Jim Brett has spent more than 50 years fighting for inclusion for people with disabilities. Learn how Brett's brother served as the inspiration for a lifetime dedicated to advancing civil rights and opportunities for Americans with disabilities.
Jim Brett has spent more than 50 years fighting for inclusion for people with disabilities. Inspired by his brother, Jack, Brett has worked tirelessly to advocate for rights and opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Brett is the President and CEO of the New England Council and is Chairman of the President’s Committee for People With Intellectual Disabilities. The President’s Council is a federal advisory committee that promotes policies and initiatives that support independence and lifelong inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in their respective communities.
In addition, Jim is the Vice Chairman of the National Council on Disability the independent federal agency that called for and authored the first draft of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He is also Chair of the Governor’s Commission on Intellectual Disability, and Chair of the Massachusetts Disabled Persons Protection Commission.
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About Northeast Arc
Northeast Arc was founded in 1954 by parents of children with developmental disabilities who wanted to raise their sons and daughters as full members of the community. By having the courage to challenge professionals who told them their children could not be educated and would not live to become adults, these parents created the systems that enabled them to attend public schools, develop friendships, reside in the neighborhoods of their choice and to earn a paycheck. Over the years, our programs have expanded to support children and adults with a broader range of disabilities, including autism and physical disabilities. Today we serve thousands of people in nearly 190 cities and towns across Massachusetts. The goal of the Northeast Arc is to ensure that children and adults with disabilities are able to live, work, engage in civic life and play in the community. We work toward that goal by offering a wide variety of programs including Autism Services, Day Habilitation, Deaf Services, Early Intervention, Employment Services, Family Support, Personal Care Assistance, Recreation, Residential and Transition Services. Northeast Arc is overseen by a volunteer Board of Directors composed of individuals with disabilities, parents and siblings of people with disabilities, and business and community leaders. Programs are operated by a professional staff led by a Chief Executive Officer with 35 years of experience at the helm of the organization, and are supported by a large volunteer corps.
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I watched a young man with a IQ of 35 become my teacher. He was my teacher that opened my eyes and my heart to the issue of disabilities and how one lives with disabilities.
Hello and welcome to All Things Disability, a podcast from Northeast Arc. I'm Jo Ann Simons, the president and CEO of Northeast Arc. Each day, Northeast Arc changes lives and discovers abilities for thousands of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities across Massachusetts.
We help them become full participants in their communities, choosing for themselves how to live, learn, work, socialize, and play. In each episode of our podcast, we'll speak with a leader in the disability space to learn how they promote inclusion and opportunities for people with disabilities. Today I'm thrilled to be joined by Jim Brett. Jim is the president and CEO of the New England Council and is chair of the President's Committee for People With Intellectual Disabilities.
The board of directors here has been so good to me in allowing me to spend time with many of them one on one and saying that we all have a diversity program at your company. And they do. And they say that they've done well in hiring different types of individuals. And I'll say, is disabilities part of your diversity? And some of them will say, no, we never thought of that. And I said, well, it should be.
Jim is the vice chair of the National Council on Disability, the independent federal agency that called for and authored the first draft of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He's also chair of the Governor's Commission on Intellectual Disability and chair of the Massachusetts Disabled Persons Protection Commission.
Jim is a lion in this field. And he is joining us remotely today via Zoom. Jim, thank you so much for joining us. It's my honor to have you.
I don't think I've ever said no to you, Jo Ann. You are my idol. For your listeners and viewers, I met Jo Ann back in the early '80s when we were battling so many of the different issues, like the splitting of the Department of Mental Health and Department of Mental Retardation at the time. And she would testify in front of our committee. And she was a very, very articulate advocate, as she is today.
Thank you.
Anything I can do for you, I'm there for you.
Thanks, and likewise. Jim, your work with people with disabilities is incredibly personal to you and inspired by your brother, Jack. For our listeners who aren't familiar with your story, can you tell us about Jack?
Jack is the reason, you're right, that I have been involved with disabilities. And really it's been a lifetime passion for me. And it began when my brother was born. Here is a young man that was born in 1934, when the options of somebody with a very severe mental, intellectual disability was either to be in an institution, or in some communities they would hide these individuals with their disabilities.
And here is my mother, with a sixth-grade education, not knowing anyone other than her husband, having her first child and knowing that he has a very severe mental disability. The doctor in 1934 said to this woman with a sixth-grade education, we will take your son, put him in an institution. He'll have a roof over his head, three meals a day. He will not live long. And the burden has been lifted.
And while I have you, I would advise you not to have any other children, because it was a very, very difficult pregnancy. And this woman, with a sixth-grade education, said to the doctor, "Doctor, he is coming home with me. I'm going to have more children. He's going to be part of their lives. And they are going to be part of his life."
And the word "burden" offended her. She said, he is a blessing. We call that inclusion today. And here's this woman in 1934. She really lived the life of a disabled young child with disabilities.
So he being the oldest and me being the youngest, I watched a young man with an aptitude, IQ of 35 become my teacher. He was my teacher that opened my eyes and my heart to the issue of disabilities, to how one lives with disabilities. And it was something that I valued. I often thought that he truly was a blessing for all of us in the family.
And I made a commitment back then that there were an awful lot of Jack Bretts out there that have no one to advocate. And I will spend as much time as I can advocating for people like him to live, as you just said, your mission statement, full participation in the community, independent living, treated with dignity, respect. But it all began with a gentleman, my older brother, my best friend with an IQ of 35, who became my teacher.
I've heard you tell stories about Jack. And one of my favorites has to do with him in church and how important the Catholic Church was to him and how he made it another home.
The church, in fact, it's still my local church that I attend every week. They adopted, embraced my brother, that he felt very welcome in that church by the priest and the assistants in there. And every week he would make it a point to be there in church.
And God forbid that somebody took his pew. He had a designated seat. He'd walk all the way down the aisle. And it would take him several minutes because he had to make sure to say hi to each and every person. And then he would sit in his designated pew and sit there, and a very parishioner to say the least.
But they were always very, very kind to him, though. And I was always appreciative of how sensitive they were and how tender they were and their care and attention to him. So a very fond and happy memory there.
Yeah, I imagine sometimes in my mind as you tell that story of him walking down the pew and being embraced with so much love. Was there a particular moment or experience with Jack that really stands out in your desire to advocate for people with intellectual disabilities?
Well, I just, I've often said that he was born, unfortunately, at a time when there really wasn't much. There was no ADA. There was no housing initiatives, no education reforms. Someone of his aptitude, unfortunately, either stayed home. Or maybe if he could find a, quote, "sheltered workshop," and that would be it.
There was really no opportunity. No one would hire someone of his ability, no supermarket, no, because they were just-- they didn't know how to react to people with disabilities at that time. And they never looked at my brother to look at his abilities. They only looked at his disabilities. And I always thought that was so unfair for him.
And it's something I ask people when I meet individuals with challenges. I would say to them, how do you spend your day? And if I hear that they stay home all day or they watch TV, boy does that-- does my blood pressure just rise to the top, because that to me is not the way our friends should be treated. They need an opportunity to participate, just like you and I and all of our friends.
But he didn't have that opportunity. That really bothered me. They'd never had an opportunity to go somewhere and to do some type of meaningful work. He could if given the right opportunity, if we had what we have today, the coaches, the personal care attendants. And we didn't have those people back then. So that, to me, was always a very unfortunate part of his existence. But he was surrounded by love with his family.
And I'll just tell you one quick story on him, that he had it-- he was very, very, very, very, very close to our mother, as I was. But there was two occasions that I'll always, always remember about him. And one was we the three of us lived together in our home in Dorchester. I was running for state representative at the time.
It was a two family. I lived in the first and he lived in the second with our mother. And I came home one night. As I did every campaign night, I'd always check in and see if my mother was OK. And I was single at the time.
And one night I went up the stairs and it was very quiet. And I realized something was, something was ajar, to say the least. I walked in and in the kitchen my mother was on the floor. And she had a pillow under her head.
And what happened is that she had a stroke. And my brother was unable to call 911. But he said, I gave her-- I gave Ma a pillow. And that will get me into heaven, right, James? He always called me James. And I said, yeah, it will, because you were very, very sensitive to her at that time.
Second thing that happened that I'll never, ever forget about a man with a 35 IQ, when he was dying of melanoma and I sat with him in the group home, and I said to him, I said, now, Jack, are you afraid of dying? And he said, you know, James? I'm not afraid at all.
I said, now, why is that? He said, well, two things are going to happen. I said, oh, really? One, I'm going to go to heaven. I said, wow. Gee.
And then he said two, I'm going to meet my mother. And I said, how beautiful is that of somebody who, quote, has this severe disability? One, he has tremendous faith that he's going to go to heaven, and two, he's going to see his mother. And I'll never forget that. I said, wow.
And he cared for her in the best way he could by giving her a pillow.
Oh, he did. Oh my god. Oh, yeah, yeah, gave it to her.
Those are just such moving stories.
He couldn't dial 911, but he could put a pillow. He said, now, James, by putting a pillow here, I'll go to heaven now, right? I said, oh, absolutely. Absolutely. She loved him and he loved her. And it was a beautiful experience in the sense of seeing love. And he is just, he was extraordinary in that respect.
But I just keep thinking in the back of my mind every time I have a meeting, whether it's the governor's commission, the presidents committee meeting, I have a folder with me. And I usually have a picture of my brother. And I always say to myself, you're here to help people like your brother, who have no one, no one advocating for them.
And we are so lucky that we have you, Jim. You've been such a remarkable advocate. And throughout your career you've had the chance to educate and advocate for people with disabilities as a legislator in the Massachusetts Statehouse, and now in your role at the New England Council. What have your priorities been? You've actually stated some of them-- housing and self-determination and employment, but--
Well, I mean a big issue, and we just talked about it, and somebody that educated me, Dr. Steve Perlman, many, many, many, many, many years ago when he had his practice over on Market Street and in Lynn about access to dental care for individuals with disabilities. And I know personally that it was very difficult to find a dentist for my brother. And there were not many Dr. Steve Perlmans out there taking care of people who had these challenges, to say the least.
And he, Dr. Perlman, educated me to say, we have to find ways of making it a lot easier for people to get access to dental care. You can't expect them to be working in the workforce if they don't have good oral health. And we've been working for years and years and years on how do we get ways of getting dentists to treat people with disabilities?
And Dr. Perlman and Dr. Rick Rader, a good friend of Dr. Perlman and I, have been working with dental schools in the Dental Association of America and urging that they update their curriculum in the dental school to say that you should have one course, two course on how to treat and-- well, first of all, how to diagnose and then how to treat people with disabilities, because there are so many, so many individuals out there, they have no access to dental care. And it's a disgrace, absolute disgrace.
So we finally got the approval of the ADA and the dental schools that they now have part of their curriculum that they need to know how to diagnose and treat. Well, that's wonderful. And that's good news for all the new dentists coming out. But we have thousands and thousands that have already graduated that have no clue on how to diagnose and treat or, quite frankly, have any interest in treating them. So now we're trying to find ways of giving incentives to dentists to say that you can get reimbursed by taking care of these individuals.
So Dr. Perlman always gives me a wonderful example. And I'll say, what is the typical patient that comes in to see you? Well, she may be 12 years of age. She's autistic. She's coming in for the first time.
I meet her in the lobby at 8:00 AM. I might give her a hug. Mother might say, I don't-- she doesn't like hugs. OK. Bring them into the office. She has a very expensive chair, because he says we need this type of chair because sometimes some of the patients might slide. I have to be very cognizant of that. So I have this chair.
I'm about to do an oral exam. I ask her to open her mouth. The mother says she gets nervous of the lighting. Can you adjust the lighting? She does.
I'm about to open her mouth again and the mother says, can you do something with the music? She gets a little tense. And then he says, finally I'll do an oral exam. And then I will maybe hopefully do a cleaning while she's here.
Doctor, how long was she there? Well, she came at 8:00, maybe 9:30, 20 minutes to 10. Now, let me ask you a question, Doctor. How much of a reimbursement did you get?
Well, single parent, MassHealth, I think I got $40, $45. Wait a minute. No, no, Jim, the patients that the doctors want have Delta Dental. You're claim can be $140. They'll get $90, $95.
So what we're trying to do right now if you are a dentist and you work in an Indian reservation or you work in an agricultural field, taking care of the workers that are here temporarily, you get a forgiveness of loans on your college and dental school. OK. And if you work in a very, very low economic zip code area in a community health center, they give us the loans. They call that a medically underserved population.
Well, what we're trying to say is these people also are medically underserved. They're not receiving the health care that we are. To me it's a civil rights issue that they're treated this way.
So if we give the incentive to put the people with ID, and let's start with ID, only because you can't put 61 million people with disabilities all of a sudden covered under the municipal underserved population, at least try ID. But it's an incentive to get dentists to say, I'm willing to take care of these, because I'll get reimbursed for giving us the loan. So we're working on that. But it's so much work. It's very, very hard. But that's what keeps us going.
If it was easy, it would have been done by now. But health disparity is what we're working on, health disparities. There are too many cases that we're hearing of individuals who say, quite frankly, we can't even have a physical exam. Why is that?
Because they don't have the proper scales. They don't have the proper weight machines in the office. I mean, it's mind boggling in 2022. So we're working on a whole area on health disparity, long overdue. But to me it's a civil rights issue, a human rights issue. That's our priority right now.
Well, that's a great priority for the President's Committee for People With Intellectual Disabilities and one that's hopefully will get the attention, especially now that we're having a conversation about disparities, let's make sure that people with intellectual disabilities are part of that conversation.
In 2013, the University of Massachusetts Boston established the James T. Brett Chair in Disability and Workforce Development. Congratulations, Jim. That was pretty remarkable. It's the nation's only endowed chair in disability and workforce development. Can you lay out the challenges people with disabilities often face when they're finding employment and how the UMass Boston program is helping?
Yeah, well, first off, I must say I was just on it to receive the recognition to have a chair in workforce development. But when they said we really want to make this an endowed chair, and I'm like what is-- that means that I got to raise money? Well, yeah.
And I met with a couple of my friends who are in the business community. And I told them about the idea, that they wanted to establish this chair. And they said, that's really quite an honor. I said, well it is. But they said endowed. I don't know if we can pull this off.
And they said, we're going to make it happen. And I think we had three meetings. And they raised a million and a half dollars to endow the chair, which is extraordinary. And somebody gave $200,000, unnamed. But, I mean, it just happened. And so I'm grateful for that.
But the workforce development is part of the IC Center there. I don't know if you remember Dr. Bill Kiernan, the Institute of Community Inclusion, ICU there. And they spent an awful lot of time in research and working with large employers and trying to make it easy for them to hire people with disabilities, again, to look at their abilities, not disabilities. And they've had some good-- they've had some good success there.
We've had some sessions where we've brought employers in who have hired people with disabilities. But we've also brought in employers who have had unsuccessful results and how we can make things better. But it's constant. It's not easy. Sometimes it's one on one.
But they've made some significant progress there. More needs to be done. But they're on the right track there. And I think in the very near future, more good news will be coming out of the ICU and that chair.
Well, it's a testament to the community's love and love of you and commitment to the things that are important to you, which is the employment of people with disabilities, to be able to raise that kind of money to endow a chair in disability and workforce development is quite remarkable. As CEO of the New England Council, we'll take a little bit of a shift here for a minute, you represent a diverse alliance of private-sector organizations. What role does the private sector play in promoting employment opportunities for people with disabilities?
Well, the board of directors here has been so good to me in allowing me to spend time with many of them one on one and saying that we all have a diversity program at your company. And they do. And they say that they've done well in hiring different types of individuals.
And I'll say, is disability part of your diversity? And some of them will say no, we never thought of that. And I said, well, it should be. The stats that people always use are things like 19% that are-- people with disabilities are actually employed full time. There may be another percentage a little higher of part time, what have you.
But I think it's a disgrace when you hear the numbers of how many people with disabilities want to work, unable to work. So I try to promote as much as I can in my day job with these CEOs, when you talk disability and when you talk diversity, include disabilities, would you? It's important. These people need an opportunity to contribute. It's just like they want to make a contribution.
And they have abilities. I often use the example of my friend who was legally blind, George Hagerty, who was president of a college in Florida down in Leesburg, Beacon College. It was found in 1989 by families who have loved ones and their loved ones who have disabilities who say, our child can learn if given the right environment. And they put together a college curriculum.
And they were ambitious. And they said, we're going to put a college curriculum together for a bachelor's degree, not an associate, a bachelor. And it was approved. State approved it. Federal government approved it.
Then they said, we've got to find some land to build this college, and looked all over Florida, because most of the families were in Florida at the time. And they found some land about 80 miles East of Orlando in Leesburg called-- and they called it the Beacon College there. And they started with one building. And now they've got 20 buildings there.
But they only accept students with disabilities, so ADD, blind, autistic. It's an extraordinary school. They have over 400 students full time right now.
And I gave the commencement there four years ago. And I'm sitting there on a Sunday morning in the cafeteria. And there were two students you could tell had-- they were socially awkward. They would not look up. They were just eating.
But there was also an instructor there. And I said, now, guys, you're going to get your degree today. What are you going to do? And both of them looked up and said, we're going to Google. I said, wow, you're going to Google?
The instructor said, not only are they going to Google, Mr. Brett, but they're starting at $90,000. I said, oh my god, hey guys, tell me, what did you get your degree in? Computer web design.
OK. Fast forward, go to the commencement. And you hear the valedictorian. And his mother and father was there. And you had to have a heart of stone not to have a tear in your eye.
And he started off by saying, you know, I went to three colleges. And people called me stupid. They even called me retired. Now look at me. I'm the valedictorian.
So I turned to the president. And I said, George, where is Tim going? Oh, Homeland Security. TSA just hired him. And he's starting at $80,000, $85,000. I said, oh my god.
He said, well, here, again, Jim, we look at abilities, not disabilities. And I said, you know something, George, every time I come here, I'm not only impressed, I'm inspired that these students are going out and living an independent life, just like you and me. And he goes, that's the mission of the school, Jim.
And it's extraordinary. And I'm saying to myself, could you imagine that mother and father sitting out there in the audience saying 20 years ago, did they ever think that my son my daughter would be a college student, college graduate? So there is good news out there. We just want people to have what we have, to live a life of dignity and dependence and make a contribution.
Someone asked me recently, what was the most significant accomplishment you made in the legislature in 16 years? And they thought it was going to be a piece of legislation. And I said, you know what it was? I went to the speaker one day. His name was George Keverian.
And I said, you know, Mr. Speaker, we spend all this money on DMH, DRM, DSS, all these different agencies that help people with their challenges. I said, why don't we hire a page? Because a page has to sit in front of the rostrum and face all of the legislators. And I said, if we hire someone, maybe a Special Olympian or someone who has a disability but that our colleagues will see and hear every day from that person that they may say, you know what? We ought to be doing more of these.
I love that guy. He's great. He's smart. But I said, we need to hire someone like it. He goes, hey, that's not a bad idea. Do you have somebody in mind?
And I said, you know, I do. And the reason I have somebody in mind, because I just read in the newspaper recently of a young man, a Special Olympian in Dorchester, had a very severe hearing problem. And he was walking home one day. And a couple of thugs came over and ripped out his hearing aid and slashed it to the side of his face.
And he's home now. And he's afraid to go out. But I want to visit him. And I want to talk to him.
So I called his mother. And the mother was very leery of talking to anyone, including myself. So she didn't talk to me. She didn't want me to come by for several days.
But finally I got to go and visit her and her son. It's just the two of them. And I said, you know, I read the stories, how horrific it was. And I'm sure that I know the answer, but how does Chippy, how does Chippy spend his day? And she says, he stays at home.
And I said, yeah, I thought that. Well, I have an opportunity for him if he would be interested in coming with me to the state house, because I think I could find a position for him to work. And I told him about it. He was interested, because he says, you know what I like to do, Jim?
I said, what's that? I like to dress up. I like to wear a shirt and tie every day. I said, really? Well, you might be able to do that here.
And sure enough, as we speak today in your podcast, he's got over 34 years of service. He's got a pension. But not only that, he got married. I was part of his wedding. And the speaker, George Keverian, was part of his wedding.
He lives an independent life now. He lives in an apartment with his bride in Dorchester. He's got 34 years of state service. If you said to his employer, tell me how, has that worked out with Chippy being employed here in the House of Representatives, he will say, well, we start at 9:00 in the morning, but he's here a quarter of 8:00. And he wants to make sure the doors are open and the document room has all the documents all lined up, the issues of the day.
And he goes home at 5:00. And the first thing he does is gets his clothes ready for the next day. And I'm saying to myself, that's what we do. That's what we have to do. Sometimes it's one at a time. But as I honestly feel we've changed his life from staying in his room all day doing nothing to being a productive citizen, a productive taxpayer, married, and making a contribution to the community, doing everything that we want to do, make a contribution, be part of the community.
And he wants to be able to say, I work for a living. Let me tell you where I work. I work in the House of Representatives, because that's the first thing we all say to each other when we meet people. Where do you work?
Well, they, too, want to say, let me tell you where I work. But we have to find voices out there that will allow people the opportunity to show their abilities. And Chippy's one proud example that I often cite.
We are so lucky that we have you as a voice. And in 2020, you marked the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act with an article in The Boston Globe. And I want to close with this quote, because I think it's just so important.
You wrote, "We can't gloss over the fact that our national policies and programs are contributing to promises deferred for people with disabilities." You have done such critical work for decades. And I just want to know if there's anything else you want to add, because--
No, it's just that the ADA, we just celebrated it. I was fortunate enough to be at the vice president's residence last week on the 32nd anniversary of the ADA. But the ADA came about, as you mentioned, they had-- the NCD had some draft notes on how to file the legislation, the ADA. But the Civil Rights Act that we've had in the '60s, they were wonderful, except they excluded the word "disability."
That's how the ADA came about. They said, wait a minute, we made a mistake. We given all of these rights, and they're due to so many people, whether it's race, creed, sex. How about disabilities? We missed on that.
That's why the ADA folks, they worked long and hard to say, hey, what about us? We need to be treated equally, too. So they did that, and 1990. And not only that, it's a wonderful example of George Herbert Walker Bush, Republican president, Orrin Hatch, Republican senator, Ted Kennedy, Democratic senator, Tom Harkin, Democratic senator. I mean, it's just a wonderful example of Republicans, Democrats working together on a major civil rights piece of legislation. And they all get equal credit, as they deserve.
But the point is I'm hoping, and I'm an optimist, that these issues that we just talked about, there's no label. It's just these are human rights that we're advocating. That's all. Just like what you have, people should have too. That's all.
And hopefully we'll make more progress in the future. But people like you, Jo Ann, and others out there, Perlman, Dr. Perlman and others, you've taught me. So I'm just carrying it on. I'm the student.
And I use my position, I use my relationships with people. That's what I do well. But I learn from people like you. I learn from my brother. And whatever I can do to continue being an advocate, count me in, because it is my passion. My day job is the New England Council, but my passion is helping people who have no voice.
We count you in. And we remember today that Jack not only was your teacher, but you now have shared Jack with the rest of the world. And he's become all of our teachers. And if you're interested in learning more about Dr. Perlman, he will be a guest on a future podcast here at All Things Disability.
I want to thank you again, Jim, for joining us. We want to thank Peabody TV for providing our wonderful recording space. And All Things Disability is made possible through the financial support of the Changing Lives Fund, which was created through a gift from Steven Rosenthal. To learn more about the Northeast Arc and to find past episodes of this podcast, please visit any-arc.org.
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