The Committee
The amended JWOD Act of 1971 also created the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, the independent federal agency that administers the AbilityOne Program. The Committee is comprised of 15 Presidentially-appointed members, 11 of whom represent governmental agencies (Departments of Agriculture, Air Force, Army, Commerce, Defense, Education, Justice, Labor, Navy and Veterans Affairs, and the General Services Administration). The remaining four members are private citizens knowledgeable about the employment problems of people who are blind or have other severe disabilities, including those employed by nonprofit agencies affiliated with the AbilityOne Program.
Among its many responsibilities, the Committee:
- Determines which products and services purchased by the federal government must be procured from AbilityOne-participating nonprofit agencies;
- Establishes the fair market prices for these products and services, and revises the prices when appropriate;
- Ensures that nonprofit agencies comply with Committee rules and regulations (through on-site reviews of agency operations, annual certifications and other means);
- Assists entities of the federal government in expanding their AbilityOne procurement; and
- Designates one or more distributors for AbilityOne products and services.
To help carry out its mandate, the Committee has a full-time staff located in Arlington, Virginia. The staff reviews proposed products and services to ensure that the Committee has adequate data to determine their suitability for addition to the Procurement List. Information compiled by the staff is submitted to Committee members for consideration in deciding whether to add the products and services to the Procurement List.
