Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Massachusetts Paid Leave Program: What Workers Can Expect To Pay And Receive, Randy Albelda, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

On June 28, 2018, Massachusetts became only the sixth state in the country to provide partial wage replacement to workers that need to leave work for a serious health condition, the birth of a child, to bond with a new child, or to care for a seriously ill family member. The new law is slated to be implemented in 2019 with payments while on leave to begin in 2021. This brief outlines the key elements of the new Massachusetts paid leave program and discusses the amounts workers at various wage levels will contribute and the level of benefits they will …

Foreign Born Latina Earnings And Returns To Education And Experience In The United States, Trevor Mattos

Gastón Institute Publications

The determinants of immigrant earnings have long been a heavily researched topic, beginning with the contributions of Chiswick (1978) and Borjas (1985). The majority of this work focuses on male immigrants. Prior findings provide conflicting results with respect to determinants of native and foreign-born earnings in the U.S. This study, however, focuses on the earnings levels and differential returns to education and experience between native and foreign-born Latina workers in the U.S. using pooled American Community Survey microdata from 2014, 2015, and 2016. The analytical approach borrows from Chiswick’s 1978 paper that utilized cross-sectional regression methods and the human capital …

Research To Practice: State Employment First Policies: State Definitions, Goals And Values, Jennifer Bose, Jean Winsor, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

Research to Practice Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

This brief is the first in a series focusing on Employment First implementation as it relates to one of the seven elements within the High-Performing States in Integrated Employment model. It examines the background of circumstances under which Employment First efforts began in seven states, and introduces each state’s values, mission, and goals around increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities. States may use the lessons in this brief to develop an Employment First policy, or to evolve existing efforts.

Paid Family And Medical Leave: Cost And Coverage Estimates Of Three Choices In Massachusetts, Policy Brief, Randy Albelda, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

This policy brief explores the costs and coverage of three proposed paid family and medical leave programs for Massachusetts. These are House Bill 2172, Senate Bill 1048, and 2018 Initiative Petition C. Each of these proposed programs establishes a contributory fund paid by employers and employees, to be used for eligible workers when they are out of work for their own serious health condition or that of a family member, for pregnancy, or to bond with a new child. The medical leaves considered are for own health reasons, including those related to pregnancy. Family leaves are for bonding with a …

Description Of The Albelda Clayton-Matthews/Iwpr 2017 Paid Family And Medical Leave Simulator Model, Alan Clayton-Matthews, Randy Albelda

Economics Faculty Publication Series

The basic strategy behind our approach to estimating the cost of a paid leave program was to, as much as possible, base estimates of program costs on actual known leave-taking behavior, and where this was not possible, to estimate a range of program costs reflecting a range of reasonable assumptions about unknown aspects of behavior in the presence of a paid leave program. We wanted to be able to estimate the sensitivity of program costs estimates to these assumptions. We also wanted to be able to analyze the distribution of program benefits by demographic characteristics. Furthermore, we wanted to be …

Partnerships In Employment: State Self-Assessment Toolkit For Systems Change In The Transition Of Youth And Young Adults With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities From High School, Cady Landa, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

This self-assessment tool was developed for those who wish to embark on state-wide governmental systems change to improve high school transition and employment outcomes for youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Its purpose is to aid in the development of a work plan that is based on a review of the state policies, practices, and strategies that impact transition from school and opportunities for competitive integrated employment of youth and young adults with IDD.

This tool incorporates research identifying elements of state government that support high rates of participation in integrated employment (Hall et al., 2007), …

It’S About Time: Costs And Coverage Of Paid Family And Medical Leave In Massachusetts, Randy Albelda, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

In the United States, some, but far from all, employers offer certain forms of wage replacement when workers take a leave for medical or family reasons. In 2015, only 12% of all workers had access to paid family leave from their employers, 38% had access to short-term disability leave, and 65% had paid sick leave. Extending paid family and medical leave to all employees through a statewide program would share the costs and expand access, level the employment playing field, and reduce inequality among workers. One often-cited obstacle to providing paid family and medical leave in the United States is …

401(K) Plan Expenses, Anne Becker, Jeffrey Arnold

Pension Action Center Publications

Under a 401(k) plan, your benefit is your vested account balance. This account balance reflects the contributions you make to the plan, the contributions your employer makes to the plan on your behalf (if any), and investment gains and losses.

Many 401(k) plan participants are responsible for choosing how to invest their account balances. If you direct the investment of your 401(k) plan account balance, it is important to understand that fees and expenses may substantially reduce the growth of your 401(k) plan account balance over the course of your working life. The Department of Labor (DOL) estimates that paying …

Your Former Employer’S 401(K) Plan, Jeanne Medeiros Jd

Pension Action Center Publications

When you leave a job where you have participated in a 401(k) plan, you may have a number of different options about what to do with the money in that account. This fact sheet explains those options and offers guidance about the pros and cons of each option.

Here are some frequently asked questions answered in this face sheet:

Q. Can I leave my money in my former employer’s plan?

Q. What are my other options?

Q. If I decide to withdraw the account balance from my former employer’s plan, how do I do that, and how long should it …

Partnerships In Employment: Supporting Adults With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities In Their Communities, Jean Winsor, Jennifer Sulewski, Karen Flippo, John Butterworth

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

This report highlights the latest strategies and best practices to better support adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) living and working in their community.

Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act (Passed Jan. 4, 2015), Emily G. Brown Jd, Ellen Bruce Jd

Pension Action Center Publications

The Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act, passed on January 4, 2015, creates an automatic enrollment payroll deduction IRA. The purpose of the program is to promote increased retirement savings participation for employees in the private sector. This fact sheet answers some basic questions about how this new program will affect workers and their employers in Illinois.

National & International Disability Inclusion In Employment, Debrittany Mitchell, Heike Boeltzig-Brown, Quinn Barbour

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Through research, technical assistance, training and collaboration the Institute for Community Inclusion strives to improve employment outcomes for individuals both nationally and internationally. The following highlights some of the work currently in progress in the United States and Japan.

Increasing Community Engagement For Individuals With Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities, Jennifer Bose, Jennifer Sulewski

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

These three projects highlight various aspects of the Institute for Community Inclusion's efforts to increase community engagement of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, both locally and nationally. The Transitions to Work project, for which ICI provides evaluation assistance, partners with Boston-area employers to increase engagement of adults with disabilities in the regional workforce. The Community Life Engagement initiative complements the employment focus by looking at other aspects of community life, such as volunteerism and participation in community events and resources. On the national level, Real People Real Jobs is a website and publication series highlighting the employment successes of …

Invisible No More: Domestic Workers Organizing In Massachusetts And Beyond, Natalicia Tracy, Tim Sieber, Susan Moir Scd

Labor Studies Faculty Publication Series

Domestic workers across the country are making it clear that, even in a difficult political environment, it is possible to make gains for low-wage workers. For the first time in many, many decades, domestic workers are finding ways to win. They are creat
ing policy change that will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers in tangible and substantial ways. The 2014 Massachusetts Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights is the most expansive codification of rights for this long-overlooked part of the labor force ever to be enacted. In one sense, there is nothing new about domestic workers organizing …

Institute Brief: Support Through Mentorship: Accessible Supervision Of Employees With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, John Kramer, Ashley Wolfe, Jean Winsor

The Institute Brief Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Effective supervision of employees with intellectual or developmental disabilities can be challenging for businesses that may not have experience in hiring people with diverse support requirements. This is largely due to the relatively low participation rates of people with disabilities in the workforce. This is, thankfully, changing as more businesses are seeing the value of diversifying their workforce, which includes hiring people with diverse cognitive abilities like people with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

Umass Boston – Brazilian Immigrant Center Partnership, Tim Sieber, C. Eduardo Siqueira, Natalicia Tracy, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Brazilian Immigrant Center (BIC) does organizing, advocacy and training to reduce marginalization of Brazilian immigrants, promoting their engagement as workers & civic participants. A worker’s center, BIC supports and defends workers’ rights under current state & US labor laws. BIC helps workers mediate complaints with employers, and refers others for class action suits, or intervention by the Mass. Attorney General or US Dept of Labor. A special focus at present is organizing mostly women domestic workers, and BIC has a new Law and Policy Clinic, a Domestic Worker Mediation Program, and an Immigration Justice Project staffed by two full-time …

Supporting Employment First: Assisting States In Achieving Improved Employment Outcomes For Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities, Cindy Thomas, Institute For Community Inclusion, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

A membership network of 29 states, the State Employment Leadership Network is a community of practice where members meet to connect, collaborate, and share information and lessons learned across state lines and system boundaries. Participating state agency officials build cross-community support for pressing employment-related issues and policies at state and federal levels. States commit to work together and engage in a series of activities to analyze key elements in their systems to improve the integrated employment outcomes for their citizens with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Case Studies Of Emerging/Innovative Vocational Rehabilitation Agency Practices In Improving Employment Outcomes For Individuals With Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities, Robert Burns, Kelly Haines, Elizabeth Porter, Heike Boeltzig-Brown, Susan Foley

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

The Vocational Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (VR-RRTC.org) based at the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts Boston partnered with national content experts to identify promising VR employment practices serving people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD). The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), the funding agency,requested an emphasis on identifying promising practices for people with mental illnesses and peoplewith intellectual disabilities/developmental disabilities, and to identify promising practices related to order of selection and the designation of most significant disability. This report provides a summary of four promising VR employment practices for persons with …

Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies Helping People With Psychiatric Disabilities Get Employed: How Far Have We Come? How Far Do We Have To Go?: Case Studies Of Promising Practices In Vocational Rehabilitation, Joseph Marrone, Mary Lynn Cala, Kelly Haines, Heike Boeltzig-Brown, Susan Foley

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

The final set of eight promising practices out of the 58 nominated practices are summarized here and then described inmore detail in the appendix. Each descriptive write up can be used independently and provides sufficient detail for review. A note from the VR RRTC Team: These are descriptions of practices in one snapshot of time. We acknowledge that by thetime we are able to produce asummary report, practices may have evolved or modified, and new practices may have emerged. For more specific details or up to date descriptions we advise going to the source, the state VR agencies, directly. We …

Partnerships In Employment: Benchmarking Toolkit, Jean Winsor, Alberto Migliore

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

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.

For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), the disparity in labor market participation grows. Data suggest only 14.7% of individuals who receive supports from state IDD agencies work in either individual or group integrated employment, and 19% of individuals who receive day services from a state IDD agency participate in a service designed to support integrated employment …

Umass Boston – Brazilian Immigrant Center Partnership, Tim Sieber, C. Eduardo Siqueira, Natalicia Tracy, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Brazilian Immigrant Center (BIC) does organizing, advocacy and training to reduce marginalization of Brazilian immigrants, promoting their engagement as workers & civic participants. A worker’s center, BIC supports and defends workers’ rights under current state & US labor laws. BIC helps workers mediate complaints with employers, and refers others for class action suits, or intervention by the Mass. Attorney General or US Dept. of Labor. A special focus at present is organizing mostly women domestic workers, and BIC has a new Law and Policy Clinic, a Domestic Worker Mediation Program, and an Immigration Justice Project staffed by two full-time …

Institute Brief: Effective Training For Employment Consultants: Job Development And Support Strategies, Amy Gelb, Derek Nord, Alberto Migliore, John Butterworth

The Institute Brief Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

This Institute Brief summarizes the key elements of a training and support approach designed to improve job development practices. Employment Consultants who participated supported more individuals to enter employment, and supported people to achieve higher-quality jobs with more hours and higher levels of pay, than a control group who had not yet received training.

Data Note: Vr Outcome Trends And The Recent Decline In Employment For Vr Customers With Intellectual Disabilities, Frank A. Smith, John Butterworth, Daria Domin, Allison Cohen Hall

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Most people with intellectual disabilities (ID) aspire to gainful employment. To assist them with this goal, state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies offer employment services based upon Individualized Plans for Employment (IPEs). A commonly used measure of outcomes is the rehabilitation rate, defined as the percentage of individuals who achieve employment out of all individuals whose cases were closed after receiving services. This indicator, however, neglects to consider that not all eligible individuals progress to receive services. This Data Note explores trends in VR closure status for individuals with ID.

Data Note: Ssi Recipients Who Work, Daria Domin, Frank A. Smith

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a means-tested income-support program administered by the Social Security Administration. Eligibility is contingent upon proving that one has a limited ability to work due to disability. However, the program offers several work incentives aimed at encouraging SSI recipients to enter the workforce while maintaining their benefits. Despite the promotion of employment through Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) and other programs, a very small percentage of SSI recipients actually work. This Data Note examines the number of SSI recipients working by state in 2010.

Data Note: Decline In The Provision Of Facility-Based Work Services For People With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Jean E. Winsor, Alberto Migliore

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Facility-based work services are vocational services provided in settings where the majority of people have a disability and receive continuous job-related supports and supervision. Facility-based work services are also referred to as sheltered work, work activity services, or extended employment programs.

Data Note: State Intellectual And Developmental Disability Agencies' Funding For Employment Services, Jean E. Winsor, Frank A. Smith

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Employment has been identified as a priority outcome in federal policy and state employment-first initiatives, and by individuals with IDD. Members of Self Advocates Becoming Empowered have issued a call to increase access to integrated employment and eliminate facility-based work (2009). In many states, the IDD agency and/or statewide advocacy coalitions have developed and implemented employment-first initiatives (State Employment Leadership Network, 2011). However, there is limited data available on the cost of integrated employment services compared to facility-based work services to guide the implementation of these initiatives.

Data Note: Job Seekers With Disabilities At One-Stop Career Centers: An Examination Of Registration For Wagner-Peyser Funded Employment Services, 2002 To 2009, David Hoff, Frank A. Smith

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933 established a nationwide system of public employment services, known as the Employment Service. Via the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, the Employment Service was made part of the One-Stop Career Center service-delivery system. Wagner-Peyser is a primary source of funding for these centers, which make employment services available to all people, including those with disabilities. There are currently 1,800+ comprehensive One-Stop Career Centers throughout the United States, as well as satellite and affiliate centers.

Research To Practice: Collaboration Between State Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities Agencies And State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies: Results Of A National Survey, Heike Boeltzig, Jean E. Winsor, Kelly Haines

Research to Practice Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Do state intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) agencies collaborate with their vocational rehabilitation (VR) counterparts? If so, in what ways and how formalized are these collaborative efforts? This Research to Practice Brief provides answers to those and other questions.

Data Note: Examining Collaboration Between State Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities Agencies And State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies, Kelly Haines, Heike Boeltzig, Jean E. Winsor

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Since Fiscal Year 1988, the Institute for Community Inclusion has administered the National Survey of State Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Agencies' Day and Employment Services. The FY 2009 survey included a module to assess the ways in which state intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) agencies collaborate with their state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies to support integrated employment outcomes for adults with IDD. A total of 40 agencies responded to the module. Their responses provide a broader understanding of the relationship between the two types of state agencies, and the ways in which they work together to provide integrated employment services.

Data Note: State Intellectual And Developmental Disability Agencies' Service Trends, Jean E. Winsor, Frank A. Smith

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Since Fiscal Year 1988, the Institute for Community Inclusion has administered the National Survey of Day and Employment Programs for People with Developmental Disabilities to state Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) Agencies. The work is funded by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities and is designed to describe the nature of day and employment services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.