Labor Department Awards $500,000 Grant to Syracuse University to Lead Research into Effect of Employer Practices on Workers with Disabilities

WASHINGTON — U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao has announced a grant of $500,000 to Syracuse University's Burton Blatt Institute: Centers of Innovation on Disability, to lead a national research consortium to study employer practices in employing, retaining and promoting people with disabilities.

"This $500,000 grant will help identify effective employer policies and practices for recruiting, retaining and promoting workers with disabilities," said Secretary Chao. "This research is designed to further President Bush's New Freedom Initiative goal of helping Americans with disabilities enter the workforce and build solid career paths."

Other members of the consortium are the Program for Disability Research at Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations and the Employment and Disability Institute at Cornell University's Industrial and Labor Relations School.

During an 18-month period, the research consortium will develop a standard design methodology and conduct case studies. The research will identify ways in which an organization's structures, values, policies and day-to-day practices promote the employment and retention of people with disabilities and benefit the organization as a whole. The information generated will result in individual case studies that can serve as models for other employers nationwide.

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