationalservice.gov.