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The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has announced the release of the 2022-23 Employment First report. ODP believes that all people with an intellectual disability and/or autism must be encouraged to pursue their vision for an everyday life, which may include working in competitive integrated employment. Competitive integrated employment offers a person an opportunity to achieve economic independence, build self-confidence, enhance self-determination, and meet new people while building new skills. The Everyday Lives: Values in Action publication, developed by the ODP Information Sharing and Advisory Committee (ISAC) which includes self-advocates, reads, “Employment is a centerpiece of adulthood and must be available for every person. The benefits of employment for people with disabilities are significant and are the same as for people without disabilities.” This report serves as an update to all stakeholders on the progress that has been made to support individuals served by ODP on finding and maintaining competitive integrated employment.
Access the 2022-23 Employment First report here. This document can also be found by visiting the MyODP Employment Home page.
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requires the governor of each state to submit a four-year unified or combined state plan outlining the state’s workforce development strategy. The plan can be viewed on the Department of Labor and Industry’s website, and the draft for the 2024–2028 plan is available here.
Pennsylvania’s Combined State Plan includes the six WIOA Core programs: Adult, Dislocated Worker, Youth, Wagner-Peyser, Adult Basic Education, and Vocational Rehabilitation. It also includes the following optional programs:
Some specific areas of interest to our members include the following goals:
Public comments will be accepted on Pennsylvania’s WIOA Combined State Plan until 5:00 pm on Tuesday, January 16, 2024. Please submit your comments electronically. Written comments may also be submitted by mail to:
PA Workforce Development Board
651 Boas Street | Room 514
Harrisburg, PA 17121
OVR is seeking information to refine its “Request for Proposals” for the InVEST (Integrated Vocational Engagement & Support Team) Project.
Pennsylvania’s Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) would like to hear from interested parties about the management of services delivered through the Integrated Vocational Engagement and Support Team (InVEST) Project. The goal of the InVEST Project is to provide services and supports to individuals and their families, community businesses, and providers in successfully transitioning individuals receiving subminimum wage to competitive integrated employment (CIE). Additionally, the InVEST Project aims to address barriers to CIE for individuals with disabilities in a person-centered, strengths-based and community-integrated approach by using the Charting the LifeCourse (CtLC) Framework and tools.
One step in achieving this goal was issuance of a “Request for Proposals” in March 2023 for the Disability Innovation Fund (DIF) 84.421D Subminimum Wage to Competitive Integrated Employment Grant (SWTCIE). The “Request for Proposals” sought an entity to manage the delivery of services included in the InVEST Project throughout the 5-year term of the project.
Please, join us on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at 9:00 am for a Supplier Forum. Registration is required; please use this link for additional information. An RSVP to the supplier forum is due via email to Nicole Moyer by COB Monday, May 15, 2023.
Questions: Contact Nicole Moyer at 717-346-7667 or via email.
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm ET
Register
As we observe National Disability Employment Awareness Month throughout October, you are invited to join the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and members of Federal Community Engagement Cross-Agency Workgroup, for a two-part webinar series on Understanding Community Engagement and its role in expanding Competitive Integrated Employment.
Part One: The Role of Non-Work Activities in Developing Critical Skills for Competitive, Integrated Employment
Join leaders, direct support professionals, and people supported as they discuss the invaluable role non-work activities play in Community Engagement and building critical life and social skills needed to ultimately find success in employment. Hear both firsthand accounts of how community-based activities foster social and professional development as well as research behind the importance of community engagement as part of Employment First efforts.
Part One Webinar Objectives:
The webinar will be facilitated by:
Stay tuned for an announcement about Part Two, coming soon!
Please email any accommodation requests.
Message from the Department of Human Services (DHS):
Harrisburg, PA — Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Secretary Jennifer Berrier and Department of Human Services (DHS) Acting Secretary Meg Snead today announced the Wolf Administration’s goal of using a $14 million federal grant to help Pennsylvanians with disabilities earning subminimum wage transition to competitive, integrated employment.
“Individuals with disabilities contribute their valuable skills, talents, time, energy and perspectives to Pennsylvania’s dynamic economy every day in professions and industries as diverse as our population. They deserve the same protections as all other workers, including the right to earn at least minimum wage for their work,” Secretary Berrier said. “The Wolf Administration will use this funding to help individuals with disabilities and their families learn about and take advantage of opportunities in competitive, integrated employment. There can and should be a role for everyone who wants to and is able to work, and we are grateful to those employers who have already committed to providing competitive, integrated employment.”
Pennsylvania is one of 14 states to receive grant awards from the federal Department of Education for the Subminimum Wage to Competitive Integrated Employment (SWTCIE) demonstration project. L&I’s Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) and DHS’s Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) will use the funding to develop a five-year plan to support Pennsylvanians with disabilities in transitioning out of subminimum-wage employment — including more than 5,400 people who currently work in “sheltered workshops,” most of whom have intellectual disabilities or autism — as well as students and youth with disabilities seeking to enter competitive, integrated employment (CIE).
“There can be an end to the subminimum wage exception for individuals with disabilities, but it is incumbent on all of us to make that happen. Workplaces should examine their policies to see which ones are outdated or intentionally or unintentionally discriminating against individuals with disabilities,” said Acting Secretary Snead. “Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities and autism are vital members of our society and of our workforces, and DHS is proud to support opportunities to help them find gainful competitive integrated employment. We are grateful to the federal government for this grant so we can continue this work.”
The practice of paying individuals with disabilities subminimum wage is legal under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, a federal law. In September 2020, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights called for an end to subminimum wage in a report, saying that the program has been “inconsistent with the civil rights protections to which people with disabilities are entitled.” To date, several states have, or are in the process of, ending subminimum wage for people with disabilities or are in the process of phasing it out.
The federal grant will fund Pennsylvania’s Integrated Vocational Engagement and Supports Team (InVEST) Project, a wraparound model for assisting individuals with disabilities — including those considering or currently engaged in employment at subminimum wage — their families and employers, to move from subminimum wage employment to competitive, integrated employment.
The project aligns with the commonwealth’s Employment First philosophical approach that CIE be the first and preferred option and will enhance the commonwealth’s existing network of community rehabilitation service providers by allocating additional resources for staff who will work directly with CIE employers proactively engaged in supporting employees with disabilities and creating a culture of accommodation for all employees. These employer liaisons and employment specialists will be embedded with CIE employers to support employees with disabilities, facilitate communication, create a smooth hiring process, and provide on-the-job supports to ensure success. An interdisciplinary and collaborative resource team will anticipate and respond to the SWTCIE participants’ employment-related needs.
The Wolf Administration encourages all employers to consider learning more about this topic and becoming involved in Employment First, which requires any group receiving public funding to ensure that employment is the main focus for education, training, or support services for anyone with a disability who is eligible to work. Employers can explore opportunities to enhance their workforce by hiring people with disabilities who are invaluable members of our communities, workforce, and economy.