a new information Hub created by the Department of Human Services is bringing together resources from across state government into one place for New Jersey residents with disabilities and their families caregivers and Advocates the announcement comes at the end of disability pride month senior correspondent Joanna Gagis sat down with commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services Sarah Adelman to discuss the launch of the Hub as the state commemorates the 34th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with disabil act commissioner so great to talk with you um I want to ask you about this new information Hub uh this website that your office has launched it's called the New Jersey disability information Hub what can folks find when they go on there yeah thank you it's so nice to be with you we are excited um to celebrate uh around an issue that's Central to the Ada which is ensuring that individuals with disabilities can easily access essential information from government in a user centered format so we built the New Jersey disability information Hub with accessibility at the Forefront of our development and the website's designed to be easy to navigate and the Hub is going to include information to programs and services offered all across government by the Departments of Human Services Children and Families health education labor and Workforce Development um Community Affairs military and Veterans Affairs and more so I mean you just really clearly laid out kind of all of the tenants that are involved in supporting folks with disabilities but why is it important to have information in particular for families and caregivers and individuals with disabilities why is it important to have that in one place well we hear from individuals and families all of the time that um when they first experience a disability or when they're at a stage in life where they need help uh it can be really difficult to navigate government services and programs and I think it's fair to say that our programs are only truly valuable if people can easily connect to them and know know they exist and know how to find them so by putting in one place information that helps people with housing with health care with access to education or technology assistance food assistance really any kind of service that an individual might need or you know for caregivers access to the caregiver community and resources that are available by putting all of this in one place there's there's one single site this disability Hub that um that individuals and their family members can go to to find hopefully all of the information that they could need um in a time when they may need uh to learn about government services for the first time or may need help for the first time so this comes the announcement of this Hub comes around the same time as the signing of uh the I should say the 34th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act it also comes at the same time as the announcement of disability pride month um what is the significance of both of those events really for the the community of dis uh folks with disabilities here in New Jersey yeah absolutely um as we celebrate the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act uh we we remember that this is the law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in areas such as employment Transportation access to State and local government programs and services so that people with disabilities can enjoy the same rights and opportunities as everyone else and this is a big Community by the way one in five new jerseyans um and one in five individuals Nationwide experience at least one disability it's a really diverse group and Community the disability community so as we commemorate the anniversary of the ADA with technology more Central to life than ever before it's really important that we ensure individuals with disabilities can easily access essential information online in a user centered format all right Sarah Adelman commissioner of the Department of Human Services thank you so much thank you [Music]