In late December, the City Council passed two bills that would expand employment opportunities for people with disabilities, inspired by research and recommendations from CUF’s March 2022 Access Opportunity report.

The new bills, introduced by Council Member Linda Lee, seek to support and strengthen the Mayor’s Office for People With Disabilities’ (MOPD) NYC:AT WORK program that helps New Yorkers with disabilities connect to jobs; hold every city agency with workforce contracts accountable for integrating accessibility practices; and launch a joint initiative between the Department of Small Business Services and MOPD to help boost the number of small businesses hiring people with disabilities.

Our report Access Opportunity: Expanding Economic Opportunity for New Yorkers With Disabilities calls for the city to “scale up the government programs that are working, such as NYC: ATWORK,”  and  “direct the Department of Small Business Services to work with MOPD to launch five mobile Small Business Accessibility Teams charged with helping make 2,500 small- and medium-sized business workplaces accessible to employees with disabilities by 2025.” Our research was cited extensively during the hearing at which the legislation was introduced, and the Committee’s report also cites Access Opportunity and the Center’s follow-up op-ed, “Make New York City a National Leader in Employment for People with Disabilities.”

Read our full testimony before the NYC Council’s Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities and Addiction.