Employment Programs

The employment rate for adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) has remained stable during the recent decades, despite investment from the federal government. This study aimed to identify characteristics of adults with ID who are employed and to understand the paths towards employment for these individuals. Results show several characteristics are associated with greater likelihood of employment, including younger age, early work experience, and higher levels of adaptive behavior.

The supports and resources around the Section 503 new rules are mainly directed toward employers who are federal contractors. Yet, these new rules could also have significant impacts on employment service providers (ESPs) who work with individuals with disabilities, offering new opportunities for them to build partnerships, expand services, and create talent pipelines. The purpose of this article is to enable ESPs to prepare for the implementation of the new Section 503 rules.

A systematic review was conducted to review the effectiveness of workplace accommodation (WA) regarding employment, work ability, and cost-benefit among disabled people. There was moderate evidence that specific types of WA (vocational counselling and guidance, education and self-advocacy, help of others, changes in work schedules, work organization, and special transportation) promote employment among physically disabled persons and reduce costs.

The employment rate among persons with disabilities is less than half the rate among persons without disabilities. Broad innovations are needed to reduce this disparity.These authors examined employers' perspective related to: a) challenges they face when hiring people with disabilities, b) advantages (i.e. the business case) to employing people with disabilities, and c) their recommendations for innovations in both the public disability employment services systems and their own hiring practices

A growing emphasis on government accountability has increased interest in the collection and use of employment outcomes data. At the national level, data on employment for individuals with disabilities are available through multiple data collection systems. However, many systems are fragmented and only loosely coordinated across agencies. This article offers a qualitative, in-depth look at how employment data is collected and used within four state intellectual/developmental disability agencies.

This report fulfills NCD’s statutory mandate to annually report and make recommendations concerning the state of disability policy in the United States. Specifically, the 2014 Progress Report focuses on seven key areas: the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD), employment access and inclusion, subminimum wage, education outcomes, Medicaid managed care, mental health care, and data trends in disability policy.

The National Disability Institute released a report on the financial capability of people with disabilities. The report shared insights on various agencies' work to advance financial capability for youth and adults with disabilities. The report found that people with disabilities are less financially stable than people without disabilities in nearly all categories including making ends meet, planning ahead, managing financial products and financial knowledge and decision making.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has developed an online course which provide federal employees with basic information and resources to successfully hire, retain, and advance employees with disabilities. The course is available to agencies at no cost on HR University and the training should be considered required for human resources personnel and hiring managers.

Self-employment has long been an option for individuals seeking a new or better career. And today, many individuals with disabilities are turning to the flexibility self-employment offers in assisting them to meet both professional and financial goals. This report is intended to help policy makers, workforce development professionals and people with disabilities view self-employment as a viable source of income for people with disabilities. Review the final report of the START-UP initiative.