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Community Rehabilitation Services for People with Disabilities delves into the changes happening in the disability services in the United States. The book focuses on how these changes are affecting the way professionals and agencies relate to people with disabilities and their families.

Background: Promoting optimal social integration of people with disabilities, as active citizens, represents a major objective of Romanian health, social and political strategies. Methods: Review of the official data and studies on employment of disabled people, actualized to 2015. Results: The total number of disabled people was 759,019 (3.41% of the Romanian population). About 415,852 (59.58%) were aged between 18 and 64. Rate of employment of disabled persons is very small (14%). People with somatic disability represent the most employed category (38.4%); least employed were the mental (3.1%) and psychiatric (5.2%) categories. The number of authorized protected units (sheltered employment) increased up to 722 units (recorded in 2015). Discussion: A terminology clarification and unification approach, at national level (between concepts of disability vs. handicap), has become a necessity. Romanian legal frame regarding labour policy and working with disabilities imposes material obligations for employers (the 4% quota system) but also offers fiscal facilities for them. Disabled persons (with accentuated and severe disability/ handicap) are exempt from income tax and complementary cumulate the non-taxable income and disability benefits. Conclusion: This original paper is an updated integrative approach to the Romanian strategy and policy of (re-)employment of people with disabilities. It underlines the main achievements, improvements and limitations in the continuous endeavor of implementation of the legislative framework on the protection, integration and inclusion of disabled persons in Romania.

Now as perhaps never before, Americans are recognizing heroes in everyday life. From "the Greatest Generation" of World War II to the firefighters of the New York City Fire Department, we are recognizing the extraordinary contributions which citizens make to their communities and to our nation. People with disabilities are among the contributors. The World Health Organization's new International Classification of Function, Disability and Health (ICIDH) recognizes the importance of their contributions – to themselves as well as their communities. It identifies participation in community life as a critically-important outcome and specifically highlights participation in civic and political affairs (ICIDH-2, 2001 Chapter 9 - Code d950). Civic and political participation is the cornerstone of our Republic (deTocqueville, 1864). If representative democracy is to work, citizens must represent their values and those of their neighbors at every level. Significant values and interests frequently clash in the political arena, so this task isn't easy – it requires fortitude and skill. There are 2,308 non-metropolitan counties and 33,324 communities with populations of 10,000 or fewer in the United States. A typical county has at least three elected commissioners, and approximately five to seven standing committees focusing on roads, environment, buildings and codes, health and human services, and other concerns. Each committee has about five appointed citizen leaders. A typical city has three to five commissioners and a committee structure similar to that of a county. Using these numbers in combination with McNeil's estimate (1993) that 8% of the U.S. adult population has a severe disability, we can estimate the number of rural Americans with disabilities involved in civic leadership (see table below). We estimate that 13,884 elected and 71,264 appointed civic leaders with disabilities serve rural communities.

One in four Americans — a diverse group of 61 million people — experience some form of disability (Okoro, 2018). On average, people with disabilities experience significant disparities in education, employment, poverty, access to health care, food security, housing, transportation, and exposure to crime and domestic violence (Pendo & Iezzoni, 2019). Intersections with demographic characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, and LGBT status, may intensify certain inequities. For example, women with disability experience greater disparities in income, education, and employment (Nosek, 2016), and members of under-served racial and ethnic groups with disabilities experience greater disparities in health status and access to health care (Yee et al., 2016). These longstanding inequities are compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and by governmental and private responses that discriminate on the basis of disability. Legal protections of people with disabilities are governed by two key federal laws: the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act ("Section 504" or "Rehabilitation Act"). Together, these laws ensure that people with disabilities have equal opportunities in employment, in state and local services and programs, and to goods and services. The broad reach of these laws impacts a host of issues raised by the COVID-19 pandemic. Enforcing agencies have provided COVID-19-specific guidance on the application of the laws in health care and in employment. However, gaps in protections as well as widespread lack of knowledge of and noncompliance with the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act limit their impact. Recommendations include: continued enforcement of the laws; clear and current agency guidance on how to comply with the laws; education about the requirements of the laws, especially in health care settings; and improved data collection and reporting. This paper was prepared as part of Assessing Legal Responses to COVID-19, a comprehensive report published by Public Health Law Watch in partnership with the de Beaumont Foundation and the American Public Health Association.

This thematic issue aims at developing and disseminating knowledge about how consumption can promote and inhibit social participation and social inclusion through increased access to and use of marketplaces, goods and services. This editorial briefly presents the topic and summarises the different articles published in the issue.

Earning a postsecondary education credential like a degree or certification expands a persons employment choices and is an important indicator for future earnings and job security. This increased emphasis on a postsecondary-educated workforce stands to disproportionately affect people with disabilities. They are less likely than their non-disabled peers to earn a diploma or credential beyond high school. This report points out some trends in higher education for people with disabilities. ; National Conference for States Legislatures - NCSL