National Disability Policy: A Progress Report - 2009

March 31, 2009

SCOPE AND PURPOSE:

In recent years, the National Council on Disability (NCD) Progress Report has been a retrospective review and analysis of Federal programs for people with disabilities. For this Progress Report, NCD members have chosen to depart from a retrospective approach, and, instead, will focus on the current status of the quality of life of people with disabilities, and the emerging trends that warrant changes in the Federal Government’s disability policies and programs. The worldwide economic recession, the unprecedented changing demographics in America, and the advent of a new Administration and Congress taking bold new directions in fiscal policy, offer an opportunity for a proactive report on the state of affairs in the disability arena. This report suggests ways to address identified issues that are consistent with a fiscal policy aimed at unlocking the potential of America and thereby improving the quality of life and opportunities for the American people. It is our hope that these recommendations will ensure that the identified needs of people with disabilities and their families are not overlooked, as so often has happened in previous periods of economic recovery. Therefore, this report emphasizes opportunities to improve the quality of life of the growing number of citizens with disabilities, the emerging trends warranting changes in the government’s response, and recommendations for reviewing and modernizing the way the Federal Government approaches disability policy.