News Labor Department Announces 2026 NDEAM Theme: "Celebrating Value and Talent"

The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) announced that the 2026 National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) theme will be "Celebrating Value and Talent," carrying last year's theme forward through 2026 in honor of the nation's 250th anniversary. 

Observed each October, NDEAM highlights the skills and contributions that people with disabilities bring to workplaces, communities, and the economy. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy Julie Hocker said the theme "honors the value and talent of disabled Americans, past and present," and affirms a commitment to full participation and to jobs "that lead to independence, economic self-sufficiency, and the American dream." This year's observance is part of the department's broader year-long celebration of the American worker.

NDEAM traces back to 1945, when Congress designated a national week recognizing the contributions of Americans with physical disabilities. Congress expanded it to a full month in 1988 and renamed it NDEAM, acknowledging the importance of advancing opportunities for people with disabilities both apparent and nonapparent. ODEP has led the observance, including annual theme selection, since its establishment in 2001.

Resources, including the annual NDEAM poster, are available at dol.gov/ndeam.

What this means for your practice

October is a month away, which makes this a good moment to plan rather than improvise. NDEAM is also a useful opening for a conversation our field too often avoids: employment is not what happens after stability, it is part of how stability gets built.

Employment has become more consequential, not less, for the people we serve. With Medicaid work requirements taking effect in states and housing subsidies under pressure, earned income and health coverage are now directly linked in ways they were not a few years ago. Helping someone go to work is increasingly also how you help them keep coverage.

Where to focus:

• Use October as a scheduling anchor. A single benefits counseling session, an employer panel, or a peer-led conversation about working while receiving SSI or SSDI does more than a poster. ODEP's NDEAM page has ready-made materials if you need a starting point.
• Correct the fear before it decides for someone. Many applicants and recipients believe that any work will end their income or their health coverage. It generally does not. For people receiving SSI, continued Medicaid eligibility while working is available under Section 1619(b). For people receiving SSDI, the Trial Work Period and Extended Period of Eligibility allow a person to test employment without an immediate loss of the monthly payment.
• Know your local benefits counseling resource. SSA-funded Work Incentives Planning and Assistance projects provide individualized counseling at no cost, and a referral there is often more persuasive than anything a case manager can explain secondhand.
• Remember that working during an application does not automatically disqualify anyone. Work below the substantial gainful activity level is permitted, and documented struggles at work can strengthen the functional evidence in an application.
• Ask about employment goals at intake, not at case closure. For youth in transition to adulthood and emerging adults especially, the Student Earned Income Exclusion and Ticket to Work make an early employment conversation worth having.

Income is the entry point, and employment is one of the strongest threads in the network of support woven around it. NDEAM is a reasonable excuse to strengthen it.

Source: US Department of Labor announces 2026 National Disability Employment Awareness Month theme