Summary: Examining Government Relations

Examining Government Relations
HSM/210
March 17, 2014
Brook Allen-Davis
Examining Government Relations
The U.S government has implemented various rules and regulations to care for the needs of the disabled people. Firstly, The U.S government implemented the rule of Americans with Disabilities Act that prohibits discrimination of people based on their disabilities. Subtitle AT of the Act protects the disabled people from discrimination in terms of services, activities or any programs undertaken in the state and local levels of government. The adoption of the rule has been effective in making programs accessible and effective communication to the disabled persons in Southwest Louisiana. This also provides a mechanism of resolving
issues of discrimination towards the disabled people (Roulston & Prideaux, 2012). The paper will evaluate the various regulations, obstacles facing disabled people, and future trends in social policy. Recently, the U.S government implemented a regulation to ensure equal access to employment for the disabled people in the workplace.
An executive order by President Obama provides that the recruiting agencies should develop effective hiring plans that account for the disabled people in the society. The regulation has been effective in helping the disabled people to develop strategies that increase employment opportunities (Wolper, 2004). The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has been reviewed to meet the needs of the disabled children in the U.S. The Act seeks to assess and measure the performance of the disabled children in the classes. The enforcement of the regulation has led to the accessibility of the education programs to the disabled children in the U.S. The establishment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has also helped in protecting the disabled people against discrimination in various
contexts.
Traditionally, disabled persons have been marginalized due to the existing obstacles that hinder effective care services. A major problem is the lack of information and data on the disabled people in the community. The shortage of reliable evidence and data affects the making of effective social policy and practice to promote health care to the disabled persons. The reports obtained on the disabled are used to provide solutions to the barriers faced by the disabled persons (Moy, 2000). Since the reports are not accurate and reliable, it leads to the emancipation of the disabled people in the society. Another obstacle in meeting the needs of the disabled people in the society is poverty. In southwest Louisiana, the disabled people lack sufficient food supply. This leads to dietary deficiencies. This could cause malnutrition and other related diseases. There is direct correlation between poverty and disability as discovered by the US national survey data. At least 30 per cent of the disabled Americans were poor (Wolper, 2004). Thus, the individual environment creates barriers in meeting their needs due to hostile human environment.
In addition, the lack of social support in most of the societies is a major challenge in providing reliable care to the disabled persons.
The disabled people depended on community based projects and activities of non-governmental authorities and charities. The current concepts of social support transformed from community based to institutional framework. However, the institutional framework lacks enough funding to support the disabled people. Thus, many reports of abuse of disabled people record lack of funding in the institutions. The lack of social support is a major obstacle in meeting the needs of the disabled people in Southwest Louisiana. Illiteracy levels are challenges to the provisions of care to most disabled children in the region (Wolper, 2004). The establishment of the educational programs is not accessible by the disabled children and the government does not provide adequate support. In such cases, the disabled children will lack the basic education due to lack of effective transport. This illustrates the various challenges faced in overcoming the obstacles of the disabled people in Southwest
Louisiana.
The current statistics indicate that the number of disabled persons is more than 40 million. This creates a mixed reaction about the future expectations of a higher number of disabled individuals. According to a survey done by Wolper (2004), he found that there is need to provide special health care to the disabled persons because they form the minority groups in the society. The social policy should be reviewed to meet the limitations of the current policy considering the changes in population over time. In order to be effective, the social policy should determine the prevalence of disorders that has grown in the community (Roulston & Prideaux, 2012). This assists in assessing the social interactions and communication ways of these persons in the society.
The current trends in the total population of the disabled persons are increasing in Southwest Louisiana. Thus, the government and social policy should change to put into consideration the projections of the disabled people in next 10 years. This includes the need to provide good health, social participation, and ability to meet the care costs of the disabled. In order for the social policy to meet future trends, it must expand future public expenditure on long-term health care services to the persons. It relates to the evidence to produce residential care to the persons in a relevant social system (Moy, 2000). The future trend on the social policy should also be flexible to meet the different demand scenarios. This puts into consideration the recent increases on disability and demand for effective health care programs. The social policy should increase a proportion of government funded care homes in order to assist in care provision for the disabled persons.

References
Moy, G. R. (2000). Helping state and local governments comply with the ADA: an assessment of how the United States department of justice is enforcing. Collingdale, PA: DIANE Publishing
Roulston, A., & Prideaux, S. (2012). Understanding disability policy. Bristol: The Policy Press
Wolper, F. L. (2004). Health care administration: planning, implementing, and managing organized delivery systems. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning