Oklahoma celebrates 75th National Disability Employment Awareness Month
Still from a video that honors 643,400 Oklahomans with disabilities and employers who provide equal access and opportunities in the workforce. (OKDRS)
OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — October 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of National Disability Employment Awareness Month in the United States.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt recognized the anniversary with a proclamation “to raise awareness about disability employment issues and celebrate the many and varied contributions of Oklahomans with disabilities.”
Oklahoma Rehabilitation Services(OKDRS), the state employment agency for citizens with disabilities, is promoting the national theme “Increasing Access and Opportunity” in the agency’s offices around the state.
The agency produced a video that honors 643,400 Oklahomans with disabilities and employers who provide equal access and opportunities in the workforce.
Staff in DRS' Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired (SBVI) provided employment services to 15,225 Oklahomans with disabilities in 2019.
VR and SBVI staff helped 1,115 of those jobseekers become employed, earning $23,409 in annual average wages, and paying $3,511 in average annual taxes.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 8.5% of work-age Oklahomans with disabilities were not working, but actively looking for work compared to 15.8% of persons without disabilities, according to the U.S. Census.
In June 2020, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities rose to 16.5%, compared to 11% for workers without a disability, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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