By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


A new report has identified an inclusion gap for Livingston County’s disabled population.

The Abilities Alliance, a workgroup of the Livingston Human Services Collaborative Body, on Tuesday released their report regarding the Disability Needs in Livingston County. Anne Richardson of the Arc Livingston said the alliance continues to work together to identify gaps and needs that interfere with people with disabilities accessing and being included in the community and that their goal “is to continue to share these important disparities, and to advocate for continued change that will break down barriers to access and inclusion for all.”

Livingston County residents with disabilities were surveyed in late 2019 in order to gather data for the needs assessment. Unemployment, access to appropriate employment assistance, access to transportation, and access to support that promotes living more independently are a few of the needs that were reported through the survey. Information regarding utilization of local services, barriers and additional unmet needs was also gathered.

To learn more about the Abilities Alliance workgroup for the Livingston County Human Services Collaborative Body, visit: https://www.livgov.com/hscb/Pages/Abilities-Alliance.aspx or check out the group's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/livingstonabilitiesalliance.

To obtain more information, contact Amy Johnston at 810.772.4827 or at ajohnston@cmhliv.org