1998 — A Better Place: The Contributions of Americans with Mental Retardation to Our Nation’s Workforce

The 1998 Report to the President offers recommendations to the nation regarding employment for citizens with mental retardation. The Report is the culmination of the 1998 PCMR Employment Summit and summarizes the concerns of summit participants and the PCMR participants and Committee regarding employment opportunities and barriers to employment for Americans with mental retardation. The Report is authored by John Kregel, Ed.D., professor of Special Education at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Dr. Kregel is Director of Research and Associate Director of the VCU Rehabilitation Research and Training Center.

Introduction

The mission of the President's Committee on Mental Retardation (PCMR) is to act in an advisory capacity to the President and to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on matters relating to policy and programs affecting services and supports for people with mental retardation. Approximately one in ten families are directly affected by a person with mental retardation at some point in their lifetime. Many more are involved as neighbors, classmates, co-workers and friends.

The President's Committee on Mental Retardation was formally established by Executive Order in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson and directed to focus on issues related to mental retardation and to guide Federal policy to address this critical concern of so many American citizens.

Since 1993 PCMR has, with renewed energy, effectively impacted disability policy within States/Territories, and Native American Tribes; established a movement for future leaders in the field; and set the stage for employment services and supports for the future. The PCMR publications are utilized as texts in Universities, training tools for direct service professionals and serve as innovative guides by policy-makers.

Real outcomes for real people. This is the ultimate goal of lifelong inclusion. This is the challenge to the field of mental retardation into the next millennium.

Through the collaborative support of Federal agency partners, PCMR held three national events in 1998. The PCMR National Employment Summit was co-sponsored by The Social Security Administration; the Next Generation Leadership Symposium and the National Collaborative Academy on Mental Retardation were co-sponsored by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, The Social Security Administration, Administration on Developmental Disabilities, Administration on Native Americans, and the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development.