OPL?s main function is to serve as a conduit between the White House
and specific constituencies that the President is committed to working
with. This includes racial and ethnic minorities, women, seniors, and gays
and lesbians. It also includes health, business, education, and religion
outreach. The communication goes in both directions. From the vantage
point of the White House, we seek to keep constituencies informed about the
Clinton-Gore Administration?s activities, include constituents in
decision-making processes, and seek support for Presidential priorities.
For constituencies, OPL provides access to the White House. We meet with a
variety of individuals and groups, communicate their concerns to and work
with the White House policy councils, and report on major issues directly
to the President in our weekly report.
My primary objective, based on conversations with various disability
advocates, is to help make the disability community a mainstream political
player, and make disability issues part of mainstream policy debates. In
addition to these general goals, I have identified a number of policy
priorities in consultation with community advocates (alphabetical order):
Assistive Technology, Education, Housing, Long-Term Services and Supports,
Social Security & Medicare, and the Work Incentives Improvement Act.
My principal method for communicating with people in the disability
community around the country is through an email distribution list (you can
also participate via fax, though only 5 of over 800 "subscribers" use fax).
While I will certainly disseminate information about disability-specific
issues, I use the mailing list to pursue the integration goals I mentioned
above: I want to do my part to keep you informed about the broader domestic
policy agenda so that you can be mainstream players. If you are interested
only in disability-specific issues, you will probably not want to
participate.
In joining my email list, I request that you provide me with your
basic contact information for my database. This serves two purposes: 1) I
will periodically send out hard copy by standard mail, for which I need a
mailing address; 2) there are occasional events with the President or Vice
President around the country where I can invite people to attend, in which
cases I need to know of specific, local people to call.
Below please find general instructions for how to join.
Jonathan M. Young
Associate Director for Disability Outreach,
White House Office of Public Liaison
122 OEOB
Washington, DC 20502
Jonathan_Young (AT) WHO.EOP.GOV
Disability Outreach Mailing List:
To join:
Send an email or fax with ?subscribe? in the subject field.
In the text field, please include your name and basic contact
information so I can add a record in my database.
This is NOT a formal list-serv, so you will not receive a
confirmation. (If you don't begin receiving mail within a couple
of weeks, please feel free to send another request.)
What you?ll get:
Official White House and other Administration documents about domestic
policy issues, including but not restricted to disability-related
matters.
Personal communications from me about meetings, events, opportunities
for participation, and requests for feedback.
An opportunity to keep me informed about your key concerns (of
national scope--at the White House we can't address personal,
individual matters).
Lots of email!