Disability Employment Awareness Month

By virtue of the authority vested by the Constitution of Virginia in the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, there is hereby officially recognized:

WHEREAS, 43 percent of working-age Virginians with disabilities are employed which indicates an underrepresentation of people with disabilities among the gainfully employed; and

WHEREAS, an estimated one in five Virginians will have a disability at some point in their lifetime, and Virginians with disabilities, including veterans, have the ability and desire to seek remunerative employment and to develop the skills they need to thrive; and

WHEREAS, the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services received a $13.8 million grant from the Rehabilitation Services Administration to increase access to competitive integrated employment for people with disabilities; and

WHEREAS, the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services and Department for the Blind and Vision impaired are the designated state agencies for vocational rehabilitation; and

WHEREAS, 2023 marks the 50^th anniversary of the passage of the Rehabilitation Act, the first federal law to provide equal access for people with disabilities; and

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Glenn Youngkin, do hereby recognize October 2023, as DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT AWARENESS MONTH in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.

Governor of Virginia

Proclamations