The Arc and AT&T launch $850,000 collaboration to boost technology skills through accessible digital skills training

Imagine not being able to apply for jobs, access health care, or connect with loved ones online. For many with disabilities, this is the reality. Today, The Arc of the United States, The Arc San Francisco, and AT&T are excited to announce an $850,000 collaboration to advance digital literacy and bridge the digital divide for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). This initiative will ensure that people with IDD and their families receive access to digital literacy resources and support in using these vital tools.

In today’s digital age, technology is essential for accessing transportation, education, employment, health care, and social interaction. However, people with disabilities face significant barriers to understanding and adopting digital tools, often due to higher rates of poverty and limited access to adaptive technologies. According to Pew Research Center, 38% of adults with disabilities do not own a computer, compared to 19% of those without disabilities, and 28% of people with disabilities do not own a smartphone, compared to just 12% of the nondisabled population.

Together, The Arc and AT&T will provide $20,000 grants to 24 local chapters and $10,000 grants to 2 local chapters of The Arc, empowering them to train 6,250 people with IDD. These chapters will deliver accessible, easy-to-understand digital literacy training through both in-person and virtual workshops. Participants will benefit from plain language materials and adaptive technologies such as screen readers and accessible devices, ensuring everyone can effectively use digital tools.

The 26 chapters receiving grants are: AHRC Nassau (NY), Arc GLOW (NY), CCARC Inc. (CT), Mohave County Arc (AZ), Northeast Arc (MA), Ridge Area Arc (FL), The Arc of Bartholomew County and The Arc of Jackson County* (IN), The Arc of Bradford County (FL), The Arc of Butte County (CA), The Arc of the Capital Area (TX), The Arc of DFW Area (TX), The Arc of El Paso (TX), The Arc of Evansville (IN), The Arc of High Point (NC), The Arc of Illinois, The Arc Maryland, The Arc of Mid Ohio Valley (WV), The Arc Muskegon (MI), The Arc of Nevada, The Arc of Oklahoma, The Arc of Racine County (WI), The Arc for the River Valley (AR), The Arc of South Carolina, The Arc Southern Maryland, and The Arc of Virginia.

*Partnering and splitting funds

“A lack of access to technology and digital skills robs millions of people with disabilities of their independence and the ability to fully engage in community life,” said Katy Neas, CEO of The Arc of the United States. “The digital divide closes doors to employment, education, health resources, and human connections that many of us take for granted. The pandemic has amplified these inequities, making it even more urgent to address the digital skills gap for people with disabilities. This collaboration with AT&T is a crucial step towards ensuring that everyone can harness the extraordinary possibilities that technology offers.”

“Access to the internet is just one part of the digital divide. Knowing how to use it effectively is just as important,” said Mylayna Albright, AVP, Corporate Social Responsibility, AT&T. “This collaboration with The Arc will provide high-quality digital literacy and learning resources for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the country.”

In addition to direct training, The Arc of the United States will launch a public awareness campaign aimed at reaching over 3 million people with disabilities, ensuring they have access to digital literacy resources. From June 2024 through May 2025, this collaboration will equip those who are often left behind with essential technology skills, empowering them to learn, earn, and fully participate in their communities.

 

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About The Arc of the United States: The Arc advocates for and serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), including Down syndrome, autism, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, cerebral palsy, and other diagnoses. Founded in 1950 by parents who believed their children with IDD deserved more, The Arc is now a network of nearly 600 chapters across the country promoting and protecting the human rights of people with IDD and actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes. Through the decades, The Arc has been at the forefront of advances in disability rights and supports. There are over 7 million people with IDD in the United States, which encompasses over 100 different diagnoses. Visit www.thearc.org or follow us @TheArcUS to learn more. Editor’s Note: The Arc is not an acronym; always refer to us as The Arc, not The ARC and never ARC. The Arc should be considered as a title or a phrase.

About Philanthropy & Social Innovation at AT&T: We’re committed to advancing education, creating opportunities, strengthening communities, and improving lives. As part of our companywide commitment to address the digital divide, we launched AT&T Connected Learning® to invest in connectivity and technology, digital literacy, and education solutions to help today’s learners succeed inside and outside of the classroom. Since 2008 we’ve committed to programs that help millions of students across all 50 states, Washington D.C and around the world, particularly those in underserved communities.

Media Contact:

Jackie Dilworth

dilworth@thearc.org

In an innovative partnership, The Home Depot has collaborated with leading disability rights organizations to remove barriers and improve job access for applicants with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The Home Depot worked closely with The Arc of the United States, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), and Equip for Equality (EFE) to develop policy changes that will create a more equitable hiring process for this underrepresented talent pool.

As part of this process, The Home Depot undertook a comprehensive review of its entry level hiring and reasonable accommodation process and, with advice and input from The Arc and ASAN, made adjustments to avoid the potential for unintended screen out of applicants with IDD. The changes that The Home Depot has implemented include explaining up front, and in plain language, more details about the steps in the company’s hiring process and the availability of reasonable accommodations, including by providing examples of specific accommodations for applicants with IDD, such as obtaining assistance from a job coach or support person and the ability to ask for a waiver of The Home Depot’s online assessment, as well as conducting additional training on inclusive and accessible hiring practices that includes the recent changes.

Research from a collaboration between Accenture, Disability:IN, and the American Association of People with Disabilities shows that companies that employ people with disabilities financially outperform companies that don’t. In addition, people with disabilities, on average, stay in their jobs longer than their counterparts without disabilities. Despite this, people with IDD continue to face unemployment and underemployment. Roughly 85% of people with IDD are unemployed. Many want to work and have skills to contribute but are not given serious consideration or opportunities. Among those who are employed, people with IDD are working fewer than 13 hours a week on average and less than one-fifth of them are getting any workplace benefits. This collaborative partnership is paving the way for more inclusion.

A good job is a key part of living a meaningful and inclusive life in the community for many people with IDD,” said Katy Neas, Chief Executive Officer, The Arc. “For too long, this talented and capable workforce has faced barriers that shut them out from reaching their full potential. Today’s announcement represents a pivotal step forward. By proactively listening to people with disabilities, The Home Depot is taking decisive action to dismantle employment obstacles. This collaborative approach marks a shift toward true equity and respect for people with IDD to pursue meaningful careers.”

“Progress has been achieved today through dialogue and partnership between disability advocates and Home Depot,” said Zena Naiditch, President and CEO, Equip for Equality. “We are delighted to partner with Home Depot to develop solutions that will ensure greater access to employment for job seekers with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The proactive approach Home Depot is taking is critically important to ensuring greater access to employment for people with disabilities.”

“We’re hopeful that this collaboration will result in a more inclusive hiring process and job opportunities for people with IDD,” said Avery Outlaw, Executive Director, Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

Journalists, are people with disabilities and disability issues at the forefront of your coverage? With over 61 million Americans and 1 billion people globally living with a disability, we all know and love someone with a disability. Yet this large and influential community remains underrepresented in media narratives. Too often, disability stories perpetuate negative stereotypes, reduce people to inspirational tropes, or oversimplify their diverse experiences and intersectional identities.

The Arc has driven disability rights for nearly 75 years, and we want to help you elevate authentic and diverse disability perspectives across all beats. Building on last year’s overlooked topics, we’re bringing you five new timely topics that demand greater attention. We hope this gives you a starting point to investigate the systemic barriers, discrimination, and lack of access and representation that people with disabilities face every day.

Here are 5 crucial angles you should report on in summer and fall 2024:

1. Disability Pride Month

July marks Disability Pride Month, commemorating the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Yet this annual celebration championing disability rights and human diversity rarely shows up in news programs or stories. Just like American Heart Month or Autism Acceptance Month, Disability Pride Month has rich storytelling potential. What began as grassroots parades asserting disabled people’s rights to live freely has evolved into a global movement accepting each disabled person’s uniqueness and rejecting ableism and societal pressures on non-normative bodies. It’s also an opportunity to rally around policy priorities like health care access and barriers to employment and education.

Capture the intersectional perspectives uplifting disability pride across races, LGBTQ+ identities, disability types, and other marginalized groups. Spotlight trailblazing activists and organizations continuing the fight for inclusion. Analyze how companies and governments are following through on accessibility commitments.

Don’t let inspiration porn define your coverage. Disability Pride symbolizes resilience, beauty in human diversity, and the notion that disabled lives are equally valued. Uplifting authentic voices can reshape attitudes and catalyze change in your community.

2. The Child Care Crisis

Like all parents, parents of children with disabilities want to see their child thrive, and child care is crucial to that. As you cover America’s overarching child care accessibility and affordability crisis, consider a too-often overlooked angle—the severe obstacles facing families of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

These families confront the most difficult barriers in finding trusted, safe, developmentally appropriate child care. Many providers outright deny services to children with IDD or prematurely expel them, deeming accommodations too burdensome despite legal requirements. Research found 1 in 6 children with autism have been kicked out of child care.

Affordable, inclusive child care programs are scarce, and the consequences are devastating. Without reliable care, parents are forced to make career sacrifices, losing income and opportunities, which only adds to their extreme stress. Children with IDD miss pivotal social and developmental experiences alongside their peers. Congress has recently taken notice of this crisis, asking the Government Accountability Office to conduct a first-ever study on the difficulties that parents of children with disabilities face in finding child care. Numerous constituents of The Arc shared their experiences for the study.

Investigate nearby centers’ admission and expulsion policies. Hold providers accountable for discriminatory practices. Encourage local parents of nondisabled children to foster inclusion and acceptance of disabled children. Spotlight the economic and emotional toll this crisis leaves on parents of children with disabilities. Center these marginalized families in your storytelling.

The experiences of families of children with disabilities must be part of this national crisis.

3. Election 2024

This election cycle carries enormous significance for Americans with disabilities, the nation’s largest minority voting bloc. Yet their perspectives and the policies shaping their daily lives are consistently overlooked in candidate debates, interviews, and media narratives. Disability cuts across every community and every issue—from education and employment to health care access and criminal justice reform. Candidates’ stances on these topics will profoundly impact disabled voters’ quality of life. And new federal guidance from the Department of Justice reinforces that the ADA prohibits discrimination in voting and protects the rights of people with disabilities.

Spotlight the diverse perspectives and policy priorities from disability advocates. Investigate how proposals on safety nets like Medicaid and Social Security will tangibly affect this population’s independence and economic mobility. Ask the tough questions about how candidates will address systemic barriers and discrimination that shut out disabled voters.

Most crucially, ensure your coverage itself is accessible and inclusive. Center disabled voices as sources and authors—not just subjects. Consciously counter biases and tropes about disability in language and graphics you use.

We hope your election coverage will elevate the disability community’s needs as frontline issues. Here’s a guide to help you get started.

4. The Social Security Customer Service Crisis

When people apply for crucial Social Security benefits, the process should be fair, prompt, and accessible. But for far too many, that’s not the reality.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is the gatekeeper to disability benefits that millions of people with disabilities rely on for survival. Unfortunately, they’re facing a customer service crisis after more than a decade of underinvestment, rapidly expanding workloads, and record-high staff attrition. Its administrative budget has been cut by 20% over 9 years, now making up less than 1% of benefits paid—a stark contrast to what private insurers spend on overhead.

The consequences have been devastating. Over 1.1 million initial disability claims are currently pending—almost double pre-pandemic levels. Thousands of people are dying each year while desperately waiting for the income and insurance they need to survive.

Disability advocates have been sounding the alarm, demanding action from Congress. The Arc recently joined 22 organizations urging lawmakers to properly fund the SSA through the President’s budget request. They must give this agency the resources and staffing it needs to promptly and fairly adjudicate claims—upholding people with disabilities’ life-sustaining benefits and basic human dignity.

If you cover this nationally-recognized crisis, don’t overlook the experiences of people with disabilities. Localize the claims delays impacting your community. Hold leaders and lawmakers accountable for solutions. Elevate the stories of people with disabilities who are struggling to navigate life without these crucial benefits. Their stories are what will compel overdue reform.

5. AI in the Classroom

As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly evolves, you can’t overlook its complex impact on education, especially for students with disabilities. There are opportunities, but also equity and ethical concerns to navigate.

The potential upsides? AI can tailor educational materials to individual needs and learning styles, benefiting students who require customized instruction. Additionally, AI boost accessibility for students with disabilities by converting content into visuals, simplified language, text-to-speech, or speech-to-text. Algorithms analyzing student data could also identify trends and patterns that can inform tailored instructional strategies and interventions.

But AI bias is a major risk. If trained on data underrepresenting or stereotyping certain groups, the system’s recommendations could entrench discrimination against students with disabilities. There are also ethical and privacy issues around consent, autonomy, and the appropriate use of student data. Clear guidelines and safeguards are vital to protect students’ rights and well-being.

Localize this nationally-relevant topic by scrutinizing your school district’s AI policies and spending. Gather perspectives from educators, parents, and students themselves. How are they mitigating bias and protecting students with disabilities? Is AI’s efficiency inadvertently diminishing human interaction’s role?

As always, center the rights and needs of the disability community. Hold AI companies accountable for inclusivity and ethical design from the start. Highlight work making AI truly accessible and empowering for disabled students. By examining AI’s complex classroom implications, your coverage can drive thoughtful dialogue and ensure no student is left behind.

BONUS Topic: Discrimination & Criminalization of Parents With Disabilities

As journalists ramp up Mother’s Day and Father’s Day content, one perspective is often missing—the experiences of disabled parents. This glaring oversight perpetuates harmful biases that parents with disabilities face, leading to widespread discrimination and even family separations.

Despite having the same dreams of raising children as everyone else, parents with IDD are shockingly overrepresented in the child welfare system. Up to 80% permanently lose custody due to prejudicial doubts about their caregiving abilities rather than evidence of neglect or abuse.

For all their resilience, parents with IDD also face everyday discrimination as they navigate life as a parent—from educators to cashiers. Stories humanizing their loving bonds and advocacy battles are urgently needed.

This Mother’s, Father’s, and Parent’s Day, celebrate their journeys through authentic, nuanced profiles. Highlight the support systems sustaining parents with disabilities. Elevate disabled parents’ own experiences to counter negative stereotypes about them being “unfit.” Spotlight their pride, resilience, and devotion to their children. Most crucially, include video, images, and stories of parents with disabilities in your everyday coverage of parenting topics.

This angle offers fresh perspectives that will strengthen your holiday storytelling and year-round diversity coverage.

Please contact us at dilworth@thearc.org if you need sources, background information, or other issues. Also, be sure to visit our Press Center to find guides on reporting on disability. We are excited to see your impactful work!

The Arc Joins Law Enforcement Associations, Faith-Based Organizations, Medical Professionals, Legal Experts, Academic Leaders, Advocates, and Members of Congress in an Amicus Brief Urging an End to the Criminalization of Homelessness

Washington, DC — In a historic move to protect the rights of people with disabilities experiencing homelessness, The Arc of the United States has joined a powerful coalition of advocates in submitting an amicus brief for the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case Johnson v. Grants Pass. This case could end the cruel and unconstitutional criminalization of homelessness nationwide, a crisis that disproportionately impacts the disability community.

Johnson v. Grants Pass is the most important case regarding homelessness in the past 40 years. It will address the critical issue of whether laws punishing homeless individuals for sleeping outdoors with basic protections such as a pillow or blanket—when no safe and accessible shelter options are available—are violations of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects against excessive bail, fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.

As noted in the amicus brief, the members of Grants Pass’ homeless community do not choose to be homeless. Instead, in a city with no public shelters, they have no alternative but to sleep in parks or on the street. The Ordinances do not deter disabled homeless people from sleeping in public places because they have no alternative. They do not rehabilitate homeless people from their involuntary conduct but make it even less likely that they will be able to obtain adequate housing.

People with disabilities face daunting barriers to accessible, affordable housing. Less than 5% of housing is accessible for moderate mobility needs, and under 1% is accessible for wheelchair users. Widespread discrimination compounds the problem. Housing costs are also prohibitive for many disabled people who rely on public assistance for basic costs of living. The average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in the U.S. exceeds the maximum monthly Supplemental Security Income a person can receive. With limited income and a lack of affordable options, people with disabilities are at heightened risk of homelessness and institutionalization.

“Criminalizing homelessness exacerbates the systemic injustices impacting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” said Shira Wakschlag, The Arc’s Senior Director of Legal Advocacy & General Counsel. “People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) face a serious lack of safe, affordable, accessible, and integrated housing and experience significant housing-related discrimination. People with IDD are also among the nation’s poorest citizens due to inadequate benefits and services, putting many at risk of unnecessary institutionalization or homelessness. Punishing them for having no choice but to sleep outdoors is a moral failing that perpetuates discrimination, poverty, and segregation. It also does nothing to provide the supports and services homeless people with disabilities need to end the cycle of poverty.”

The Arc joins over 20 disability rights organizations and scholars in an amicus brief that demands justice for the rights of homeless individuals across the U.S. They are joined by the National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC) and a broad array of hundreds of organizations and public leaders who have submitted a total of 39 amicus briefs on behalf of the plaintiffs.

“This case challenges us to face the reality that using things like jails and fines do nothing to solve homelessness and actually make homelessness worse,” said Jesse Rabinowitz, campaign and communications director for NHLC. “Punishing our neighbors who have no choice but to sleep outside pushes them further into poverty and makes it harder to secure work and housing. The overwhelming support from a diverse array of organizations that we see in these amicus briefs underscores the need for our elected officials at every level of government to solve homelessness with housing and support, not make homelessness worse by using jail cells and bulldozers.”

Currently, more than 600,000 people in the U.S. experience homelessness on any given night, with nearly half—250,000—sleeping outside. Data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development shows a rise in homelessness for both sheltered and unsheltered individuals in nearly every state. The primary cause of the record levels of homelessness we see today is the unaffordable housing market, according to research from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

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About The Arc of the United States: The Arc advocates for and serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), including Down syndrome, autism, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, cerebral palsy, and other diagnoses. Founded in 1950 by parents who believed their children with IDD deserved more, The Arc is now a network of nearly 600 chapters across the country promoting and protecting the human rights of people with IDD and actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes. Through the decades, The Arc has been at the forefront of advances in disability rights and supports. There are over 7 million people with IDD in the United States, which encompasses over 100 different diagnoses. Visit thearc.org or follow us @TheArcUS to learn more. Editor’s Note: The Arc is not an acronym; always refer to us as The Arc, not The ARC and never ARC. The Arc should be considered as a title or a phrase.

About the National Homelessness Law Center: The National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC) is at the forefront of the fight against homelessness in America. Our mission is to fearlessly advance federal, state, and local policies to prevent and end homelessness while fiercely defending the rights of all unhoused persons. We work to shape and advance policies at the federal, state, and local levels aimed at preventing and ultimately ending homelessness. By fostering partnerships, influencing policy, and mobilizing communities, the NHLC is dedicated to transforming how society addresses homelessness, striving for a future where everyone has a place to call home. Learn more at homelesslaw.org.