JWOD NDEAM MATERIALS

Introduction
What is JWOD?

History of the JWOD Program

JWOD Program Partners
Planning Federal JWOD Celebration Activities
Key Messages
JWOD Program Facts & Figures
Economic Benefits Studies Summaries
Sample Secretary's Announcement
Sample Memorandum of Support
Memorandums of Support from Federal Agencies
FAQs from the Federal Perspective
JWOD Participating Nonprofit Agencies
JWOD NDEAM Poster
JWOD Logos
Information for JWOD Participating Agencies

History of the Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) Program

Enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Roosevelt in 1938, the Wagner-O'Day Act mandated that the Federal Government purchase brooms, mops and other suitable commodities furnished by community programs employing people who are blind. The new legislation used the purchasing power of the Government as a catalyst for sustaining and expanding employment opportunities. The law also required that at least 75 percent of a participating organization's direct labor employees be people who are blind.

The Wagner-O'Day Act also established a committee appointed by the president of the United States--the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled (formerly known as the Committee on Purchases of Blind-made Products)--to oversee the program and to authorize a central nonprofit agency to facilitate the distribution of orders and perform other related functions. A group of representatives from 20 agencies in 11 states began meeting at the American Foundation for the Blind soon after the law was passed. As a result of these meetings, National Industries for the Blind (NIB) was created and subsequently authorized as the Program's first central nonprofit agency by the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled.

In 1971, Sen. Jacob Javits and a coalition of agencies serving people with a range of severe disabilities spearheaded efforts to expand the Wagner-O'Day Act. The agencies included Goodwill Industries International, the National Easter Seal Society, the American Rehabilitation Association, The ARC, the United Cerebral Palsy Association, and the International Association of Jewish Vocational Services. These six groups soon formed a new organization--NISH (formerly known as National Industries for the Severely Handicapped)--whose purpose was to support the expanded JWOD Program. The expanded Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) Act (41 U.S.C. 46-48c) permitted nonprofit agencies serving people with other severe disabilities to participate in the Program and authorized nonprofit agencies to provide not only supplies, but also services to the Federal Government.

Timeline

1938

• Wagner-O'Day Act becomes law, establishing the Committee on Purchases of Blind-made Products (now called the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled)
  
  
• National Industries for the Blind (NIB) incorporated

1971

• Expanded Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act extends coverage to people with severe disabilities other than blindness and creates opportunities for the provision of services
  
  
• Authorization for the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled to hire staff is granted under the JWOD Act

1974

• NISH incorporated