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Resource Center for Independent Living

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Disability Facts & Statistics

  • With almost 1000 employees providing service in 26 counties in Upstate New York, the Resource Center for Independent Living (RCIL) is the largest of 37 independent living centers in the state and one of over 400 nationally.
  • RCIL was founded as an independent living center in 1984 and currently serves over 16,000 individuals each year through a wide range of programs and services, including advocacy, employment, service coordination, benefits counseling, youth leadership, elderly services, and sign language interpreting, to name only a few.
  • The agency also serves the community at large as a clearinghouse for information regarding disability issues, other service providers, adaptive technology, and as an expert and consultant on the Americans with Disabilities Act and barrier-free architectural design.

According to the 2004 National Organization on Disability/Harris Survey of Americans with Disabilities:

  • Only 35 percent of people with disabilities report being employed full or part time, compared to 78 percent of those who do not have disabilities.
  • Three times as many live in poverty with annual household incomes below $15,000 (26 percent versus 9 percent).
  • People with disabilities remain twice as likely to drop out of high school (21percent versus 10 percent).
  • They are twice as likely to have inadequate transportation (31 percent versus 13 percent), and a much higher percentage go without needed health care (18 percent versus 7 percent).

The HHS/CMS Minimum Data Set Q1 numbers for June 30, 2004 reports the following:

  • One in five nursing home residents wishes to return to the community -- in June 2004, that was 20,953 people in New York State.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau:

  • About 54 million Americans -- approximately 1 in 5 -- report that they have some kind of disability and 26 million of them -- 1 in 10 -- say they have a severe disability. More than half the Americans with a severe disability were between ages 22 and 64.
  • 49.7 million people in the U.S. age 5 and over in the civilian noninstitutionalized population have at least one disability; this is a ratio of nearly 1-in-5 U.S. residents, or 19 percent.
  • By age and sex:
    1. 7 percent of boys and 4 percent of girls ages 5 to 15 have disabilities.
    2. 20 percent of men and 18 percent of women ages 16 to 64 have disabilities.
    3. 43 percent of women and 40 percent of men 65 or older have disabilities.
  • 46% of people with disabilities report having more than one disability.
  • 12% of people age 18 to 34 enrolled in school have some form of disability.
  • 2.4 million veterans receive compensation for service-related disabilities. Of these vets, 440,000 served in World War II; 165,000 in Korea; 799,000 in Vietnam; and 419,000 in the Persian Gulf.
  • The 12 million people with disabilities who work full-time earn less on average than their colleagues without disabilities: median 1999 income of $28,803 vs. $33,970, respectively.
  • About 9 million people age 15 and over had disabilities so severe that they required personal assistance to carry out everyday activities; slightly more than 4 million of these persons were under age 65. About 80 percent of the people who took on the role of primary helper were relatives and nearly half of these primary helpers lived with the disabled person.
  • In 2000, there were:
    1. 9.3 million people age 5 or older with a sensory disability involving sight or hearing. This group accounts for 3.6 percent of the total population age 5 or over.
    2. 21.2 million people age 5 or older with a condition limiting basic physical activities, such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting or carrying. This group accounts for 8.2 percent of the total population age 5 or older.
    3. 12.4 million people age 5 or older with a physical, mental or emotional condition causing difficulty in learning, remembering or concentrating. This group accounts for 4.8 percent of the total population age 5 or older.
    4. 6.8 million people age 5 or older who have a physical, mental or emotional condition causing difficulty in dressing, bathing or getting around inside the home. This group accounts for 2.6 percent of the total population age 5 or older.
    5. 8.2 million people age 16 or older who have a condition that makes it difficult to go outside the home to shop or visit a doctor. This group accounts for 8.6 percent of people who are of this age.
    6. 21.3 million people ages 16 to 64 who have a condition that affects their ability to work at a job or business. They account for 11.9 percent of the people in this age group.