Disabled Rights Effort Gets Push From Jewish Activists

By JTA February 7, 2014

Jewish activists from 12 states and the District of Columbia lobbied Congress to liberalize rules for government assistance for the disabled.

The fourth annual Jewish Disability Advocacy Day on Thursday, sponsored by The Jewish Federations of North America and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, stressed the importance of passing the Achieving A Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act and joining the international Disability Treaty.

The ABLE Act would allow anyone with a disability and their families to save money for education, housing, transportation, employment support and health. Currently, only disabled individuals with $2000 or less in savings are eligible for money from Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income.

The 65 activists also urged Congress members to vote for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, an international disability treaty adopted by the United Nations in 2008 and based on the the Americans with Disabilities Act. U.S. adoption of the convention, advocates say, would bolster efforts to advance its protections worldwide.

Rachel Laser, the Religious Action Center’s deputy director deputy director, said that children with disabilities are more likely to be bullied or restrained by their teachers, and adults were more likely to be unemployed. “We are making great strides, but these are not enough,” she told the activists.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO