The American Association for Disability Policy Reform    

—   rehabilitation first   —




The Social Security disability programs in the United States

At the same time, the amount we spent on vocational rehabilitation in 2018 was only about 1% of the $555 billion we spent on the Social Security disability programs.   Unable to get needed help, many unemployed people were unable to return to work even when they wanted to return and were forced to turn to the disability programs in order to get financial help.

We need a new national approach to impaired workers.   On finding a person unable to work, our first effort should be to determine why the person is not working and what can be done to help that person return to work.   Assistance in returning to work should be comprehensive, including

Those who have no hope of returning to work should be helped in accordance with their individual needs.

Our current national policy emphasizes warehousing those who are physically or mentally impaired and not working.   We recommend a major change toward helping impaired persons return to work whenever possible, while providing permanent disability pensions only to those who, after thorough investigation, are found with little doubt to be disabled with little or no hope of rehabilitation.

Reform is badly needed.

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Last checked on 1/28/2023.            .