PORT ANGELES — Disabled workers are just as effective as nondisabled employees and play a vital role in the workplace, the president and chief executive of an employment agency for the disabled told Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce members Monday.
“With receptiveness of the business community, we can be real successful in matching people with disabilities who want to work with a company,” Morningside President and CEO Jim Larson said at the weekly luncheon held at the Port Angeles CrabHouse Restaurant.
The Olympia-based nonprofit agency has offices in Clallam, Grays Harbor and Lewis counties. It provides job training, job coaching and high school transition services for people living with disabilities and trains companies looking to hire disabled workers at no cost.
The Port Angeles office, which Morningside purchased last November, is at 113 S. Valley St.
Growing numbers
There are about 54 million Americans living with at least one disability, Larson said.
That number is expected to double within the next 20 years as baby boomers age and wounded service members return from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“This is a population that keeps growing and growing,” he said.
“Disability crosses all genders, all faiths, all ethnicities, you name it. It can affect everybody.”
About 75 percent of people with disabilities are unemployed.
Many are poor and unsatisfied with their lives because they don’t have a job, Larson said.
“People with disabilities want to work,” he said. “They’re no different than anybody else.”
Common myths
Larson tried to dispel what he said are common myths about disabled workers, such as the notion disabled workers are more likely to have accidents on the job.
“It’s just not true,” he said.
Larson said most disabled workers don’t need special accommodations, nor are they more likely to miss work.
A 1990 survey found that 90 percent of 811 disabled workers rated average or better in job performance compared to 95 percent of employees without disabilities.
An earlier study involving 2,745 disabled workers found that 92 percent rated average or better in job performance compared to 90 percent of employees without disabilities.
“We don’t look at their disability, we look at their capabilities,” Larson said.
Clallam County government funds Morningside and similar programs through state grants and a portion of a dedicated sales tax for clients with developmental disabilities.
The county budgeted $664,776 this year on services for the developmentally disabled.
“We contract with outside folks,” County Administrator Jim Jones said.
Morningside received $195,722 from the county from January through May. Last year, the county spent $210,019 on Morningside referrals.
Willie Burer, human services planner for the Clallam County Department of Health and Human Services, said demand for these services has increased while state grants have decreased.
“Morningside has a vital role to play in connecting employers and those with disabilities to integrate them into the workplace and to provide much-needed services,” said Jim Hallett, Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce president.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
