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The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) achieved the federal two percent goal in the hiring of persons with targeted disabilities for the past two consecutive years, the agency’s Diversity and Equal Opportunity Office (DEO) publicly announced Oct. 3.
The two percent goal – set by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as a final rule in 2017 – requires federal agencies to recruit individuals with disabilities while ensuring that individuals with disabilities are aware of and have an opportunity to apply for positions.
“We are currently on par to meet or exceed that goal in fiscal year 2023,” said DCSA Disability Program Manager Lori Lupo, regarding the hiring of persons with targeted disabilities for permanent positions throughout DCSA. “It’s an honor to positively impact our national security by offering a variety of very important positions and careers to individuals with qualified disabilities.”
Targeted disabilities are those disabilities that the federal government identified for special emphasis to encourage the hiring, placement and advancement of selected individuals with disabilities in affirmative action planning.
“We must provide reasonable accommodations while shifting perceptions of what disabled people can do,” said Lupo. “They can accomplish anything in the workplace if given the proper support.”
Targeted disabilities comprise blindness or serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses; deafness or serious difficulty hearing; missing extremities (arm, leg, hand and/or foot); significant mobility impairments; partial or complete paralysis (any cause); epilepsy or other seizure disorders; intellectual disabilities; psychiatric and developmental disabilities; traumatic brain injury; dwarfism and significant disfigurements.
Over the past three years, DCSA increased its population of persons who identified as having non-targeted disabilities to nine percent – falling short of the federal government’s 12 percent goal.
Non-targeted disabilities comprise disabilities that are not designated as a targeted disability for special emphasis by the federal government but may be just as severe, or more severe, than some targeted disabilities.
“We look forward to providing the workforce with new education and awareness through training products about the Americans with Disability Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to increase and attract more people with disabilities to DCSA,” said DCSA Diversity and Equal Opportunity Office Director Dr. Theresa Horne. “Additionally, partnering with DCSA’s Human Capital Management Office on diversity recruitment should ensure we reach deeper into the communities that we hope to see on candidate lists.”
The Americans with Disabilities Act – a civil rights law prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life – guarantees equal opportunity and provides protections to persons with disabilities similar to individuals on the bases of race, color, sex, national origin, age and religion.
The Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by federal agencies, in programs receiving federal financial assistance, in federal employment and the employment practices of federal contractors. It also requires agencies to offer and implement reasonable accommodation, unless to do so impacts the mission and imposes an undue hardship.
Since 2020, DEO – expanding operations in alignment with the agency’s transformation – established operations at each DCSA regional headquarters. Meanwhile, DEO hired new staff members who are impacting various disability programs and reasonable accommodation efforts from its Quantico headquarters. Recent members joining the DEO staff this quarter include Reasonable Accommodation Coordinator Joy Chontosh who supports Lupo and Mid-Atlantic Regional Program Manager Kwasi Davis.
In addition to recruitment and hiring efforts focused on targeted and non-targeted persons with disabilities, Lupo and Chontosh ensure that DCSA provides reasonable accommodation to qualified employees with disabilities.
“We are working to foster a culture of full inclusion and ensuring that employees with disabilities have the resources they need to be fully successful,” said Chontosh. “For our current workforce of persons with disabilities, DCSA offers a robust reasonable accommodation process.”
Reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities is the process of making a change in the work environment or in the way things are normally customarily done, which would allow a person with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunities. It comprises anything the agency can do to enable employees with a long-term physical or mental impairment to do their jobs.
Many people with disabilities can apply for and perform jobs without requiring an accommodation. However, reasonable accommodations help remove workplace barriers, such as physical obstacles or rules about how a job is to be performed. Examples of reasonable accommodation include providing or modifying equipment or devices, job restructuring, flexible work schedules and providing sign language interpreters.
An individual must be qualified for a reasonable accommodation, which means that the employee can do the essential functions of the job with an accommodation so long as the employee has the required skills, experience, education and certifications.
This year, DCSA joins the nation to celebrate the contributions of America’s workers with disabilities past and present while showcasing supportive, inclusive employment policies and practices.
The National Disability Employment Awareness Month 2022 theme of ‘Disability: Part of the Equity Equation’ recognizes the important role people with disabilities play in a diverse and inclusive American workforce.
The disability observance dates back to 1945 when Congress declared the first week in October as ‘National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week.’ In 1962, as a way to acknowledge the employment needs and contributions of individuals with disabilities of all types, the term ‘physically’ was removed. In 1988, Congress expanded the week-long campaign to a month and changed the name to ‘National Disability Awareness Month.’ In 2001, Congress authorized the Department of Labor to develop the Office of Disability Employment Policy, a sub-cabinet level agency, to initiate national policy to ensure that people with disabilities are fully integrated into the 21st century workforce.
| Date Taken: | 10.03.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 10.03.2022 17:21 |
| Story ID: | 430630 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 265 |
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