Tribute to Joanne Wilson, Departing RSA Commissioner

Issue: On Tuesday, February 8, 2005, RSA Commissioner, Joanne Wilson announced her resignation. What prompted her resignation and what does it mean for the future of the public rehabilitation program?

Response: While her resignation does not officially take effect until the end of the month, today is Joanne Wilson's last day in the office. During her tenure as Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), Dr. Wilson has shown herself to be an effective advocate for the public rehabilitation program and the people it serves. She brought to the position vision and leadership, qualities far too often absent in Washington. She believes that the strength of the vocational rehabilitation (VR) program lies in its ability to change lives, one at a time. She knows this intellectually and personally. As a blind person herself, she faced the fears and insecurities common to people growing up with disabilities. She knows what it is to live in a world that, however well intended, assumes you can do very little; she knows what it is to have a family that wants to protect you believing you cannot protect yourself; she knows what it is to face discrimination; and she knows what it is to have your confidence eroded, taking what society believes about blindness and learning to believe it yourself.

In the world of Washington politics, someone like Joanne Wilson stands out and is a threat. She stands out because she is not afraid to speak her mind. She stands out because she is honest and determined to do the right thing. She stands out because she takes seriously her pledge to advocate for the people who count on her to defend the public VR program-not protect the status quo but defend the program while she helps it grow. She is a threat because she cannot be controlled; she cannot be bought; she cannot be flattered or threatened into selling herself out nor the people who count on her.

Shortly after taking office, she released a list of six principles, principles that laid out her beliefs and values about the capacity of people with disabilities and their right and ability to live full, integrated lives. While they were her principles, they are truly our principles, principles that embody the hopes and dreams of people with disabilities. Here they are:

• Individuals with disabilities, including those with the most significant disabilities, are capable of achieving competitive, high-quality employment in integrated settings and living full and productive lives in their communities.
• Major barriers to the employment and independence of individuals with disabilities are the low expectations and misunderstandings society, some grantee agencies, service providers, or consumers themselves have about their abilities, capacities, commitment, creativity, interests, and ingenuity.
• Individuals with disabilities are able to make informed choices about their own lives -- including their employment options, the types of services they need, the selection of service providers -- and are able to assume responsibility for their decisions.
• The primary role of VR agencies and other RSA-funded entities is to empower individuals with disabilities by providing the information, skills training, education, confidence, and support services individuals need to make informed choices about their professional and personal lives.
• Services are best delivered within a framework of accountability, efficiency, and the least administrative burden necessary.
• The most effective VR, Independent Living, Training and other programs result from a strong alliance between individuals with disabilities, grantee agencies, service providers, and organizations representing each. These alliances encourage accountability through systematic and ongoing assessments of a grantee's policies, programs and practices.

Joanne Wilson's list of principles were more than window-dressing. She took her principles and translated them into action. She believed that the program should be a partnership between the professional and the consumer and that consumers are not the trade organizations, not the service providers, not the self-appointed spokespersons for the disabled but people with disabilities themselves. She believes in consumerism. This is why she led the initiative to integrate mentoring into the work of the state VR program. Dr. Wilson understood the importance of people with disabilities knowing other people with disabilities, having their support, sharing a common life experience, and learning that the limitations of disability are largely the product of society's well intended yet stereotypic thinking and assumptions about disability. She believes in informed consumer choice and expected the system to believe in it too and take it seriously. She believes in consumer empowerment and funded initiatives to help consumers to become full and equal partners in the rehabilitation process. She believes in reaching out to all people with disabilities, meeting them where they are and not expecting them to fit into a predetermined, one size fits all mold. She has remained true to the principles she articulated at the outset of her administration and people with disabilities the nation over have benefited from her work. In short, she did what few accomplish; she brought to the job a human face and human values and an unbending sense of honesty and determination.

But my intent is not to catalogue her work and accomplishments; I simply want to highlight the way in which she remained true to herself and true to people with disabilities. She recognized that the life-changing aspect of our work needed to be nourished and strengthened and that this requires a true partnership between the rehabilitation system and people with disabilities.

So why did she resign? On Monday, February 7, 2005, the Department of Education unveiled its plan to close the RSA regional offices. The same day, the Administration announced its intent to seek super waiver authority to allow the block granting of a number of employment related programs, including VR. The next day, Dr. Wilson resigned. It is my view that she believed these plans, if implemented, would mean the end of comprehensive employment services for people with disabilities throughout the nation and, as a person of conscience, would not--could not--be a part of any plan that would harm people with disabilities.

At the end of the month, we will lose Joanne Wilson as RSA Commissioner. On that day the Administration will have lost a capable leader; the RSA staff will have lost a valued colleague; state rehabilitation agencies, independent living centers , and tribal VR programs will have lost a powerful ally; people with disabilities will have lost a champion; and we will all have lost a friend. All of us in the rehabilitation community, service providers, community partners, advocates, and people with disabilities owe Joanne Wilson our heartfelt gratitude and respect.

 printer-friendly format