The recent death of Douglas Jarett, a longtime Ludington Library in Bryn Mawr employee with Down syndrome, has left a huge hole in the Lower Merion community, writes Stacy Jarrett Levitan for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
After he died, both the Lower Merion Police Department and the Lower Merion Library System dedicated Facebook posts to Jarett. They praised his work ethics and capabilities that made them see that people with disabilities were able to contribute both to their workplace and their community.
Jarett was a great example of how competitive and integrated employment benefits everybody involved and not just the individual employee.
For people with disabilities, employment is of huge importance because they are seeking an opportunity to achieve independence, as everybody else does.
Sadly, Pennsylvania is lagging behind other states in jobs for people with disabilities. Last year, just 329,760 Pennsylvanians with disabilities had jobs, or 37.4 percent.
However, Employment First, a strategy approved by Gov. Tom Wolf, should soon improve that number. The strategy orients critical social programs towards ensuring that getting a job is the top priority for people with disabilities.
Read more about Douglas Jarett at The Philadelphia Inquirer by clicking here.
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