People with Disabilities Frequently Asked Questions
Question: How many people with disabilities live in rural areas?
Answer:
The rural population of people with disabilities will vary depending on how you define disability and how you define rural. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, nearly 50 million people in the U.S. aged five and over have disabilities, and of those approximately 10 million live in rural areas. An Update on the Demography of Rural Disability, a 2004 report by the
Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities (RTC), estimates that 11 to 15 million people with some disability and approximately half that number with a significant disability live in rural areas.
Question: What is independent living?
Answer:
Independent living is the belief that people with disabilities should have the same civil rights, options, and control over choices in their own lives as people without disabilities. This approach focuses on changing society and communities so they better meet the needs of the people who live there. The independent living movement puts decision making in the hands of the individual, rather than a medical or service provider.
For more information about independent living, you may want to contact the National Council on Independent Living and the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living. To find an independent living center in your state, please see the Independent Living Research Utilization's Directory of Independent Living Centers and State Independent Living Councils.
Question: What is the President's New Freedom Initiative?
Answer:
President Bush's New Freedom Initiative is a comprehensive program to promote the full participation of people with disabilities in all areas of society by increasing access to assistive and universally designed technologies, expanding educational and employment opportunities, and promoting increased access into daily community life.
Question: What is the Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Waiver Program?
Answer:
The Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Waiver Program, section 1915(c) of the Social Security Act (the Act) is the Medicaid program alternative to providing long-term care in institutional settings. HCBS programs vary from state to state. States may use an HCBS waiver program to provide a combination of both traditional medical services like dental services and non-medical services like respite care. For more information about what is available in your state, see a list of state waiver programs.
Question: Are rural child care providers required to provide access to child care for children with disabilities?
Answer:
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), child care providers, including small, home-based centers, are required to provide children and parents with disabilities with an equal opportunity to participate in the child care center's programs and services. For more information, please see the U.S. Department of Justice's Commonly Asked Questions About Child Care Centers and the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Question: What support is available for families that have children with disabilities?
Answer: Either a Parent Training and Information Center or a Community Parent Resource Center can be found in each state. These centers provide training and information to parents of infants, toddlers, school-aged
children and young adults with disabilities. Parents can also seek support and guidance from other parents in similar circumstances through a Parent to Parent Program.
Family support services are a resource parents can consider when they
need temporary relief from caregiving. For more information, please see the NICHC Briefing Paper - Respite Care, from the National Dissemination
Center for Children with Disabilities.
Some states have options available in which parents control budget funds by allowing them to direct the design and delivery of services and supports, avoid unnecessary institutionalization, experience higher levels of satisfaction, and maximize the efficient use of community services and supports. A broker is assigned to the family to help with hiring, payroll and taxes. These options are available under an Independence Plus Waiver through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. See the CMS Medicaid Initiative Independence Plus for additional information.
Question: What challenges do rural schools face related to special education?
Answer:
Teacher retention is a challenge in rural communities, and it can be particularly difficult to attract and keep special education teachers. Some things that may improve teacher retention in rural areas include providing support to new teachers, offering higher salaries, and developing local talent. For more information about rural teacher recruitment and retention, see Recruiting and Retaining High-Quality Teachers in Rural Areas.
Rural schools may also find it more difficult to pay for assistive technology. The school budget does not need to be the only source of funding for providing needed equipment. Other funding possibilities include vocational rehabilitation, the state department of education, local civic organizations and local businesses. Another option to consider is finding sources to borrow special materials or technology. Contact your state department of education to find out if a lending service is available in your area.
Question: How can people with disabilities get help returning to or entering the workforce?
Answer:
People with disabilities can get training to enter or return to the workforce from vocational rehabilitation providers. Services include training and services to return to work, to enter a new line of work or to enter the workforce for the first time.
The Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program is an employment program for people with disabilities who are interested in going to work. The Ticket Program is part of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999, legislation designed to remove many of the barriers that previously influenced people's decisions about going to work because of the concerns over losing health care coverage. The goal of the Ticket Program is to increase opportunities and choices for Social Security disability beneficiaries to obtain employment, vocational rehabilitation, and other support services from public and private providers, employers, and other organizations.
SSI and Social Security Disability beneficiaries between the ages of 18-64 may be eligible for a Ticket. To use your Ticket, take it to an Employment Network. The Employment Networks are private organizations or public agencies, that have agreed to work with Social Security to provide services under this program.
Question: Is self-employment a good option for people with disabilities in rural areas?
Answer:
Rural areas have fewer employment opportunities and transportation options, so finding a job and transportation to that job can be difficult for rural people with disabilities. One possibility that addresses these challenges is self-employment. For more information on self-employment options, see our information guide on Economic Development and the Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities' Self-Employment: Improving Policy and Practice.
Question: What resources are there for farmers with disabilities?
Answer:
The AgrAbility Project assists people with disabilities employed in agriculture. The project links the Cooperative Extension Service at a land-grant university with a private nonprofit disability service organization to provide practical education and assistance that promotes independence in agricultural production and rural living. Assistance is available to people working on small and large operations. The National Agrability Project lists national and state AgrAbility projects, with addresses, staff and contact information.
Question: What transportation services can rural communities provide for people with disabilities?
Answer:
Access to transportation is a major issue for people with disabilities living in rural areas. Some options that can increase transit options for people with disabilities include flexroutes, which allow for fixed transit routes to add on additional stops as needed, and voucher programs, which allow riders to decide who drives them, where and when.
To learn about flexroutes, see the Handbook for Rural Flexroute Implementation. To learn about voucher programs, see Making Transportation Work for People with Disabilities in Rural America: The Supported Volunteer Rural Transportation Voucher Program and the Great Plains Rural Initiative on Transportation (GRIT).
By combining transportation services to different special populations as well as the general public, people can be served by routes that are close to where they live rather than just routes funded by the agency that serves them. Communities may want to explore the use of vehicles, such as school buses, that are only used part time to provide other services.
Strategies that partner transit providers with volunteer or paid individual drivers to provide needed transit are another option to consider. Some issues that should be addressed include appropriate driver training and liability issues.
For more information, see Easter Seals' Project ACTION (Accessible Community Transportation in Our Nation) and APRIL's Rural Transportation.
Question: What kinds of housing assistance are available to people with disabilities in rural areas?
Answer: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) manages the Section 811 Supportive Housing Program for Persons with Disabilities program, which provides funding to nonprofit organizations to develop rental housing with the availability of supportive services for very low-income adults with disabilities, and provides rent subsidies for the projects to help make them affordable.
The USDA/Rural Housing Service (RHS) offers several programs that may help rural people with disabilities, including the Rural Housing Repair and Rehabilitation Loan and Grant Program, which provides funds to modify homes for accessibility, the Rural Rental Housing Program, which provides direct mortgage loans for the development of congregate housing or group homes for persons with disabilities and the Rental Assistance program, which provides an additional source of support for households with incomes too low to pay the RHS subsidized rent from their own resources. Program descriptions are available on the RHS site. For application information, contact your state USDA Rural Development office.
For more information about housing issues, see the Housing Assistance Council's Housing for Persons with Disabilities in Rural Areas.
Question: What are the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act for small businesses?
Answer:
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to all businesses with 15 or more employees. Rural businesses within fewer than 15 employees may want to voluntarily address the spirit of the ADA. Employers covered by the ADA must make sure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to apply for jobs and to work in jobs for which they are qualified, have an equal opportunity to be promoted once they are working, have equal access to benefits and privileges offered to other employees, and are not harassed because of their disability. The ADA limits the kinds of medical information employers can request from job applicants or employees and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. For more information, see Americans with Disabilities Act: A Primer for Small Business from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Question: What are the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act for local government?
Answer:
Local governments cannot discriminate on the basis of disability for services, programs, activities or benefits offered to the public and must use the most integrated setting appropriate. They are required to ensure that communications with people with disabilities are as effective as communication with others. Municipalities are required to meet or exceed the requirements of ADA design standards when they alter existing facilities or build new ones.
Local governments with fewer than 50 employees should meet these simplified requirements: 1) Provide notice of ADA compliance to public, and 2) Conduct self-evaluation, encourage comment by interested parties, including people with disabilities, and implement changes.
Question: How can communities let people know about the services that are available to individuals and families dealing with disabilities?
Answer:
One good source of sharing information is the local public library or bookmobile. Clinics and hospitals are also a good location for displaying posters and distributing brochures about different services and programs available in your area. U.S. Post Offices often have bulletin boards in their public area used for displaying community services and activities. Smaller communities may use their community or senior centers and/or churches for both displaying and distributing information, and for presenting programs on services available for people with disabilities.
Question: How can community organizations work together to provide services?
Answer:
Community organizations may work independently or with other organizations to pool the resources from different funding programs to provide enough money to hire staff and provide services. City councils, community development agencies, local businesses and other interested citizens could work together to find and apply for programs. Please consider your Independent Living Center as a potential partner in your projects to serve people with disabilities.
Credits
Last revised 05/30/2007
