Yesterday, the Atlanta Journal Constitution published an investigative article titled: ‘It’s so broken right now’: How a Georgia agency failed to help disabled people find work (article linked). I am writing to share my own experiences and reflections with Georgia’s Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA) and to stand in solidarity with my fellow disabled Georgians who are more than frustrated with being underestimated and used fraudulently.
Today my education is financially supported by GVRA. But when I was declared legally blind in 2022, it took a year of persistence, working 3 jobs, and a policy change before I receieved any sort of aid.
My case manager was new to GVRA, and not familiar with blindness. From his constantly full voicemail box and constant shuffling papers in the background of calls, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge his likely overwhelming caseload and red tape that was necessary for each of us.
Halfway through my year of persistence, after being asked to send the same set of paperwork for a third time, I sighed and said that they would likely deem me not deserving of help. I heard him stop shuffling papers before saying, “You’re deserving of help, this system is broken.”
Throughout my year as a triad employee, it was my fellow disabled siblings who helped me figure out how to navigate the system. Phone calls became emails, emails to my case worker now had Georgia’s Client Assistance Program (website linked) CC’d. GVRA leaves far too many capable, valuable disabled people with burnout from navigating their system as it stands.
If it weren’t for blind mentors, community vents about the system at large, if my case manager had been as cruel as those penned in AJC’s article and the stories of many; I’d be one of the 37,000 disabled workers’ cases quietly closed by GVRA over the last 5 years.
The exhausted resilience of our community should not be the only thing standing between our community’s success and state abandonment. When disabled people become (rightfully) burntout by these systems, it directly impacts our ability to thrive in our communities and lead fulfilling lives.
Like Evan Wainwright, I also completed a Bachelor’s degree in a field I was passionate about contributing to as a long term career. Nothing, including GVRA, was able to prepare me for how little my experience would matter once employers knew I was disabled. From instant rejections from barista and bartender jobs for lacking a driver’s license to the community mental health agency who rejected me for the same reason despite years of research on peer support.
The disabled community is continually underestimated and the level of fraud revealed by Atlanta Journal Constitution shows that GVRA has been and will only continue to fail disabled Georgians until it is reformed, funded as federally intended, and prioritizes disabled voices in that process.
Today marks 34 years since the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act and demanding dignity from agencies such as GVRA is a necessary call for disability justice and success. Our community takes care of one another and is necessary for state programs to be true to who they serve. As students, I am calling on us to organize and navigate systems as a community. We advocate better together!
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