People with Disabilities

The AbilityOne^® Program provides a wide range of employment opportunities to two target groups, people who are blind and those with a range of significant disabilities who face the highest barriers to achieving competitive employment on their own. They are employed by agencies of State government or, in the majority of cases, private, community based organizations that operate as nonprofit agencies (nonprofit agencies) (often referred to as Community Rehabilitation Programs or “CRPs”). These organizations are qualified to do federal contract work through the AbilityOne Program by the U.S. AbilityOne Commission^®. Approximately 500 of these AbilityOne participating employers operate in all fifty states, Guam and Puerto Rico. The names and locations of all AbilityOne participating employers can be viewed in the annual report of the U.S. AbilityOne Commission.

AbilityOne jobs are the choice of many people with significant disabilities. These jobs may be facility based or they may be performed in settings throughout the community. Most people are referred to AbilityOne participating employers by their State vocational rehabilitation counselors, others are self-referred.

The definition of blindness used by the AbilityOne Program is the same as the definition used by the U.S. Social Security Administration: "central visual acuity which does not exceed 20/200 in the better eye with correcting lenses or visual acuity, if better than 20/200, is accompanied by a limit to the field of vision in the better eye to such a degree that its widest diameter subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees."*

The AbilityOne Program’s definition for a significant disability other than blindness is as follows: “a severe physical or mental impairment (a residual, limiting condition resulting from an injury, disease, or congenital defect) which so limits the person's functional capabilities (mobility, communication, self-care, self-direction, work tolerance or work skills) that the individual is unable to engage in normal competitive employment over an extended period of time.”*

If you are blind or have a significant disability and would like to learn more about jobs provided by AbilityOne employers in your State, you are encouraged to contact one of the two Central Nonprofit Agencies designated by the U.S. AbilityOne Commission as follows:

National Industries for the Blind (NIB):

By Phone/email – Ann Walling: 703-310-0638, awalling@nib.org.

On the web - http://www.nib.org/careers-training/careerswithvision

SourceAmerica^®:

By Email – customerservice@SourceAmerica.org

On the web - www.SourceAmerica.org