Federal Disability Programs: Coordination Could Facilitate Better Data Collection to Assess the Status of People with Disabilities

Multiple federal programs provide services and support to the approximately 50 million individuals with disabilities in America. While some health and economic data on people with disabilities are currently available, these data have limited use in providing a comprehensive assessment of how these individuals are faring. Additionally, the lack of more useful data limits the federal government's ability to determine how well federal programs are serving individuals with disabilities. GAO is providing information on (1) the limitations of data currently available to assess the status of individuals with disabilities and (2) how better coordination could help facilitate the collection of such data to inform policy decisions. This statement is based on prior GAO reports, including the May 2008 report on modernizing federal disability programs (GAO-08-635), the 2007 Comptroller General's forum on disability (GAO-07-934SP), and multiple reports on national indicators (e.g. GAO-05-1); and studies by other organizations, including the National Council on Disability.