building a better economic future for americans with disabilities powered by the national disability...

Building a Better Economic Future for Americans with Disabilities Powered by the National Disability

Institute

Tax knowledge is freedom. www.reitour.org

Linking AT with 21st

Century

Economic

Empowerment

Engines

2010 Annual Conference ofAT Act Programs

Host: National AT Technical Assistance Partnership

Johnette Hartnett, Ed.D.National Disability Institute

Washington, DC


Linking AT with 21st CenturyEconomic Empowerment Engines

Americans with Disabilities Act

The Nation’s proper goals regarding individuals with disabilities are to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for such individuals.

42 U.S.C §1201(a)(8)(2005)


21st Century Economic Empowerment Goals for People with Disabilities

• Improve economic status

• Increase quality of life

• Reduce technology barriers

• Develop new partnerships

• Recognize disability as power market

• Reform public policy

• Increase social expectations

• Lift asset limits

• Introduce new financial products and services

• Create new jobs

Disability and Economic Development

19th Century

Evolution Life Insurance

Funeral Industry Hospitals

Veteran Pensions Education

Banks Research

Public Benefits Railroads

Institutions Schools for the Blind

Homestead Act



Disability and Economic Development

20th Century

Vocational Rehabilitation Women Rights

Nursing Homes Federal Reserve

Tax Code Social Security

Civil Rights Labor Laws

Doubled Mortality Rates Individual Disability Education Act

Americans with Disability Architectural Barriers Act Act 1968

Rehabilitation Act 1973 Television Decoder Circuitry(Section 504) Act of 1990

Assets for Independence Act Section 508 1986

Tech Act 1988 AT Act 1998Welfare Reform 1996

21st Century Economic

Empowerment Goals

for People with Disabilities

• Improve economic status

• Increase quality of life

• Reduce technology barriers

• Develop new partnerships

• Recognize disability as power market

• Reform public policy

• Increase social expectations

• Lift asset limits

• Introduce new financial products and services

• Create new jobs




What is economic empowerment?

Economic empowerment is the capacity to preserve and grow resources acquired through access to social, human and financial capital that expand and sustain quality life choices.

Where do we find the economic empowerment engines?

Community-Based Organizations providing tax and asset building services Private Sector Corporations and FoundationsFederal, State and Local Government Programs

Who are your partners?


UNDERSTANDING DISABILITY MARKET

• 54 million or one out of five Americans report a disability • 91.4% live in a household and 8.6% in group quarters • 24.4% of the 113.1 million households in US contain at least one

person with a disability • Pre-tax income for US households is $8.1 trillion of which 17.8%

or $1.44 trillion is held by households with at least one person with a disability.

• Households with persons with a disability control 20% of spending

• Pre-tax income for employed persons with a disability is $274 billion compared to $133.7 billion for people with disabilities not employed



UNDERSTANDING DISABILITY MARKET

• 25 percent growth in disability since 1990

• Disability spending grew from $397.5 billion in 2006 to $542.8 billion in 2007 (represents federal, state and local spending)

• 21.6 million receive income maintenance (SSI, SSDI, TANF, VA Compensation, Food Stamps and HUD)

• 17.5 million receive health care (6.8 m Medicare, 8.8 m Medicaid, 1.8 m VA)

• 7 million K-12 grades Special Education

• 7.2 million long term care and 1.04 million institutionalized

• 34% of US population is comprised of minority population



FISCAL RATIONALE FOR DISABILITY AS A FUTURE GROWTH MARKET

• $1 trillion in aggregate income

• $220 billion discretionary spending

• Disability market is larger than African American, Latino and gay market combined

• Double the fabled spending of tweens and more than seventeen times the spending of tweens 8-12 year olds

• 70% of people with disabilities choose to buy from retailers that support persons with disabilities

• 92% feel more favorable toward companies that hire persons with disabilities

• Disability is not a niche market but part of three major movements 1) demand-driven consumer rights revolution 2) knowledge worker (drucker) and 3) boomer generation.



Economic Empowerment Programs Available in Many Cities

• Free Tax Preparation

• Financial Education

• Debt and Credit Counseling

• Matched Savings Programs

• Microenterprise

• Assistive Technology Loan Programs

• Home Ownership

• Health & Wellness

• Work Incentives – Social Security Administration

• Job Readiness and Training and Telework Opportunities




Example of Free Tax Preparation EngineModel: Tax Code Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) provided $49 B in refundable tax

credits to qualified taxpayers in 2009 and lifted 5 million taxpayers out of poverty.

Engines: IRS and over 600 Community-Based Organizations; 44,000 volunteers providing Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) to 3 million taxpayers with over $1 billion in refunds. Since 2005 NDI REI Tour (www.reitour.org) became part of the VITA network and provided over 330,000 taxpayers with free preparation services that saved $66 million in paid preparer fees. 60% of National Community Tax Coalition members (www.nctc.org) providing asset building services. Private sector sponsors and VITA Grant providing fuel. REI Tour tested Video Relay Service in DeafTax VITA initiative in over a dozen cities providing real time tax preparation remotely. In 2010 offered Savings Bonds option on tax return.

AT Opportunities: Are you partnering with local tax/asset building networks? Opportunities to compliment existing loan programs operating with or at tax sites (credit unions, banks and CDFIs). Coalitions should be asking about access needs on intake forms. TaxWise® should ask access question. How can AT services be integrated into free tax and asset building work?



Example of Financial Services Engine• Model: Financial Services – Community Based Organizations provide financial education

to reduce use of predatory lending practices, help families out of debt, and stabilize economic security. Sometimes CBOs partner with a local credit union or bank and offer enrollment opportunities at the site. Financial institutions provide underbanked and unbanked customers an array of online games, products and services.

• Engines: In addition to Community Based Organizations that provide a continuum of services from home ownership to credit counseling, a number of Federal programs – FDIC, U.S. Treasury, USDA, IRS, Federal Reserve are involved in advancing economic self sufficiency for an array of outreach strategies. State Treasure Offices provide debt and credit services (online and otherwise) for customers. Many credit unions and banks provide online financial education and access to financial services. Corporations like AT&T have a national assistive technology board that provides field information about needs and barriers. Individual Development Account Programs (IDAs) available through a number of orgs – will hear more from panel today. United Ways, Community Action Agencies, Mayor’s Offices, Community Councils, just a few of the local partners doing tax prep with an additional strong financial stability agenda. VISA produced Financial Soccer for NDI – a video game with 100 questions on benefits. Not accessible for the blind.

• AT Opportunities: Community Based Organizations need education and information about AT strategies – device loans, device demos, AT advocacy and financing assistance. As more people with disabilities are integrated into the economic mainstream the more assistive technology needs, products and services will be in demand. Are AT programs providing outreach to these markets? How can AT assist tax and asset building field in expanding its programs to people challenged with transportation barriers?



Johnette Hartnett, Ed.D.

Director REI Tour

National Disability Institute

202-296-2043

[email protected]

www.reitour.org


The Real Economic Impact Tour (REI Tour) - a national initiative of the National Disability Institute (NDI) - delivers free tax preparation and filing assistance, along with other asset building strategies to low-income persons with disabilities. The REI Tour is a public-private collaboration designed to provide Americans with disabilities insight, tools and resources to improve their lives through financial education, training and counseling. For more information on the Tour please visit www.REITour.org and to learn more about NDI’s economic empowerment projects visit www.realeconomicimpact.org.

REI Tour Sponsors

Real Economic Impact Tour

building a better economic future for americans with disabilities powered by the national disability...

Documents