Economic Development: Employing Blind and Visually Impaired Service Disabled Veterans to Perform Green Jobs

 

 On November 9, 2009, President Barack Obama signed an executive order that established a Council on Veterans Employment, to be co—directed by the Secretaries of Labor and Veterans Affairs.  The mission of the Council is among other tasks “Advise and assist the President and the Director of OPM in establishing a coordinated Government-wide effort to increase the number of veterans employed by the Federal Government by enhancing recruitment and training.”[1] Another related Administration initiative is the development of green jobs that result in reducing environmental risks.  The Middle Class Task Force of the Office of the Vice President of the United States asserts in a report to staff, “The Obama/Biden Administration is deeply committed to reforming how we create and consume energy in America…Green jobs have the potential to be quality, family-sustaining jobs that also help improve our environment.”[2] More recently, at the Brookings Institution on December 8, President Obama discussed his interest in creating green jobs to help Americans procure employment (and also asked Congress to consider tax cuts to people who retro fit their homes with energy-saving measures).

For year 2010, studies estimate that there will be 156,854 legally blind veterans in the United States.  Among this total, there will be an estimated 1,796 legally blind veterans in the selected counties (District of Columbia, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Arlington, and Fairfax) in the Washington DC Metropolitan area.  Studies for visually impaired veterans indicate there will be 1,160,407 nationally, with an estimated 13,727 in the selected counties in the Washington DC Metropolitan area.[3] While the number cited here includes veterans over the age of 65, 45 percent of working age adults in the general population who are blind or visually impaired is employed, while 74 percent of the sighted working age public is employed.

In 2008, Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind (CLB) invested in its consumers by creating a digital data scan business (DDS).  DDS is the electronic capture and conversion of data for the purposes of archiving, uploading to content management systems and web-based information repositories.  Using blind and visually impaired employees, the CLB DDS business model offers the following features and benefits:

  • Provides high-quality and competitively-priced comprehensive document conversion solutions
  • Employs dependable, highly- motivated, skilled and underutilized workforce of people who are  blind and visually impaired
  • Enables customers to manage and take control of their documents, resulting in increased    efficiencies at a competitive price
  • Provides documents with a safe, secure environment at all times

During the first year of operation, CLB acquired equipment, worked in partnership with National Industries for the Blind in developing DDS business processes and positioned the business in the marketplace.  Since the start up of DDS predated the President’s call for the proliferation of green jobs, CLB’s DDS business was well positioned for success.  During the second year of operation, CLB won a grant through the BRAC project (from Department of Labor) to launch the Bridge to Work™ Initiative.  This grant enabled CLB to push the business forward and set up a training program for returning warriors and veterans.  The goal of the Bridge to Work™ Initiative, which was adapted from CLB’s existing work training program, was to train veterans who are visually impaired or blind in a specific, much requested skill. A key feature of the program is an eight to twelve Training Internship Program (TIP) that places and trains a veteran in an actual job so that employer, trainer and trainee can assess progress and fit.  CLB works closely with the veteran during training to locate a job. After graduation from the program, the veteran has the necessary skills to obtain a job in the DDS sector.  After the second year of business, CLB branded the veterans’ back-to-work program Bridge to Work™ and sought to trademark the initiative’s name.

CLB’s has competed  successfully to win contracts with Department of Justice, US Marshals Service, US Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, US General Services Administration, Bureau of Prisons and Department of Justice.

CLB has received wide support for its efforts to create a program during a recession that reaches out to returning warriors and veterans.  Bridge to Work™ is a successful model, because it recruits, trains and employs military personnel who are visually impaired or blind in one turn-key process.  The veterans who have gone through the Bridge to Work™ program attest to the program’s soundness: they appreciate rewarding employment while working alongside other veterans.  CLB is proud to be part of the many efforts to stimulate economic development by employing military service personnel who have served the United States of America.

CLB impacts the economic development the Greater Washington Region by integrating blind and visually impaired individuals of all ages into the workforce, including those who are re-entering the workforce after losing their sight, with an emphasis on returning warriors and veterans.  CLB believes the inclusion of disabled individuals in the workforce will strengthen the economy.  Moreover, by training blind and visually impaired veterans for job readiness, CLB provides a sense of independence to the individual that is immeasurable.

CLB’s 24 month objective is to train and place in jobs 20 veterans who are visually impaired or blind by 2011.  Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind is seeking partnerships in two ways: 1) create linkages within the wide variety of organizations and agencies that provide services to veterans and their families, in order to identify returning warriors and veterans who are able to work; and, 2) identify investment partners to continue and expand the program to meet the burgeoning need the statistics lay out.

 

December 2009

www.clb.org


[1] Executive Order: Employment of Veterans in the Federal Government.  Office of the Press Secretary. The White House, November 9, 2009.

[2] Middle Class Task Force.  The Vice President of the United States.  “Green Jobs: Pathway to a Strong Middle Class”.  2009.

[3] “Projection Model for Visually Impaired Veterans in the Washington DC Metro Area.” Michael Williams, Ph.D., Blind Rehabilitation Service National Program Office.  Department of Veterans Affairs.  2009.