Physical Disabilities

A growing number of individuals with disabilities are leaving the workforce and obtaining SSDI. Statistics show that the household incomes of these workers are falling behind those of workers without disabilities. This brief lays out a two-pronged approach for bending these curves—increasing the employment rate for people with disabilities, reducing their reliance on federal support, and increasing their household incomes—while preserving benefits for those who are unable to work.

The Community Living Initiative is an effort to give people with disabilities and older adults greater opportunities to live in their communities and achieve their goals. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services identified several issues and challenges in the development and refinement of new strategies to support and promote community living. HHS held four Listening Sessions around the country with state & local officials, consumers, service providers, and advocates.

Iowa's MEPD (Medicaid for Employed People with Disabilities) program allows individuals to earn money for work and maintain their savings in the bank, which would normally put them over the limit to receive Medicaid. Follow this link to find quarterly installments of a newsletter designed to educate consumers on relevant information.

The Indiana Medicaid Infrastructure Grant’s (MIG) Asset Development/Financial Literacy Project is developing a Financial Stability Pilot to engage people with disabilities in financial literacy and asset development programs. The two main goals of the program are to increase the number of individuals with disabilities who are able to access and benefit from asset development and increase collaboration amongst the asset building and disability fields. Use the attachments to learn more.

In December, 2010 Idaho put out this first edition of a newsletter aimed at providing outreach to consumers regarding Personal Assistance Services (PAS). This newsletter shares personal stories about individuals who are actively involved in Idaho’s local communities because Medicaid offers PAS. May be replicable by other states looking for ideas on how to share personal stories

The Idaho Business Leadership Network's purpose is to develop and grow affiliates and to build workplaces in order to promote the employment of qualified persons with disabilities. Find several examples of work products from the conference including pre-conference outreach material, the agenda, presentation materials, and a conference evaluation.

How is the state of Florida educating Supported Employment providers on the history of Supported Employment, important rules and regulations, and important skills needed in this field? Attached is just one example. Explore this Supported Employment Pre-Service Training Instructor’s Guide for a mandatory 12 hour training held for all providers to learn more about how these individuals are being prepared to provide these needed services. May be replicable by other states with similar programs.

The Stakeholder Partnerships, Education and Communication (SPEC) Disability Initiative aims to educate SPEC partners and taxpayers with disabilities on available tax credits, deductions, and free tax help. Using results for the 2009 Benchmark survey, read this report for an update of the 2007 Disability Report, to better understand the characteristics and services used by taxpayers with disabilities, and to identify possible outreach strategies.

How is the state of Connecticut providing recognition for employers who effectively recruit and retain individuals with disabilities? This article, put out by DiversityInc, is one example. Within this article, find a replicable format for acknowledging exemplary leadership and dedication by companies in hiring and promoting people with disabilities. Also, they have an alert system that informs readers when new articles are available.

The National Post-School Outcomes Center (NPSO) developed a toolkit to assist States and local education agencies, their stakeholders, and partners in using post-school outcome data to improve programs for youth with disabilities. The Data Use Toolkit consists of two components: preparing and sharing post-school outcomes data and examining local post-school data. Explore this guide for facilitators to learn more.