GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin groups are helping to change negative perceptions about hiring workers with disabilities and help them put them in permanent jobs.
Press-Gazette Media reports Monday that a bill Gov. Scott Walker signed will extend by 6,000 the number of people helped by the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation.
A group in northeastern Wisconsin called N.E.W. Curative is also providing training for specific types of work.
About 62 percent of working-age adults with disabilities are unemployed in Wisconsin.
N.E.W. Curative finds permanent work for about 50 people a year, or about a third of those the group works with. Others focusing on the issue hope the recent momentum continues as the economy improves.
Hans Ahlström is the host of several programs including the daily musical variety show Weekday, the mostly straight ahead jazz show Night Studio, the self explanatory Blues Today, and the eclectic Sound Spectrum. You can also hear Hans as the local host of NPR's All Things Considered news magazine. He also helps manage Public Radio 90's web content, interviews local and visiting writers and artists, works with NMU student interns, and writes the occasional news story.