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May is Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This important recognition was established in 1949 to increase awareness of the importance of mental health and wellness in Americans’ lives, and to celebrate recovery from mental illness. This year, the National Alliance on Mental Illness encourages the amplification of the message “Together for Mental Health,” and to advocate for access to quality care for anyone affected by a mental illness.
The prevalence and impact of mental illness are hard to overstate. U.S. prisons are filled with people suffering from untreated mental illness. Incidences of mental illness have gone up significantly since the pandemic began in 2020, when The National Institute of Health reported that one in five American adults experienced a mental health issue, and one in 20 Americans lived with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression. One in 6 young people experienced a major depressive episode, and suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for people ages 10-24.
The companies of The Fedcap Group understand that most people with mental health problems can recover, and that treatment and recovery are ongoing processes that happen over time. We also believe that work completes treatment. The first step is getting help, and each day across our agency we provide proven treatments, supports and community-based activities to help people living with a mental illness on their path to recovery, through a lens of long-term economic well-being.
Together we can fight the stigma of mental illness, and help build a world where care and treatment for mental illness are available to all.
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Fedcap Rehabilitation Workers Thanked for Keeping GSA Facilities Open During Pandemic
Fedcap Rehabilitation Workers Thanked for Keeping GSA Facilities Open During Pandemic
Fedcap Rehabilitation workers at the GSA New Jersey Consolidated contract have shown unwavering commitment throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic.
On Tuesday, March 29, Fedcap Rehabilitation President Steve Coons visited with the team for a thank-you lunch provided by GSA. Also present were GSA’s Gary Palmer, Mark Drumel, and John Beier, who all praised the Fedcap client worker staffs for their service, their selfless work ethic, and attention to detail as they kept the GSA facilities safe and open for business every day during the Pandemic, for tenants as well as the public who utilize these facilities.
April is Autism Acceptance Month
April is Autism Acceptance Month
April is Autism Acceptance Month. This special recognition, created in 1972 by the autism community, was changed from autism “awareness” to “acceptance” because the community wanted to move the conversation away from “awareness,” a word it considers stigmatizing, as if autism were a threat about which we must be vigilant.
Autism is certainly not that. Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a developmental disability characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. There are many subtypes of autism, most influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Because autism is a spectrum disorder, each person with autism has a distinct set of strengths and challenges. Over 7 million people in the United States are on the autism spectrum–people from all racial, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. According to the CDC, one in 44 children is diagnosed with autism.
The increased prevalence of autism, and a growing understanding of what it is and what it is not, underscores the urgent need for education, equitable access to diagnostic evaluations, and early interventions that have a significant impact on lifelong outcomes. Young people and adults with autism urgently need greater access to employment. Up to 85 percent of college educated adults with autism are unemployed, and over 70 percent of adults with autism are underemployed or unemployed. Especially in a time of chronic labor shortages, companies could benefit by hiring more people who have autism and are neurodiverse—these individuals bring a wide range of skills to the workplace that can be harnessed with modest accommodations.
The companies of The Fedcap Group have long embraced best practices around autism evaluation and early intervention, providing evidence-based treatment for children and their families living with ASD. Our companies are at the cutting edge of advocacy, employment, and support services for young people and adults living with autism—having just established the Greenleaf Neurodiversity Center in Austin TX, helping young people transition to rewarding, community-based jobs. These services have had a profound impact on so many lives—and stand as a powerful rebuke to the stigmatization of autism, and a resounding affirmation of acceptance. All of our lives are richer when people of all abilities participate fully in community life.
Please join us during Autism Acceptance Month in celebrating people of all abilities. Thank you for striving toward making acceptance the new normal.
Highlighting innovations, maximizing inclusive practices and overcoming barriers to employment for people with disabilities | Microsoft On the Issues
Supporting the Transition to Employment for Adolescents with Autism | Autism Spectrum News