The goal of the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) is to build the premier organization for the advancement of economic, civic, and social participation of persons with disabilities in a global society through the creation of a collaborative environment. The institute is doing this with both entrepreneurial innovation and best business practices in order to foster dialogue between public and private sectors while creating the capacity to transform systems, policy, as well as people through the workforce, education that is inclusive, and communities. The BBI is using education, research, training, outreach and technical assistance to reach their goals.

The BBI has centers that are world-class and interwoven, focusing on both financial and technological innovation. The centers also focus on employment, inclusive workforces, diversity, disability, media, the arts, and law. The intentions of the BBI’s centers are multi-fold. Building the next generation of leadership in education, law, public policy, communications, social science, business, technology, and architecture is one of the main goals of the centers. Shaping new knowledge for workplaces, communities and classrooms in order to foster high-expectations concerning the benefits and power of economic, civic, and social participation of people throughout the spectrum of disability is as well.

The Burton Blatt Institute is named for Burton Blatt, who was a pioneer in humanizing services for people with mental retardation, as well as an advocate for deinstitutionalization and a national leader in special education. Mr. Blatt assisted in the initiation of community living programs and family support services. During his clinical work, Mr. Blatt emphasized the need to provide education to children with severe disabilities. He was a national leader in special education, calling for programs to integrate students with disabilities into public schools and working to promote a more open society. He was also the Dean of the School of Education and Centennial Professor at Syracuse University, and served as Director of the university’s Division of Special Education and Rehabilitation, founding the Center on Human Policy in order to promote a more open and accepting society for persons with disabilities.

Mr. Blatt’s career found him becoming a nationally recognized leader and university administrator, although he primarily remained a teacher. In more than three-hundred books, chapters, and articles, Mr. Blatt emphasized the humanity of all people – despite the nature or severity of the particular disability they may experience. He is perhaps best remembered as the author of the photographic expose’, ‘Christmas in Purgatory,’ from the year 1966, in which a searing portrait of life in a mental institution which brought national attention to the abuse of people with mental retardation in American institutions was presented, as well as the follow-up study, ‘The Family Papers: A Return to Purgatory,’ that was published in 1979. Burton Blatt received a number of awards, not only from the government, but from university, professional and family organizations for his service to people with disabilities and their family members. He also held a variety of different leadership roles in professional organizations.

The Burton Blatt Institute has many projects which study corporate practices and the employment of persons with disabilities. Through exploration of issues, development of scientifically rigorous and externally valid research standards, as well as company case studies that are derived from these standards, the institute is helping to address the gap that exists in field research. The BBI is striving to positively influence the employment of people with disabilities through program efforts. Some of the programs at the BBI include the following.

Demand Side Employment Placement Models Project: Americans with disabilities experience levels of employment that are significantly lower that nondisabled persons. Studies of employment rates among people with disabilities in the past have relied on a, ’supply-side,’ approach which analyzes how personal characteristics predict employment and earnings. The models have not analyzed variables related to employer demand as predictors of employment outcomes for people with disabilities sufficiently. There is a need to systematically understand demand characteristics for workers with disabilities as work requirements change over time in particular. The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) has granted BBI and its partners five-year funding to conduct research to develop, identify, and evaluate employment demand-side models. Project partners will translate their findings into practical and valid tools that small and large businesses in different market sectors can use to improve employment outcomes.

DBTAC: Southeast ADA Center (Southeast DBTAC): The BBI is partnering with the Southeast Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center (DBTAC) for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on projects to enhance and disseminate work in serving Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities Program (EBV): The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans program provides experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities, and is offered entirely free to qualified veterans accepted into the program. Admission is on a first-come, first-served basis. BBI is a collabortive partner in the EBV, which was started in 2007 by the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University and expanded in 2008 through a national partnership.

IT Works Project: There is a demand for trained information technology (IT) workers. Research has shown that the percentage of working individuals with disabilities in substantially lower than the percentage of working people without disability. The goal of IT Works is to increase the employment of individuals with disabilities in IT-related jobs, reducing the shortage of trained IT workers and increasing the employment of individuals with disabilities. The project will Identify barriers to and facilitators of the hiring, retention, advancement, and wages of individuals with disabilities, test strategies to improve hiring, retention, advancement and wages of individuals with disabilities, and provide training and disseminate research findings.

TACE Center Region IV (Southeast TACE): The mission of the this program is to improve the quality and effectiveness of vocational rehabilitation services and enhance employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. The project is a collaboration with the DBTAC: Southeast ADA Center, which provides information, training, and resources on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Both Southeast Region Centers are managed by the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI). The Southeast Region TACE Center is comprised of a Learning Consortium of nationally recognized educators and researchers from various universities such as East Carolina University, Hofstra University, and Syracuse University, vocational rehabilitation (VR) administrators, rehabilitation services providers, employers and advocates throughout the eight southeastern states.

Start-UP NY Project: Start-UP NY is an unprecedented community collaboration to increase self-employment among people with disabilities living in Onondaga County. It is one of three national technical assistance centers on self-employment for people with disabilities funded by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Policy (ODEP). The three-year, $3 million project to create self-employment options for people with diverse disabilities throughout Onondaga County to establish, grow and sustain their businesses is led by the Onondaga County Offices of Social Services & Economic Development, in partnership with:

• The Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University;
• The Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship, affiliated with the Department of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises (EEE) at the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University;
• The Southside Entrepreneurial Connect Project; and
• Partners from various business, human services, and economic development organizations.

Technology for Independence - Community-Based Resource Center (TI-CBRC): The purpose of this center is to facilitate the development of real-world, scientifically rigorous knowledge and research on assistive technology and environmental access for persons with disabilities in partnership with disability researchers, disability advocates, community-based organizations, and other disability community members.

Burton Blatt Institute