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Dear APSE Members:
Here is your May issue of
Policy & Practice, providing you with the latest news, updates, and insights into policy and practice issues in the field of supported employment.
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APSE's Public Testimony to the Advisory Committee in Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities
Read the public testimony given by APSE Executive Director Allison Wohl to the WIOA Advisory Committee on Integrated Competitive Integrated Employment at its meeting on
May 11-12.
Currently many of our nation's students are leaving school without any significant work experience or a clear career plan. This problem is even more significant for students with disabilities. Youth with disabilities are more likely to drop out of high school, not receive adequate job training, become involved in the juvenile justice system, and remain on government programs resulting in a life of poverty and cyclical dependence. Evidence-based research has conclusively documented that youth with significant disabilities who were educated in inclusive settings, exposed to work experience and career exploration, and participated in a paid work experience during school had better postsecondary outcomes and higher rates of sustainable employment. However, our current system does not provide language or policies that promote integrated, competitive employment with the potential of career growth. This is largely a result of low expectations.
There are many opportunities within WIOA to mandate that transition-age youth be diverted from a path of segregated, subminimium wage services to competitive, integrated employment. Read more.
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In First, State to Ban Subminimum Wage
By Michelle Diament
May 8, 2015
With legislation signed this week, New Hampshire is set to become the first state in the nation to make it illegal for people with disabilities to be paid less than minimum wage.
Gov. Maggie Hassan signed a bill Thursday prohibiting subminimum wage in New Hampshire. The new law will take effect in 60 days.
"New Hampshire has a strong tradition of treating all of our citizens with respect and dignity, and by making New Hampshire the first state to prohibit employers from paying subminimum wages to people who experience disabilities, Senate Bill 47 helps build on that tradition," Hassan said.
Read more
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nTIDE Jobs Report: Employment Continues to Grow for People with Disabilities
Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hamshire
May 8, 2015
Positive news continues as Americans with and without disabilities are participating in the labor force and finding jobs, according to today's National Trends in Disability Employment - Monthly Update (nTIDE), issued by Kessler Foundation and University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD). Social enterprise is one example of a successful strategy that is expanding opportunities for job seekers with disabilities.
In the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Jobs Report released Friday, May 8, the employment-to-population ratio for working-age people with disabilities increased from 25.3 percent in April 2014 to 27.0 percent in April 2015 (up 6.7 percent; 1.7 percentage points).
Read more.
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| Federal Judge Rebukes Minnesota on Plan to Reform Disability services
By Chris Serres
Star Tribune
May 7, 2015
For the second time in eight months, a federal judge has rebuked the state of Minnesota over its plan to modernize services for thousands of residents with disabilities, threatening court sanctions if the state fails to improve its performance.
In a blunt ruling issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank said the state's revised blueprint - known as an Olmstead plan - failed to meet his earlier demands for precision and measurable goals. The 158-page plan, nearly three years in the making and crafted with input from eight state agencies, has been revised three times without passing court muster.
Read more.
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Researchers Help People with Disabilities Raise Employment Expectations
University of Kansas
March 20, 2015
LAWRENCE, KS - After completing schoolwork, individuals with disabilities may be directed to a life of sheltered employment or a group home setting. University of Kansas researchers have been battling that type of guidance by proving that it is possible for individuals with disabilities to hold meaningful employment and live independently. Those researchers are sharing resources and training community members to spread the message, and now, they're taking it to other states.
The Family Employment Awareness Training, also known as FEAT, has helped individuals and families in Kansas improve their expectations about employment since 2010. Rhode Island contracted with the program, housed in KU's Beach Center on Disability, late last year, following a Department of Justice consent decree that the state was not providing equitable employment opportunities for all residents. Roughly 10 other states have shown interest as well. The program was born from a Medicaid Infrastructure Grant. Read more.
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| Employment First Legislative Updates
Georgia
This Spring, the Georga General Assembly created an Employment First study committee. The goal of the committee is to give rise to Employment First legislation.
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| Recording of APSE Webinar on WIOA Implementation Now Available
Did you miss our webinar on April 28? You can now purchase the recording of the webinar,
WIOA: What it Means for Employment First.
Signed into law last year, the WIOA is designed to improve employment outcomes for people with disablities. Led by David Hoff, Program Director at the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston, the webinar provides an overview and update on the act, and explores how the law will affect Employment First. Hoff also examines the new requirements for the public vocational rehabilitation and general workforce systems, and engagement and advocacy strategies.
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Disability and Employment Symposium: Research Informing Practice and Policy
The Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR) will hold a one-day symposium on Wed., June 24. The symposium will examine the state of the science and interactions among employment research, practice, and policy. It will examine how research-based knowledge can affect practice and policy and how practice and policy can influence research.
Read more.
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Update on State ABLE Bills
Learn More About ABLE Implementation in Your State
The federal Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act stipulates that an ABLE account may only be opened in the state in which the beneficiary resides, which means all 50 states or contracting states will need to implement ABLE. A state can choose to contract with another state and those state residents would be covered under another 529 plan.
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WIOA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Due June 16 - Make Your Voices Heard
The Departments of Education (ED) and Labor (DOL) are proposing, through this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), to implement jointly-administered activities authorized by title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Through these regulations, the Departments propose to implement job training system reforms and strengthen the nation's workforce development system to put Americans back to work and make the United States more competitive in the 21st Century. This joint proposed rule provides guidance for State and local workforce development systems that increase the skill and credential attainment, employment, retention, and earnings of participants, especially those with significant barriers to employment, thereby improving the quality of the workforce, reducing welfare dependency, and enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of the nation.
Read more.
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Do You Have Content to Share?
We are always seeking content for our newsletter, especially from APSE members. If you have practice and/or policy related content, please e-mail Laura Henning, Director of Marketing & Communications, National APSE at
[email protected].
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