Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
May 9, 2003, Vol. 03-35

To: ALL INDIVIDUALS INTERESTED IN ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY MOBILITY DEVICES

From: TROY JUSTESEN, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR DOMESTIC POLICY

Date: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2003

Subject: PRESIDENT'S EXECUTIVE MEMORANDUM ON ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY MOBILITY DEVICES

On February 12, 2003, President George W. Bush signed an Executive Memorandum establishing the Interagency Working Group on Assistive Technology Mobility Devices.

The working group is responsible for identifying existing Federal Government programs and resources that are designed to help individuals with disabilities obtain the assistive technology mobility devices that they need for education and employment; and working with State, local, and tribal governments, as appropriate, to identify State, local, and tribal programs that are designed to help individuals with disabilities obtain assistive technology mobility devices for education and employment.

The working group is also responsible for compiling a report to the President to include the specific steps that each of the agencies represented on the Working Group will take to: (a) improve coordination among their existing programs; (b) train vocational rehabilitation counselors, other service providers, and individuals with disabilities, as provided by law; and (c) inform individuals with disabilities about these opportunities.

The report shall also include a description of how individuals with disabilities can pool funding from existing resources to obtain the assistive technology mobility devices that they need to pursue their educational and employment goals.

The Departments of Education; Veterans Affairs; Labor; Health and Human Services; and the Social Security Administration and several other Federal agencies will hold a public forum and solicit public comment on this issue. The public forum is Wednesday, May 21. This public forum was announced in the Federal Register Notice dated April 25, 2003, please see this notice for more details. The following website also provides more information about the President's Executive Memorandum: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030212-12.html