State policy

PIE project work is framed by the High-Performing States

Youth with intellectual disabilities often face challenges when preparing to leave school settings to move into life in their communities. These young adults may experience high rates of unemployment, increased rates of poverty, and involvement in service systems that do not have the resources needed to provide quality services for all who need them.

Policy shifts over the past 20 years have created an agenda that calls for a sustained commitment to integrated employment for individuals with disabilities. But despite these clear intentions, unemployment of individuals with disabilities continues to be a major public policy issue.

The 2015 National Report on Employment Services and Outcomes provides national and state-level statistics spanning a 20-year period. Its sources include several data sets that address employment outcomes and economic self-sufficiency for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

Download the full 2015 report here or click on the thumbnail image. 

Download the slides here. Presented at APSE 2016. Ever wonder how state systems are working to achieve new levels of integrated employment outcomes? While states have worked to build supports for more than five decades to meet the needs of their constituents, a different playing field has emerged in recent years.

This is the seventh and final brief in our series on the findings from a Delphi process conducted by the Employment Learning Community in 2013–2014. More information on the Employment Learning Community and the Delphi process can be found in Brief #1 (Introduction, Values, and Overall Themes). This brief focuses on the final priority area for policy and practice change: creating paths toward fairer wages for individuals with IDD.

Read the brief here...

This is the fifth in a series of briefs on the findings from a Delphi process conducted by the Employment Learning Community in 2013–2014. More information on the Employment Learning Community and the Delphi process can be found in Brief #1 (Introduction, Values, and Overall Themes). This brief focuses on the fourth priority area identified by the Delphi panel: improving policies and processes within state agencies related to employment for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

The Employment Learning Community (ELC) is an Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities-funded project that promotes systems change to improve competitive employment outcomes for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

The State of Pennsylvania’s Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) created a monthly newsletter called The Employment Update, which covers state- and nationwide news about the employment of people with disabilities, including intellectual/developmental disabilities. The Employment Update is sent via email to state agency contacts and a large stakeholder community, including individuals with disabilities, service providers, state associations, employers, advocacy groups, family members, representatives from academia and others.

Oklahoma’s Developmental Disabilities Services Division (DDSD) realized the need for increased attention towards the goal of community-based employment for individuals they served. Initially, rates were based on a vendor’s costs of providing direct services such as