STATEMENT OF MARILYN W. WOODS, PLACEMENT OFFICER FOR HANDICAPPED, NEW HAMPSHIRE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE, NASHUA, N. H.

Mrs. Woods. I am Mrs. Marilyn Woods from Nashua, N. H., Mr. Chairman, and I would like to speak in behalf of H. R. 9171 and the importance of its passage for establishing the means for proper training for selective placement personnel in the Division of Employment Security offices throughout the United States.

There is a great need for a committee to handle this problem. I believe to do a good job one must have the proper instruction and tools to work with.

As you know, by law there is supposed to be a person in each employment office responsible for the counseling and placement of the physically handicapped. In most cases we have had very little training which could be termed special training. I know of what I speak, as I hold this particular position in New Hampshire. My education consists of graduating from high school and the local business college. I first worked as a stenographer for the employment service at $900 per annum. Eventually I was promoted to interviewer after competing with college graduates and passing a series of intelligence tests. When the law was passed that a person must counsel the handicapped, I was promoted to that position, still after passing a test and with college graduates, too.

During this period I was given a course in counseling which took in all types; from dropout of high schools, parolees, nonhandicapped and the handicapped. This is a big job and one that takes a great deal of time and effort. It is not a 712- or 8-hour-day job, as many times you must visit in the homes, and so forth.

As an employment counselor we have many problems, too, and maybe this committee can help us solve them. Many of these offices are physically constructed so as to make it impossible for those who need this selective placement very much, unable to get it. They have stairs or narrow doors, and so forth, thereby eliminating those in wheelchairs and on crutches.

The testing of these persons is a very important factor and as the aptitude tests are now administered, those unable to stand are eliminated. The tests available for those unable to stand are in the clerical line and many such persons are more suited for factory work and would do best on assembling, machine operating, and so forth. As far as I can find out, even the vocational rehabilitation department has been limited as to the types of tests available.

The present aptitude test could be used if the peg board portion could be validated for the seated persons, and maybe this committee could do something on that.

These problems dealing with the counseling and placement of the physically handicapped can be solved and must be if we are to do the job effectively, but first we must provide the necessary training for those responsible for selective placement. I am not here as a representative of the Employment Service but as a member of the American Federation of Physically Handicapped.

Mr. ELLIOTT. Thank you very much, Mrs. Wood, for a fine state

ment.

At this point, without objection, statements by the Honorable George M. Rhodes, a Member in Congress from the State of Pennsylvania; Hon. Harley O. Staggers, a Representative in Congress from the State of West Virginia; Hon. Martha W. Griffiths, a Representative in Congress from the State of Michigan; Hon. James G. Fulton, a Representative in Congress from the State of Pennsylvania; and Hon. John F. Shelley, a Representative in Congress from the State of California; will be made a part of the record.

(The statements referred to follow :)

STATEMENT BY REPRESENTATIVE GEORGE M. RHODES, 14TH DISTRICT, PENNSYLVANIA, IN SUPPORT OF H. R. 9171 BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPECIAL EDUCATION, HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR

Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the subcommittee, I appreciate this opportunity to express my views on H. R. 9171 and other bills relating to the physically handicapped. My bill, H. R. 909, to establish a Federal agency for the handicapped, is currently before this subcommittee. This measure has been jointly sponsored by a number of Members of the House for several years. It is a comprehensive proposal to provide many types of programs urgently needed by our handicapped citizens.

The omnibus bill offers a multiplicity of approaches to assist in the rehabilitation of handicapped persons and to provide increased opportunities for the handicapped to make a more abundant life for them and to contribute to the general welfare of our Nation. These purposes are listed in title I of the bill. They are

(1) to provide for maximum extension of medical services, vocational guidance and counseling, education and training, and full employment opportunities to citizens handicapped by physical or mental disabilities;

(2) to provide for effective coordination of functions relating to rehabilitation and employment of the handicapped;

(3) to establish an independent Federal agency for the handicapped, and to establish in said agency an advisory council on affairs of the handicapped;

(4) to establish an office of services for the blind in said agency for the handicapped;

(5) to provide for cooperative enterprises for the handicapped;

(6) to provide for the establishment of rehabilitation centers for the handicapped;

(7) to provide special programs for severely handicapped persons, including establishment of workshops;

(8) to establish a Federal services to the handicapped revolving loan fund, from which fund States may borrow money at such times as their own funds for vocational rehabilitation or employment of the handicapped, or for both, are exhausted, and to appropriate an initial sum of $10 million for such revolving loan fund;

(9) to establish a division for the handicapped in the United States Civil Service Commission;

(10) to promote public safety programs designed to eliminate and prevent conditions which tend to promote injuries and disease in public buildings, institutions, parks, and other public places;

(11) to provide for reports from all Federal agencies which now receive, or may in the future receive, as a part of their functions, reports relating to handicapped persons;.

(12) to provide variable grants to States for vocational rehabilitation; (13) to provide grants to handicapped persons who require special home training, and so forth;

(14) to establish a Federal second injury tax and fund;

(15) to establish a commission to survey and determine proper selective placement of handicapped individuals;

(16) to provide interpreters for the deaf, and for other physically handicapped persons, who may be called as litigants or witnesses before Federal courts, departments or agencies, or congressional committees;

(17) to amend section 22 of the Interstate Commerce Act, so that common carriers may carry severely handicapped who require attendants on trains, under the same rules and regulations now applying to the blind;

(18) to provide for grants to the homebound handicapped;

(19) to establish, in the United States Department of Labor, training courses, in cooperation with the States, especially to develop specialists in counseling and placement of the handicapped; and

(20) to develop procedures, manuals, handbooks, special disability guides, physical demand studies on 25,339 jobs, methods of getting proper medical apprisal of work capacities, and methods of placing the severely handicapped, in cooperation with physicians, rehabilitation and social workers, and other experts in such matters.

Mr. Chairman, the omnibus bill is a complex and involved piece of legislation. It would require weeks of hearings and the testimony of many, many experts in this field for the subcommittee to be in a position to decide upon a proper course of action.

It is my understanding that this subcommittee would prefer to narrow the scope of activity in this area for the immediate present, in an effort to make an effective beginning on that phase of the problem where the greatest and most pressing need exists. This approach seems to me to be both logical and practical. H. R. 9171 represents this most critically needed first step. It appears in the omnibus handicapped bill as title XVII and provides for the establishment of a Committee for the Training and Development of Placement Personnel. This Committee would be in the Department of Labor and would be made up of individuals in the various agencies of Government having a direct interest in the handicapped, colleges and universities providing courses in subjects relating to the needs of the handicapped, representatives of the medical profession, business, agriculture, labor, veterans' organizations, and organizations of the handicapped.

It is obvious why this type of action is most urgently needed in the development of an overall plan to assist the handicapped. Job placement of handicapped individuals is the crowning achievement of an effective rehabilitation program. It is the ultimate objective of such a program, which comes after diagnosis, perhaps years of treatment, and the tedious progress which the individual makes during his rehabilitation course. Yet to be effective, we need skilled personnel, trained in the techniques of placing handicapped persons in the type of job for which they are best suited and in which they can make the best progress from their personal viewpoint as well as from the general welfare. H. R. 9171 would establish the type of training program needed to create a reservoir of skilled individuals critically necessary in employment counseling and job placement services for the handicapped. Perhaps even more important, it would supply trained individuals in this field who could teach counseling and job placement techniques to others.

Experts on the problems of the handicapped say that the job placement function is the weakest spot in the handicapped program today. The complexities of this activity are enormous. There are some 25,339 separate job classifications in our country. Only a handful of persons are expert enough in this field to be able to evaluate a handicapped individual's capacity to handle a certain job so that his particular disability will not be a factor. Such persons are not trained overnight. There must be some type of long-range program to meet this shortage of trained placement people if the needs of the handicapped are to be met and their potentials realized. The approach suggested in H. R. 9171 offers the best hope for effective action to deal with this primary need in any comprehensive program to assist the handicapped citizens of our Nation.

Mr. Chairman, I urge the subcommittee to approve H. R. 9171 as soon as possible so that this important first step will not be delayed any longer.

Hon. CARL ELLIOTT,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C., August 20, 1957.

Chairman, Subcommittee on Special Education,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Due to executive sessions of my committee I am unable to attend the hearings which you are now holding on bills relating to the physically handicapped. You know of my interest in this subject, evidenced by my introduction of H. R. 4141, to establish a Federal agency for handicapped.

For several years, as you are aware, we have been trying to develop an overall program for our millions of handicapped. The lack of such a program has caused thousands of handicapped to suffer and has denied the opportunity for training which would place these citizens in our economic scheme and fit them to pay their way wholly or in part.

Today there are several million physically handicapped citizens, many of whom could be self-supporting if given the opportunity and training necessary to rehabilitate them. The handicapped citizen has proved his worth in our economic system. It is my hope that your committtee will report legislation which will make it possible for the Federal Government to aid in the rehabilitation and training of these citizens.

We must not be so narrowminded that we evaluate the worth of an individual solely by his physical handicap. We have a grave responsibility to our Nation and to the handicapped involved to aid in rehabilitating the millions of disabled persons in our country so that they can fill a useful place in our society. Taxpayers pay heavily each year for disabled persons who are not able to make their own way. With a greater effort on our part these people can be trained and fitted to jobs which would make them no longer a tax consumer but a selfsupporting citizen.

We must provide training and specialists, give hope and encouragement and do all we can to make the handicapped useful, productive, and contented. Give these people a stake in our Nation and they will prove their worth.

Sincerely yours,

HARLEY O. STAGGERS.

STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN MARTHA W. GRIFFITHS BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION TO ESTABLISH IN THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR A NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OF SELECTIVE PLACEMENT PERSONNEL

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, it is indeed a pleasure to appear before your committee in support of H. R. 9171—to establish in the United States Department of Labor a National Committee for the Training and Development of Selective Placement Personnel.

As you know, this bill is merely one section of an omnibus bill which would establish the Federal Agency for Handicapped which was introduced by myself and many of my colleagues. But I sincerely feel that if we can get started on this program, by getting the measure before you into effect, we will have made a good beginning toward establishing an overall comprehensive program for our handicapped people which is sorely needed.

The handicapped are a fair cross section of our population. There are approximately 45 million handicapped people in the United States at this time and it is estimated that 350,000 become handicapped yearly. While it is well recognized that rehabilitation is a major problem, after rehabilitation the problem is economic rather than medical.

Employers are becoming more and more willing to employ the handicapped. But there is a critical need for trained people to place the handicapped in the high jobs where the disability of the individual is not a factor.

The United States Office of Vocational Rehabilitation estimates their average age at 33 years at the time they are accepted for treatment and training. They and their families cannot afford the financial cost of keeping them unemployed. The Nation cannot get along without their skills and most important, they require self-sustaining employment in order to maintain self-respect and emotional health.

There is no job that some handicapped person cannot do. It is essential that we establish a long-range program, such as this bill outlines so that the right person is placed in the right job. The jobs are there, the people are there. We must provide trained people so that the two may be brought together.

STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN JAMES G. FULTON BEFORE HOUSE, EDUCATION, AND LABOR SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPECIAL EDUCATION REGARDING H. R. 9171

I firmly believe that we need the immediate enactment of H. R. 9171 which creates the Committee for the Training and Development of Placement Personnel in the United States Department of Labor. The creation of this com

mittee will enable the physically handicapped person to be placed in a position wherein his or her disability is not a factor.

The lack of selective placement has been the weakness in the program to benefit the many handicapped citizens in the United States. A person with a particular disability is, of course, prevented from holding some positions, but there are many other jobs which he would be qualified to hold if he were given the proper employment guidance. The placing of the physically handicapped must be done by specialists who are qualified to diagnose the person's limitations and difficulties. Through the use of diagnosis and the correct aptitude tests, the specialist is able to fit him or her into the proper job.

Placing a person into the right job for his or her capabilities is very important. After spending millions of dollars in tax money to care for and to train the handicapped, we should certainly see to it that they are assisted in obtaining the proper job so that they might be given the chance to put to use the various things that they have learned in order to be good productive members of society.

Extensive surveys have definitely shown that handicapped people, when properly placed, have the same or even larger production volume as the nonhandicapped. The reason for this lies in the fact that the handicapped are glad to have the opportunity to show they can do the job and will try to do the very best that they can to keep it.

STATEMENT BY CONGRESSMAN JOHN F. SHELLEY, FIFTH DISTRICT, CALIFORNIA, IN SUPPORT OF H. R. 9171

Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, I want to express my pleasure over your action in scheduling hearings on H. R. 9171, your bill to establish a National Committee for the Training and Development of Selective Placement Personnel, and my appreciation for the opportunity of submitting this statement in support of the program the bill authorizes.

As indicated by my introduction of H. R. 4702 in this Congress and of similar bills to establish a Federal agency for handicapped in previous Congresses, I have been concerned for a long time over the need for a national program to make a better place in our society for the thousands of people who suffer from physical handicaps of various kinds. Although the scope of my bill is much broader than H. R. 9171 I am very happy to support Congressman Elliott's proposal as it cuts to the heart of the problem, and that is the training of such people to overcome their handicaps and to provide jobs for them so that they con contribute to rather than be a drain on our economy. The proposed national committee will go far to setting up a system to establish the means by which this objective can become a reality.

Experience has already shown thtat most potential employers would be more than willing to hire handicapped personnel given the opportunity and assured that the handicapped employee would perform satisfactorily. Experience has also shown that there is practically no limit to the type of work which can be performed by people with handicaps of one kind or another, provided only that they are guided into the right line of work consistent with their particular physical condition. What has been lacking is some positive and comprehensive means for bringing the two groups together. The limited and largely voluntary efforts of individuals, small groups, and Government agencies in this field have had neither the funds, the scope, not the authority to do more than peck at the fringes of the basic problem. The national committee by virtue of its membership and its authority would cut across the whole body of interested groupsGovernment, employers, educators, private agencies for the handicapped, and of organized labor-and would give specific direction to the work, as well as encouraging a scientific and coordinated program for guiding handicapped persons into the right jobs.

The question of how handicapped persons fit into our national economy is only one part of the problem H. R. 9171 seeks to solve. Even more basic is the humanitarian view. We have now a constantly growing number of people for whom life hardly seems worth living because of some physical condition which seems to set them apart from so-called normal human beings either by restricting their freedom of movement, or in some cases, by their appearance. Not only the individuals directly affected but also their families suffer from their affliction because of this isolation from the normal life of the community, inflicted on them through ingrown social custom, through a sense of defeat, or through a simple