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December 22, 2005
MEMORANDUM
To: Solicitor
Inspector General
Assistant Secretaries
Bureau and Office Heads
From: P. Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary (signed)
Subject: Celebrate the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act Program
The new fiscal year is the perfect time to celebrate the Javits-Wagner-O'Day
Act (JWOD) Program. Under the JWOD Program, government purchase
card users and acquisition personnel buy supplies and services furnished
by nonprofit agencies employing people who are blind or who have
other severe disabilities.
The theme of this year's celebration is "JWOD Works for America."
The Department of the Interior provides employment and training
opportunities for people with severe disabilities through our support
of the JWOD Program. Under JWOD, supplies and services purchased
by Federal agencies currently generate jobs for more than 45,000
Americans who are blind or have other severe disabilities.
The JWOD Program provides employment opportunities in local communities
nationwide for a population that continues to experience an exceptionally
high unemployment rate-in sharp contrast to the national unemployment
rate of 5 percent, nearly 70 percent of people with disabilities
are not employed. The JWOD Program was created by Congress to help
alleviate this employment inequity. The Program has become the largest
single source of employment of Americans who are blind or have other
severe disabilities, by identifying Federal contract work to be
performed by these individuals.
President Bush cited these statistics in his New Freedom Initiative
for people with disabilities, and he pledged the Administration's
commitment to increasing the ability of Americans with disabilities
to integrate into the workforce. The major challenges to productive
employment of qualified people with disabilities are attitudinal
barriers and false assumptions about what people can and cannot
do. What people with disabilities CAN do is be productive. Your
efforts to develop awareness and to educate our workforce about
this important issue will help ensure Interior makes an important
contribution to President Bush's goal of fulfilling America's promise
to Americans with disabilities.
The JWOD Program is a cost-effective way to help people who are
blind or have other severe disabilities achieve greater independence
and provide the Federal Government with a quality source of products
and services. JWOD Program employment enables many individuals to
reduce dependence on government support, join the ranks of taxpayers
and contribute to the Federal Government's critical missions.
Please learn more about the important role you can play in the
JWOD Program at www.jwod.gov and make a special effort to show your
support as we celebrate the JWOD Program. Please contact the Department's
JWOD Program Manager, Cindy Maltby, on 202-208-5562, or via email
at Cynthia Maltby@ios.doi.gov for additional information.
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