Disability rights advocates examine pandemic’s impact on workforce
Labor Dept.: Disabled disproportionately lost jobs
Joe Lupinacci, who grew up in Greenwich, is among the 1 million people with disabilities in the U. S. who lost their jobs during the COVID- 19 pandemic.
When the virus hit in March 2020, Lupinacci was furloughed from his job at the New Canaan YMCA, where he worked as an aquatics assistant.
The 24- year- old said he has waited more than a year to return to work.
“I loved working,” said Lupinacci, who now lives in a group home in Stamford.
“I miss the people I worked with and I miss the friendships with other people throughout the New Canaan Y.”
Lupinacci is not alone. At Abilis, a Greenwich- based agency supporting more than 800 people with disabilities and their families, three program participants lost their jobs and five others were furloughed. Those eight people, out of 86 who are employed and receiving services at Abilis, were negatively impacted professionally during the pandemic, said Matthew Miceli, director of competitive employment at Abilis.
What Abilis has seen is a microcosm of what’s occurring across the state and the country for workers with disabilities. While statewide numbers are lagging, the national numbers are much starker, with nearly 1 million people with disabilities in the U. S. having lost their job since the start of the pandemic, according to the National Organization on Disability.
Since March 2020, 1 in 5 workers with disabilities lost their employment, compared to 1 in 7 people without disabilities, according to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number is severe, because, only 1 in 4 of adults in the U. S. live with a disability, according to the U. S. Census Bureau.
As COVID- 19 restrictions are lifted and more people get vaccinated, disability rights advocates are examining the pandemic’s impact on the workforce. In the post- COVID- era, employers could create a more inclusive workforce for all, advocates say.
“I think historically, every time there’s a recession, people with disabilities are disproportionately affected,” said Charles- Edouard Catherine, associate director at the National Organization on Disability.
“We saw that very much in 2008 and 2009 and prior to the pandemic. People with disabilities, in 2018 and 19, were recovering, ( getting) jobs that were hiring, more than the rest of the population,” Catherine said. “So, there was a catch- up effect that virtually stopped. And now with the pandemic, you saw people with disabilities have been disproportionately affected, and they lost their jobs at a higher rate, and it has created a lot of new questions.”
The increase in working from home during COVID- 19 was viewed as a great opportunity for many in the disability community, he said.
“Working from home is something that people with disabilities had been advocating for, for decades, and it was a little painful, really, to see that companies were able to do it, when push comes to shove, and it was done pretty much overnight,” Catherine added.
But for others in the disability community, working form home can be a challenge. “For example, if you rely on lip- reading, and all of a sudden your colleagues don’t want to be on video, that can be a challenge,” he said.
The pandemic has made Catherine rethink how he talks about his own disability. Now that he works from home, fewer people realize that he’s blind, he said.
Adisproportionate impact
Many factors contribute to the disproportionate drop in employment for people with disabilities.
In the years after the 2008 recession, people with disabilities slowly made their way back into the workforce. But when the pandemic hit, many of them were the last hired and therefore, the first fired, Catherine said.
COVID- 19 posed many complications for workers with disabilities, said Jordan Scheff, commissioner of the state Department of Developmental Services.
Many people with disabilities are at higher risk for underlying health conditions, and are therefore, at greater risk from COVID- 19, Sheff said. And many work in service- oriented businesses, which suffered tremendous losses during the pandemic.
Many people with disabilities are also living with family members and feared they would contract COVID- 19 at work and potentially expose their loved ones to the illness.
“When there’s a reduction of workforce, and they’re reducing the number of people in a certain area, if an employee is requiring additional support or job coaching or other accommodations, that negatively would impact the person with a disability,” said Amy Montimurro, CEO and president of Abilis.
“A lot of the people Abilis had working, had part- time positions, which may have been cut to support full- time staff.”
Achanging workforce
As state leaders rethink strategies for alleviating long- term unemployment, two state commissioners are ensuring that people with disabilities are included in that plan. Commissioner Scheff from the Department of Developmental Disabilities and Amy Porter, commissioner of the Department of Aging and Disability Services, are working on Gov. Ned Lamont’s Workforce Council to ensure people with disabilities have the same access to employment pipelines and training programs.
The Department of Aging and Disability Services has provided training, and rehab technologists are helping people with disabilities learn about technology. The department has purchased technology for individuals who need accommodations, so that they’re ready and able to work, Porter said.
“I think it’s just trying to catch up with that curve, and keep up with that curve, and make sure that people with disabilities are faced with a level- playing field instead of being left behind,” Porter said. “It’s trying to learn from the businesses what they need, and making sure that we’re able to connect people with disabilities to the right jobs. ... I think there are positive things that this rethinking and retooling will bring about for people with disabilities in the workplace.”
Disability rights experts said employers should create a work environment that is more fair for all.
Tax incentives and programs such as Ticket to Work — a federal program used at Abilis that helps people receiving Social Security Disability Income or Supplemental Security Income find employment that could lead to a long- term career — are helpful, Scheff said.
But employers must understand that increasing diversity includes hiring people with disabilities.
“Once they get over that hurdle of thinking that, just because someone has a label, that they’re not going to be as productive or as valuable — when we get by that and someone finally pushes past that and accepts someone with a disability into their workplace — that mindset forever changes and that opens the doors,” Scheff said.
“And as they tell other people about their positive experiences, that’s the kind of grass- root stuff that grows. You shouldn’t have to be paid to do the right thing. You should just want to do the right thing, and that includes everyone in your workplace who can help add value to what your business is. And we find people with disabilities add value in every organization they’re a part of.”
Over the last few months, Abilis employees have been helping Lupinacci, and other programs participants, to find jobs.
Lupinacci is happy to be back on the job. Three days per week, he will be working at the New Canaan YMCA in the pool and aquatics area, where he lost his job in March 2020. Three days per week, he will also work at Coffee for Good as a barista trainee. The new coffee shop in central Greenwich is operated in a partnership of Abilis and Second Congregational Church and employs people with disabilities.
“We are thrilled to see Joe to get back to work,” Montimurro said. “This has been a tough time for him, and he has continued to be positive. Joe is a hard worker and gives so much of himself. Having a job to go to contributes to self- worth and selfesteem.”