Employment in integrated settings at competitive wages offer people with disabilities a direct pathway to greater independence and self-sufficiency. As a nation we benefit when people with disabilities and older adults have the chance to contribute as colleagues, business owners, and taxpayers. The resources below have been compiled for states and policymakers looking to promote employment for people with disabilities.
- Medicaid Buy-In Q&A (PDF) - ACL, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) have developed a "question and answer" document to help grantees, stakeholders, and self-advocates better understand the "Medicaid buy-in" program. Medicaid “buy-in” allows workers with disabilities access to Medicaid community-based services not available through other insurers. Learn more about how Medicaid Buy-In is opening the door to employment for people with disabilities on the ACL Blog.
- Partnerships in Integrated Employment System Change Grants seek to enhance collaboration across state systems in order to improve employment outcomes for individuals with developmental disabilities, with a focus on youth and young adults. Learn more about the work being done by PIE states.
- CL Profiles in Integrated Employment highlights stories and best practices from agencies and states leading the way towards integrated employment for people with disabilities. Read tips for employment service providers transitioning to an integrated employment model.
- The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) assists state and local workforce development systems to better serve all youth, including youth with disabilities.
- A 2018 issue of our Research In Focus series highlighted research from the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employment Outcomes for People who are Blind or Visually Impaired that focused on the keys to employer-agency relationships that lead to successful outcomes for job seekers with visual disabilities.
- The State Employment Leadership Network (SELN) is a partnership of the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS) and the Institute of Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston (ICI). SELN provides technical assistance and guidance to state I/DD agencies to develop more effective employment systems and partnerships. The network is a place where states can connect, collaborate, problem solve and share resources that address the pressing employment-related issues that states face.
- The Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities was established under Section 609 of the Rehabilitation Act to advise on ways to increase competitive integrated employment opportunities for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities or other significant disabilities as well as the use and oversite of certificate program carried out under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Read the committee's final report (PDF).
- The ODEP-funded LEAD Center offers state and national data on disability employment through the Data and Resources to Inspire a Vision of Employment (DRIVE) website.
- The NIDILRR-funded Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employment Policy and Measurement (EPM-RRTC) works to support the disability and policy communities as they take on important policy issues. Projects include monthly National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) reports and "lunch and learns."
- StateData.info from the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston promotes Employment First and systems change efforts nationwide by supporting outcome-based management and planning. The site includes data from state intellectual and developmental disability agencies, and vocational rehabilitation outcomes and services from the Rehabilitation Services Administration. It also features data from the Social Security Administration, state mental health agencies, the U.S. Census, and the U.S. Department of Labor. Users can select what type of analysis they want to conduct through chart generation tools.