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R.I. jumps to 19th in nation in employment for people with disabilities

Providence Journal - 2/23/2019

Feb. 23-- Feb. 23--PROVIDENCE -- Rhode Island has received praise from the national advocacy group RespectAbility for improving employment for people living with disabilities.

Ranked 47th in the nation 2017, the state organization found, Rhode Island now has the 19th-best disability employment rate with 30,787 of the state's 75,806 working-age people with disabilities holding jobs.

That was a gain of 7,758, said RespectAbility, and pushed the rate from 30 percent in 2017 to 40.6 percent last year. The organization analyzes U.S. Census Bureau data in compiling its rankings.

"Rhode Island deserves credit for seeing a major turnaround," the organization wrote. "As reported by RespectAbility, Rhode Island under Gov. Gina Raimondo ranked 47th in the nation last year with an abysmal 30 percent disability employment rate. As a result of a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice, Rhode Island began to close shelter workshops where people with disabilities had been paid subminimum wages.

"Through sustained efforts to promote competitive, integrated employment Rhode Islanders with disabilities are now experiencing new success. Over 7,000 people with disabilities entered the workforce in 2017, pushing Rhode Island to stand 19th in the nation. As bipartisan consensus grows around ending subminimum wages, Rhode Island shows that transformative success is possible."

North Dakota topped the list with a disability employment rate of 56.3 percent. West Virginia, with a disability employment rate of 26.1 percent, was last.

"Employment rates only tell part of the story," said Philip Kahn-Pauli, policy and practices director at RespectAbility. "When you look across the intersection of disability and race, you find serious gaps in outcomes."

"Only 28.6 percent of African Americans with disabilities have jobs compared to the 38.6 percent of Hispanics with disabilities and 41.2 percent of Asian Americans with disabilities who have jobs," the organization said.

See the ranking and read the full report at https://www.respectability.org/2019/02/best-and-worst/

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(c)2019 The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.)

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