Published
Thu, Dec 30, 2021
Jewish Herald-Voice
Survey identifies areas in need of improvement
As part of a major survey of 2,321 Jewish individuals nationwide, in partnership with Jewish Family Service Houston, Jewish respondents in Houston completed the same survey allowing the community to view disability inclusion in their own backyard.
Of the 192 Jewish respondents in the Houston community, 160 either personally have a disability or have a close disability connection. The survey, fielded by RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization that advances opportunities so people with disabilities can participate in all aspects of community, demonstrates Jewish communal organizations are making strong progress toward building a more inclusive community for people with physical, sensory, mental health and other disabilities.
The new study showed 67% of Houston Jewish respondents felt the Jewish community was “better” at “including people with disabilities,” compared to five years ago. Not a single respondent felt the community was doing “worse.”
“More and more Jewish institutions now understand that we are a stronger community when we are welcoming, diverse and respect one another,” said Matan Koch, RespectAbility vice president, who was in Houston briefing Jewish leaders about the results. “The numbers in Houston show the results of strong leadership, values and practices in the Jewish community.”
Koch, a wheelchair user, said, “The survey findings were very encouraging, demonstrating the Jewish community is headed in the right direction. It’s important to celebrate this memorable improvement and the hard work of so many people who made it possible, without losing sight of the much more work clearly to be done. It is especially important to note the data shows that even though Jews with disabilities are as highly educated as Jews without disabilities, they are considerably more likely to live in poverty.”
Increase in inclusion
When Jews in Houston were asked “overall, how well is the Jewish community doing at including people with disabilities in synagogues, Jewish organizations and communal activities,” 40% of respondents answered, “extremely or very well,” nearly 10 percentage points higher than the national average. Additionally, 37% felt the Jewish community was doing “somewhat well.”
When asked, “in the faith-based institutions and groups that you are active in, do you feel people with disabilities are included? (i.e., social activities, men’s clubs/Sisterhoods, youth groups),” 39% answered “yes,” with an additional 36% responding “sometimes.”
“The survey findings were encouraging, showing the Jewish community is headed in the right direction to be more inclusive of people with disabilities,” said pollster Meagan Buren, who fielded the survey. “However, more work must be done to ensure all members of our community feel respected, included and valued.”
When asked where the community found the “most access and inclusive environment” and where they found the “most challenges for access and inclusion” of people with disabilities, the largest response nationally was the same for both questions – synagogues. Twenty-one percent said synagogues have the most access, while 18% said synagogues have the most challenges. This follows multiple efforts to expand inclusion at synagogues and demonstrates the inconsistencies in disability inclusion among varied institutions.
In Houston, 10% responded that synagogues have the most challenges. Interestingly, the largest response for “most access” in Houston was “Jewish Human Services Organizations” versus 14% nationally. And fully 57% of Houston respondents chose “I don’t know” in response to where the most challenges are in the community.
In a sample made up largely of people with a disability connection, it is noteworthy that nearly 6 of 10 did not know of a challenging place for access and inclusion of people with disabilities in the Houston Jewish community.
Linda L. Burger, CEO of Jewish Family Service Houston, the community’s most active direct service provider to individuals with disabilities, said, “At JFS Houston, we want those we serve and others like them to have a place at the table in the Jewish community. Our JFS Alexander Institute for Inclusion continually works to open doors wider for people with disabilities to participate in programs and spiritual life.
“We hope and believe that our advocacy work to increase awareness of their needs and their huge potential for enriching our community is part of the reason the respondents reported so favorably,” she continued. “Of course, there is still much work to do, and we are grateful for our communal partners who have embraced inclusion as a value.”
A strong majority of Houston Jewish respondents (61%) are involved in faith organizations that have made commitments to “diversity, equity and inclusion” and, among those, fully 95% included disability in specifically named areas of diversity, a significant achievement.
At the same time, the surge in the use of virtual formats in response to the COVID-19 pandemic increased the ability of 69% of Houston Jewish respondents to access their faith community. This likely resulted from a combination of the relative ease with which more people could be included.
For example, live captioning and remote ASL interpreters made it easier for those who are deaf or hard of hearing to participate. Furthermore, the lack of need for transportation, which remains a major barrier for many with physical, visual, intellectual and/or psychiatric disabilities, enabled additional individuals to participate from home.
While the overall numbers are trending in a positive direction and are strong, compared even to three years ago, there still is exclusion in the Jewish community.
Nationally, one in five people with disabilities noted they or another disabled individual in their household have been “turned away from an activity at an organization in your faith community because of its inability or unwillingness to make a reasonable accommodation.” In Houston, that number is roughly one in 10.
Lack of clergy, staff with disabilities
The professional picture is more varied. RespectAbility’s survey shows that disability representation in Jewish leadership continues to be an area of opportunity. Houston Jewish respondents were in line with the national average at 14% who knew “any clergy or staff with disabilities” at their own institutions.
However, 13% feel that “people with disabilities are encouraged to serve on boards and committees,” with an additional 18% responding “sometimes.”
Ensuring access to education, Skills and jobs
While almost 41% of Houston Jewish respondents found “increasing inclusion of people with disabilities in faith-based organizations and institutions,” was “extremely important,” 70% responded that “enabling people with disabilities to get the education, skills, and jobs they need to succeed” is “extremely important.”
The RespectAbility study showed 37% of Houston Jewish respondents believe “prejudice and unacknowledged stigma” remains the biggest barrier to full inclusion, just as it was in 2018.
Disability and poverty
Using the larger nationwide sample, it is particular noteworthy that, while many respondents preferred not to answer income level, among those who did, there were measurable differences between those with and without a disability connection at the highest and lowest ranges of income.
Fully 26% of disabled Jews nationally reported income under $49,999, compared to 8% of people without a disability connection. Only 6% of people with disabilities reported income of more than $200,000, compared to 17% of people without a disability connection. This gap in income level is of particular note, as education levels reported by respondents do not show significant differences between disabled individuals and the wider community.
The survey was administered online from Oct. 5-19. The questions reached a total of 2,924 respondents.
Source: jhvonline.com/houston-jewish-community-progressive-on-jewish-disability-inclusion-p29952-89.htm
