So close you can almost taste it.

Before we get into business, I'm gonna have to ask you to loosen that jaw, drop that neck, and take a deeep breath of release... 💆🏻 You're so close to the weekend. Proud of you.

So, Disclo won big in Vegas. In other words, our visit to the #2024Transform conference was a dream come true. 🎰✨ We had a blast connecting with some of the best workplace leaders in the biz, sharing our innovation to the world, and styling new friends in our absolutely gorgeous Disclo swag. (If you were sporting some Disclo merch, don't be shy. Send pics.)

But while we were getting busy in Sin City, the world went on... on a positive streak! This week, President Biden urges Congress to invest more than $150 billion in disability support funding, Netflix and the BBC bring hopeful news about their landmark disability partnership, and major pet retailer Chewy launches a major partnership to train the cutest-ever service puppies for children with Autism. 🌈 🕊️ Disability redemption feels as close as ever this week. So close... you can almost taste it.

Full Disclosure is our weekly newsletter, helping you stay informed with up-to-date news, resources, and thought-provoking discussions to help further bridge the gap between employee health and work.

We hope you stick around.

Biden calls for a major investment in disability support

President Joe Biden is urging Congress to bolster federal support for the #Disability community by dedicating more than $150 billion in funding for medicaid home and community-based services, in addition to a $200 million increase in special education and a $10 million increase in Social Security administration.

Think about all those zeroes... Actually, let me write it out for you. That's more than $150,210,000,000. 🏦 🫂

In his State of the Union announcement, Biden asked the world to envision the positive impacts of initiatives like these. “Imagine — imagine a future with home care and eldercare, and people living with disabilities can stay in their homes and family caregivers can finally get the pay they deserve.”

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Chewy initiates first-ever autism service dog training program 🦮

Two yellow lab puppies, brothers Blue and Luca, are the first-ever service dog students to be trained by the major pet retailer, Chewy. 🐶💙🐶

Over the next year-and-a-half, Chewy's new partnership with BluePath Service Dogs, a non-profit dedicated to training Autism service dogs, will include training the fluffiest little duo on how to protect, comfort, and offer life-changing companionship to children with Autism. 🧩 The organizations hope this partnership will be the start of many new opportunities to expand the awareness and dedication to service animal care.

“We continue to see how children with autism so beautifully connect with dogs in a way that sometimes they’re not able to do so with people,” - BluePath Co-Founder Michelle Breyer.

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The EEOC reports a record-breaking number of disability discrimination lawsuits, once again.

Just in fiscal year 2023 alone, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 81,055 new discrimination charges, increased filed lawsuits by 50%, and recovered a record-breaking $665 million in awards for more than 22,000 victims of workplace discrimination. 📈💥

To further fuel this critical surge, the agency has created more than 493 new positions of investigators, mediators, and attorneys, dedicated to accelerate the fight against disparities of employment opportunity. 👥 It's safe to say justice is coming, slowly but surely...

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Disability Discrimination: Understanding the Law and Promoting Inclusivity ⚖️

As the EEOC lawsuit trend continues to surge beyond record-breaking heights, it's becoming all the more crucial to stay updated on the current working legal frameworks of disability and employee rights...

So, we created an up-to-date guide that breaks down all the legal frameworks, parameters, and varying facets of disability rights/regulations you need to know to prepare for the ever-evolving inclusive future. ✅ ✅ ✅ You're welcome.

Access here

Disability representation in media? Any day now...

At the 2021 Edinburgh TV Festival, the BBC and Netflix unveiled a landmark five-year disability partnership dedicated to unearth a new generation of shows helmed by disabled talent. But with more than half of the partnership lifespan elapsed and not a single release in sight, people are starting to doubt the major commitment.

In an attempt to revitalize the public faith, the BBC highlighted their most-recent disability-centric projects in a recent statement, some of the noted upcoming releases including "William Mager's Reunion, Paul Mayhew Archer's But When We Dance, and Bryony Kimmings’ The Rapture, starring Ruth Madeley."

The one I'm personally most excited about is the disability-written, disability-starred We Might Regret This, described by co-creators Lee Getty and Kyla Harris as a depiction of the "messiest and most joyous lived experiences of friendship, love and disability..."🧎🏻♀️Need.

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Thanks for taking the time to read through Disclo's newsletter Full Disclosure. If you found this newsletter helpful, feel free to share with your colleagues to inspire a more inclusive workplace.

#WorkplaceAccommodations #DisabilityInclusion, #AccessibilityMatters, #DiversityandInclusion, #InclusiveWorkforce, #EmployeeWellness, #ADACompliance, #EqualOpportunityEmployer, #HRBestPractices, #WorkplaceInclusion #LetsDisclo