FAQ'S

What is Didlake?
How many people with disabilities does Didlake assist annually?
What are Didlake’s rehabilitative services credentials?
What are Didlake’s employment opportunities and benefits for people with disabilities?
What is the AbilityOne Program?
What are the advantages of the AbilityOne Program?
What are the benefits of contracting under the AbilityOne Program?
Is the AbilityOne Program really necessary in light of the 1990 enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?
What types of wages do AbilityOne employees earn?
What types of jobs are people with disabilities performing for the federal government?
Sometimes I hear others in the disability community criticizing the AbilityOne Program, calling it “segregated employment.” What do you say to them?
Can’t people with disabilities compete for jobs in private industry just like anybody else?
Can you cite some specific successes of the AbilityOne Program?
Do agencies associated with the AbilityOne Program only service federal agencies and departments?
How do National Industries for the Blind (NIB) and NISH (formerly National Industries for the Severely Handicapped) assist nonprofits with the AbilityOne Program and the employment of persons with disabilities?

What is Didlake?
Didlake is a social enterprise dedicated to enriching the lives of people with disabilities and providing quality business services. For more than 40 years, we have provided wide-ranging resources that expand opportunities for people with disabilities in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC. Our support services include vocational training and our award-winning Business Solutions provide jobs for many of the people we train.

Our mission is to create opportunities that enrich the lives of people with disabilities. We envision communities enriched by the inclusion of people with disabilities in valued social roles. The results of our rehabilitative and employment services have been wide ranging—from individuals with disabilities living independently for the first time to succeeding in managerial level jobs.

How many people with disabilities does Didlake assist annually?
More than 75 percent of Didlake’s employees are people with disabilities. Didlake enriches the lives of more than 1,400 people with disabilities annually through job support and training, day-support services, stable employment with competitive wages and benefits, and paths for upward mobility. Didlake employees work at more than thirty locations in Virginia, Maryland and the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

What are Didlake’s rehabilitative services credentials?
Didlake is a CARF-accredited organization that has met the rigorous guidelines for service and quality set forth by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities.

What are Didlake’s employment opportunities and benefits for people with disabilities?
Excellent wages, benefits and the opportunity to make a difference have earned Didlake the reputation of being a great place to work. We offer employees a variety of benefits that encourage long-term employment and upward mobility. Succession planning exists at all levels in the organization and Didlake is proud of the corporate policies it has enacted to govern fair application of merit and performance incentives.

Furthermore, Didlake’s careful screening, job training and continuing support facilitate individual job success. As one of the top-producing nonprofit agencies within the AbilityOne Program, Didlake provides access to the largest source of contract employment for people with disabilities in the United States.

What is the AbilityOne Program?
Providing employment opportunities to more than 45,000 Americans who are blind or have other severe disabilities, the AbilityOne Program is the single largest source of jobs for such individuals in the United States. The AbilityOne Program uses the purchasing power of the Federal Government to buy products and services from community-based nonprofit agencies nationwide dedicated to training and employing individuals with disabilities.

The JWOD Act appears in Title 41 of the United States Code, Sections 46 through 48c (41 U.S.C. 46-48c). The Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, an independent federal agency, administers the AbilityOne Program. To carry out its mission, the Committee works closely with National Industries for the Blind (NIB) and NISH (formerly National Industries for the Severely Handicapped)–Creating Employment Opportunities for People with Severe Disabilities, to assist the more than 600 community-based nonprofit agencies that obtain Federal contracts through the Program. The AbilityOne Program is a cost-effective way to help people who are blind or have other severe disabilities to achieve greater independence, as it enables many individuals to reduce dependence on government support and join the ranks of taxpayers. Through the AbilityOne Program, people with disabilities enjoy fuller participation in their communities and can market their AbilityOne-learned skills into other public and private sector jobs.

What are the advantages of the AbilityOne Program?
For AbilityOne employees who are blind or have other disabilities, the benefits in terms of self-esteem, value to the community, increased independence and value to their employers are beyond measure.

The AbilityOne Program is a unique program that not only benefits people who are blind or have other severe disabilities, but also generates economic advantages for the American taxpaying public. Working through the AbilityOne Program, thousands of people who might otherwise be solely dependent upon public assistance instead are taxpaying citizens within their communities. For the federal government, the advantage is found in the great value and quality of products and services that are available at competitive prices from AbilityOne-participating nonprofit agencies across the country.

According to a 2003 study commissioned by NISH (formerly National Industries for the Severely Handicapped), the AbilityOne Program is saving Federal and state governments more than $46 million a year. The study, entitled “People with Disabilities Work: America Benefits,” focused exclusively on AbilityOne commissary, food service and custodial programs, which collectively employ more than 10,000 people nationwide who are blind or have other severe disabilities. According to the study, the net savings to the Government come from the increase in income and payroll taxes and reduction of entitlements that result from the AbilityOne commissary, food service and custodial programs.

What are the benefits of contracting under the AbilityOne Program?
The AbilityOne Program collaborates with its Federal customers to satisfy their needs with quality products and services at fair prices, and leverages a national network of nonprofit agencies to continue developing and expanding the wide array of solutions it provides. AbilityOne products are available through a variety of distributors at reasonable prices and delivered when needed. AbilityOne service contracts offer a stable workforce dedicated to quality and customer satisfaction. The provisions of the AbilityOne Program enable a long-term supplier relationship, eliminating the need to re-compete the contract. Finally, contracting with the AbilityOne Program affords people who are blind or have other severe disabilities an opportunity to gain meaningful employment, lead more independent lives and reduce dependence on government entitlement programs.

Is the AbilityOne Program really necessary in light of the 1990 enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?
Yes, the AbilityOne Program is necessary. While the landmark ADA legislation assures basic civil rights for people with disabilities, including the provision of reasonable accommodations by employers, it does not assure jobs for all people with disabilities who want to work. The AbilityOne Program was created for just this purpose—to help create employment opportunities for people with severe disabilities and reduce the staggering unemployment rate (70 percent) facing this population. According to the 2000 Census, of the 31 million United States residents between the ages of 21 and 64 who have disabilities, nearly 21 million are unemployed or underemployed.

Moreover, the vast majority of people with disabilities employed under the AbilityOne Program are currently not capable of competitive employment. Consequently, they are not currently in a position to benefit from the ADA’s reasonable accommodations provision. It is expected, however, that many AbilityOne employees will obtain work skills as a result of their AbilityOne jobs and therefore be able to take advantage of opportunities made available because of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

What types of wages do AbilityOne employees earn?
On AbilityOne product contracts, employees are paid based on the prevailing industry wage for a specific locality. On AbilityOne service contracts, employees are paid in accordance with the Service Contract Act (SCA). As of FY 2004, the average hourly wage for an AbilityOne employee was $8.98 per hour (with some AbilityOne employees earning as much as $10 to $14 per hour), compared to the Federal minimum wage of $5.15 per hour. AbilityOne wages allow for many people who are blind or have other severe disabilities to live more independent lives. Some AbilityOne participating nonprofit agencies hold special certificates issued by the Department of Labor to pay employees a commensurate wage (a percentage of the prevailing wage) based on employee productivity.

What types of jobs are people with disabilities performing for the federal government?
Nonprofit agencies around the country that employ people who are blind or have other severe disabilities are supplying a wide array of high-quality products including office supplies using the SKILCRAFT® brand, military clothing, detergents, paints and surgical items to name just a few. In the services category, AbilityOne employees can be found working in such areas as landscaping, building maintenance, food service, mail center operations, laundry services, order processing, administrative support, document imaging and a myriad of other services. In short, AbilityOne employees are meeting the needs of government agencies for products and services as diverse as the agencies themselves.

Sometimes I hear others in the disability community criticizing the AbilityOne Program, calling it “segregated employment.” What do you say to them?
Most AbilityOne Program jobs, nearly 80 percent, are in “integrated settings” at federal agencies, on military bases and in our communities—where people with disabilities work side by side with others who do not have disabilities. The AbilityOne law requires that at least 75 percent of the direct labor in a participating nonprofit agency be performed by people who are blind or have other severe disabilities. Thousands of people choose AbilityOne jobs and are paid either prevailing wages or at rates commensurate with their productivity. Jobs that are in what some might call “factory settings” are providing job opportunities that nonprofit agencies and the people they serve may not otherwise have. There are more than 600 qualified nonprofit agencies that provide AbilityOne job training and employment for people who are blind or have other severe disabilities. There are hundreds more nonprofit agencies that look to the AbilityOne Program to support their local vocational mission but are not producing under the Program. In the final analysis, many thousands of people with disabilities depend on the Program for their livelihood and ability to live with dignity in their communities. Choice is the ultimate objective for all individuals. People deserve having choice in everything—from where to spend their money, to where they live, to where they work.

Can’t people with disabilities compete for jobs in private industry just like anybody else?
They can and they do. An important aspect of the AbilityOne Program is that it provides real job training for people who are blind or have other severe disabilities. This job training provides greater opportunity for people to transfer the skills they have acquired into private sector employment opportunities. However, competition for jobs grows every day and private industry is not effectively providing employment opportunities for people who are blind or have other severe disabilities. If private industry had demonstrated its collective will to employ people with disabilities over the years, laws such as the JWOD Act and the ADA would not have been necessary and we would not be currently experiencing a staggering unemployment rate within the community of people with severe disabilities.

Can you cite some specific successes of the AbilityOne Program?
Certainly. For example, in California more than 2,600 people are employed in nonprofit agencies participating in the AbilityOne Program. That figure alone would be attractive to any economic development official. Coupled with the fact that these employees earn in excess of $30 million per year, you have a very real success story. In Texas, nearly 5,300 people who are blind or have other severe disabilities work on AbilityOne contracts and earn nearly $45 million annually. Even in a smaller state such as Maryland, nearly 3,000 people are working on AbilityOne projects earning nearly $30 million a year. The real successes, however, are in the individual lives of the AbilityOne employees. Contact an AbilityOne qualified nonprofit agency in your community and go visit. There you will find out firsthand how the AbilityOne Program and community nonprofit agencies are changing lives right in your own neighborhood.

Do agencies associated with the AbilityOne Program only service federal agencies and departments?
No and in fact, community nonprofit agencies with AbilityOne contracts are encouraged to pursue contracts with state and local governments, as well as commercial contracts in the private sector. Community nonprofit agencies contract with major corporations such as 3M, Boeing, General Motors, American Honda, Northern Telecom, Toro and Rockwell International, among others. For these and other private corporations, employees provide the full range of product and service offerings including technical services such as micrographics, sub-assembly, recycling and data entry. Remember, the mission of the AbilityOne Program is not to limit, but rather to expand the training and employment choices for people with severe disabilities.

How do National Industries for the Blind (NIB) and NISH (formerly National Industries for the Severely Handicapped) assist nonprofits with the AbilityOne Program and the employment of persons with disabilities?
NIB and NISH are committed to helping their associated agencies succeed in providing employment opportunities to individuals who are blind or have other severe disabilities. Among many other services, NIB and NISH offer their agencies assistance on product and service contract development and management, legislative and regulatory issues, communications and public relations, information technology, engineering and technical support, workforce development concerns and an extensive professional training program.