HHS- Office on Disability
www.hhs.gov/od
Health and Human Services - In the summer of 2002, HHS Secretary
Tommy G. Thompson announced the creation of the HHS Office on
Disability to oversee the coordination, development and implementation
of programs and special initiatives within HHS that impact people
with disabilities. Margaret J. Giannini, M.D., F.A.A.P., who
had previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for
aging at the Administration on Aging (AoA), was appointed the
director to the new HHS Office on Disability. The announcement
builds on the work of President Bush's New Freedom Initiative,
a comprehensive plan to tear down barriers facing people with
disabilities, which prevent them from fully participating in
community life. It is anticipated this new federal office will
create a federal sustaining interagency council, a hybrid of
the Department of Labor’s former Youth with Disabilities
Task Force and the HRTW Interagency Workgroup, where health
will be the lead and the focus.
In a 2002 interview Dr. Giannini articulated the problems
that need urgent attention. “There are major gaps in
transportation, healthcare, employment, education, and housing.
But most importantly, I see a major gap in planning for life
span transition. From birth to death, we don't really have
a smooth transition for persons with disabilities. For instance,
after their pediatric life cycle of 21 years, then what? The
search for services starts all over again. And then from ages
21 to 35, it starts all over again. We see the same from 35
to 55 years and then between 55 to 75 years until we get into
major aging. And then the disability may in many cases just
worsen.” (See www.aamr.org/FYI/interview_giannini.shtml .)
|
