It’s rare for Pennsylvania to create a new department, but Jessica Benham is trying to do just that.
The Allegheny County Democrat is trying to start the Department of Disability Rights, Employment, Accessibility and Mobility (DREAM), but a previous attempt failed.
Benham said the department is necessary given the complexities of navigating government bureaucracy.
“And for people with disabilities, it can get even more complicated,” she says. “A lot of these services aren’t easily accessible to people.”
Her goal is to make the system as efficient as possible.
This means transferring certain offices from other departments – for example, the Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing falls under the Department of Labor and Industry.
Mr Benham said it would make it easier for people to get the services they need from specialist departments.
Benham is co-sponsoring the bill with Rep. Jason Ortitai, a Republican from Allegheny, and Rep. Dan L. Miller, a Democrat from Allegheny.
Ortitai said the ministry would make it easier for people with disabilities to get the help they need.
“Often, people with disabilities and their families do not know where to go to get the services they need to live independent and fulfilling lives,” he said. “Establishing this unit will ease this burden and improve the coordination of services.”
Miller said disability is part of the human condition and should be properly acknowledged by leaders.
“We want to make sure that the policy lens takes disability into account and that it starts from the beginning of the process, not as a second- or third-order afterthought,” he said.