P&P June 2016

By Jade Gingerich

Rethinking Employment for Individuals with Disabilities

June 2016

Policy&Practice

mployment First is a national

framework for systems change

being implemented at the

state level. This framework is

centered on the premise that all people,

including individuals with significant

disabilities, are capable of full par-

ticipation in community integrated

employment regardless of their need

for accommodation. Through this

approach, state agencies are supported

as they work across systems to align

policies, practices, service delivery, and

reimbursement structures that support

community-integrated employment

as the first option for all working-age

adults. As many states embarked on

this realignment, it became increas-

ingly clear that Employment First

would have broader policy implications

than was initially understood.

Employment First is a critical policy

shift for all agencies serving youth

and working-age adults, particularly

those in poverty. Paid work should be

an expectation of the system, regard-

less of barriers. To achieve this end,

all stakeholder agencies must be

dedicated to creating a culture of work

alongside families, schools, and front-

line staff. Too often, agencies focus on

moving individuals with disabilities

off their caseloads onto public benefits.

This is viewed as helping, since it guar-

antees receipt of a monthly income;

however, that steady income equates

to a lifetime of poverty and serves to

reinforce long-held and outdated views

that individuals with disabilities are

not able to work. Not only can individ-

uals with disabilities work, there are a

number of work incentives designed to

encourage them to be employed and to

increase their earnings through work.

All human service and workforce

development agencies must be fully

equipped to support individuals with

disabilities and reinforce employment

as a desired and attainable outcome. In

some states, the waiting list for disability

specific services, such as Vocational

Rehabilitation Services, results in

individuals with disabilities not being

eligible for specialized services. This is

often especially true for those with the

least significant disabilities, Moreover,

many individuals, particularly those

with non-obvious disabilities, are not

likely to identify as having a disability

or be eligible on the basis of disability

in the adult service world, in spite of

having an Individualized Education

Plan (IEP) in school. Many youths

receiving Supplemental Security Income

(SSI) lose their benefits at age 18 per

the Social Security Administration’s

(SSA) redetermination process. As

a result, many of these youth, after

exiting school, are likely to find their

way to non-disability specific services,

including local social service offices and

America’s Job Centers.

The Workforce Innovation and

Opportunity Act (WIOA) is intended to

improve coordination of employment

services, workforce development, adult

education, and vocational rehabilita-

tion activities and for those states who

choose to, the Temporary Assistance

for Needy Families program (TANF).

The act also significantly increases

the emphasis on individuals with dis-

abilities, particularly out-of-school

youth, many of whom are likely to

have non-obvious disabilities. WIOA

also highlights the increasingly

complex nature of individual barriers

to employment, by listing 13 distinct

groups, each of which most certainly

includes individuals with disabilities.

The list includes, but is not limited

to, ex-offenders, the long-term unem-

ployed, homeless individuals, older

adults, individuals with disabilities,

low-income individuals, and youth who

are in or have aged out of foster care.

In addition, youth with disabilities are

to receive pre-employment readiness

services while in school. Schools are

required to track youth with IEPs one

year post-high school under Indicator

14, to capture the number who are

enrolled in higher education, engaged

in competitive employment (meaning

integrated work at or above minimum

wage), enrolled in some other post-

secondary education or training, or

engaged in some other employment.

Research indicates the greatest

predictor of post-school outcomes for

youth with disabilities is paid work