This episode features Taryn Williams, the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy at the United States Department of Labor. She shares the mission of the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and this office's policies and programs aimed at increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities. She discusses the interconnection between COVID-19 and employment for people with disabilities, including a focus on long-COVID and mental illness, and provides perspective on how the pandemic has created a possibility of more flexible work arrangements and higher education to advance disability inclusion in the workforce.

Episode Transcript: Click here

Episode transcripts can be found at http://disabilityhealth.jhu.edu/included/

A few U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy key resources:

• National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM): dol.gov/NDEAM
• Job Accommodation Network: AskJAN.org
• Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion: AskEARN.org
• Partnership for Employment and Accessible Technology (PEAT): peatworks.org
• Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth (CAPE-Youth): capeyouth.org
• ODEP's new practice brief, Leveraging the Shift to Remote Work to Increase Employment of People with Disabilities:   https://askearn.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/EARN_2021_Practice_Brief_Remote_Work.pdf
• Workplace resources regarding COVID-19 and Long COVID-19, including information about reasonable accommodations and supports: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/topics/coronavirus-covid-19-long-covid