Proyecto Visión: New Project Tackles the High Unemployment Rates Among Disabled U.S. Latinos
By Kathy Martinez (Kathy@wid.org)
Disability is prevalent among Latinos in the United States. Two out of 10 Latinos have a disability compared to one out of 10 non-Latinos. As a group, Latinos have elevated rates of diabetes, heart disease, HIV-related diseases, learning disability, and violence-related injury. Approximately 11 percent of Latinos - more than 3.5 million people in the United States - have disabilities. This disparity has affected the lives and livelihoods of Latinos nationwide.
As members of two minority groups, Latinos with disabilities face multiple barriers when attempting to enter the workforce or advance in their careers. These include being Latino, having a disability, a low level of education, poor job skills, living in poverty, and more. Nevertheless, these barriers can be minimized by educating Latinos with disabilities and their families, developing Latino leaders with disabilities, doing outreach to Latino businesses, organizations and agencies, and linking disabled Latinos to mainstream rehabilitation and employment services.
The Current Situation
In 1998, of the 30 million Latino Americans, about 1.2 million have been diagnosed with diabetes and it is estimated that at least another 675,000 are undiagnosed... diabetes is two to three times more common in Mexican American and Puerto Rican adults than among non-Latino Whites.
Latinos are disproportionately represented among reported cases of AIDS. Constituting 10 percent of the total U.S. population, Latinos accounted for 18 percent of the reported AIDS cases through December 1997. Furthermore, although they are only 14.5 percent of the child population, Latino children accounted for 23.2 percent of all pediatric AIDS cases through December 1997.
According to an analysis of the National Spinal Cord Injury Database data, "African-American individuals and persons of Latino origin represent an increasing percentage of new cases, and an increasing percentage of individuals within these populations, in incurring Spinal Cord Injury as a result of violence." It also is known that many Latinos work in industries and occupations with high rates of injury and accident.
In 1997, almost one-half of Latino men 16 years and older were employed in either precision production, craft, and repair occupations. In addition, the 2001 Bureau of Labor Statistics' summary on work-related injury and illness reported that "Hispanic employment decreased in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry by 12.6 percent, while their injuries and illnesses increased by 20.1 percent." When injury causes permanent disability, many Latinos become isolated and are unable to reenter the workforce.
Barriers to Work
The difficulties faced by disabled Latinos in securing employment are manifold. Latinos lack opportunities for apprenticeships or internships and for obtaining loans or other types of micro-credit. They frequently have inadequate job-seeking skills and lack networks (formal or informal) that open employment opportunities to the non-disabled population. Also, Latino teenagers - many of them immigrants - are not completing secondary education. In 2000, the dropout rate among Latinos was 28 percent (compared to 7 percent for Whites and 13 percent for Blacks).
There are scant statistics available indicating the percentage of disabled Latinos that are unemployed in the United States. The 1994-95 National Health Interview Survey found only 37 percent of all people with disabilities were employed. It is likely the percent of employed Latinos with disabilities is even lower than the national average since immigrant and undocumented Latinos were most likely underrepresented in the survey.
Resources Available
Despite the double discrimination disabled Latinos face when attempting to enter the workforce, there are resources available to assist in the transition from school or benefits to work (Social Security Insurance, Vocational Rehabilitation, Centers for Independent Living and Individual Development Accounts). A government-funded program called Proyecto Visión can refer consumers to appropriate resources in Spanish and English.
Proyecto Visión is the nation's first national technical assistance center for Latinos with disabilities (www.proyectovision.net). It was established to connect disabled Latinos to employment, and help remove barriers to social services and career opportunities.
The Proyecto Visión Web site, newsletter and toll-free hotline (866-367-5361) are fully bilingual. Consumers and employers to go Visión for information on job leads, rehabilitation, training and employment services, assistive technology, disability awareness training and technical assistance, recommendations on how to better serve disabled community members, information about qualified job-seekers who are Latinos with disabilities, and more.
The project also hosts an annual employment-related conference and training event, Bridges to Employment. This year it took place August 6-9 in New York City. Go to the Web site or call the toll-free number for details.
The Future
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Latinos will make up 25 percent of the total population in the United States within 50 years. If barriers to employment and benefits continue to prevent the hiring of qualified Latinos with disabilities, the need for social services will increase and consumer spending will decrease as the country's largest population group grows... and that will affect the lives and livelihoods of all Americans, not just Latinos.
|
