Labor and Employment Law Commons^™

Data Note: People Served In Community Mental Health Programs And Employment, Stephanie Wallace, Frank A. Smith

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

State mental health agencies provide a wide range of supports, including rehabilitation services and vocational and pre-vocational training, as well as supported and competitive employment supports. This Data Note explores how states vary in number and percentage of individuals who are employed among those served in Community Mental Health Programs (CMHPs), i.e., programs with all services provided in the community, rather than in an inpatient setting. It also explores national trends that occurred from 2002 to 2011.

Description Of Supported Employment Practices, Cross-System Partnerships, And Funding Models Of Four Types Of State Agencies And Community Rehabilitation Providers, Kelly Haines, Joseph Marrone, John Halliday, Michael Tashjian, Martha Klemm, Susan Stoddard, Susan M. Foley

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

In 2005, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) awarded the VR Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) to the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts Boston and its partners, InfoUse in Berkeley, California and the Center for the Advancement and Study of Disability Policy. In 2010, NIDRR provided supplemental funds to the ICI so that the VR-RRTC could include a focus on the provision of supported employment (SE) services. This SE research would focus on vocational rehabilitation (VR)agency partnerships with other state entities, and sources and models for long-term funding (extended services). The …

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.

Data Note: Measuring The Outcomes Of Job Seekers With Intellectual Or Developmental Disabilities In The Vocational Rehabilitation Program, Daria Domin, Alberto Migliore

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Most people with intellectual or developmental disabilities aspire to gainful employment. To assist them with this goal, state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies offer employment-development services that are based upon Individualized Plans for Employment (IPEs). A commonly used measure of outcomes is the rehabilitation rate, which is 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 for various reasons not all individuals progress to receive services. This information is important because not receiving services translates directly into exiting the VR program without an …

Data Note: Vocational Rehabilitation Employment Outcomes For Transition-Age Youth With Autism And Other Disabilities, Frank A. Smith, Jaime Lugas

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Youth with autism, like youth from other disability subgroups, often participate in state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs to obtain employment. While youth with autism represent a small percentage of all VR closures, the number with autism who closed out of VR more than tripled between 2003 and 2008 (see figure). In this Data Note, we compare employment outcomes for two subgroups of youth who exited VR in FY 2008, those with autism and those with all other disabilities.

Data Note: Job Seekers With Disabilities At One-Stop Career Centers: An Examination Of Registration For Wagner-Peyser Funded Employment Services From 2002 To 2007, 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. Wagner-Peyser funds are a primary source of funding for the services of One-Stop Career Centers that provide employment services available to all people, including people with disabilities. This data note examines trends on a national and state-by-state basis in the number and percentage of job seekers who self-identified as having disabilities who register for Wagner-Peyser Employment Services.

Data Note: Work Incentives And Ssi Recipients With Intellectual Disabilities, Frank A. Smith, John Butterworth

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Congress has enacted a number of work incentive programs for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients with disabilities after concluding additional incentives were necessary to help individuals become self-supporting. Moreover, Congress has noted that individuals who could work outside of sheltered workshops might have been discouraged from doing so by the fear of losing their benefits before they had established for themselves the capability for continued self-support. In this Data Note, we explore the degree to which SSI recipients with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) work and participate in these incentive programs.

Data Note: Indicators Of Labor Market Success For People With Intellectual Disabilities, Frank A. Smith, John Butterworth

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Reporting meaningful indicators of labor market success for individuals with disabilities, particularly Intellectual Disabilities (ID), is challenging for a number of reasons. Measures that allow people to indicate specific disabilities like ID are uncommon in large national data sets. Additionally, the use of the “traditional” unemployment rate reported by the Department of Labor as an indicator of labor market success for people with disabilities leaves people who are not in the labor force, a significant group when it comes to subpopulations of people with disabilities, out of the calculation. In this data note, we discuss the implications of using the …

Case Studies: Employment Data Systems: Florida's Agency For Persons With Disabilities, Allison Cohen Hall, Jean Winsor, John Butterworth

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The increasing emphasis on government accountability at the state and federal levels has increased interest in and use of outcome data. Moreover, research has found that high performing states in integrated employment generally have a clear and visible data collection system that provides individual outcome data (Hall et al, 2007). But what are the most important elements in designing and using a system? Stakeholders have raised questions regarding creating effective data collection systems, identifying variables with the most utility for influencing policy, and using data as a strategic planning tool. This series is intended to shed light on the successes …

Institute Brief: Advancing Parent-Professional Leadership: Effective Strategies For Building The Capacity Of Parent Advisory Councils In Special Education, Heike Boeltzig, Matthew Kusminsky, Susan M. Foley, Richard Robison, Barbara Popper, Marilyn Gutierrez-Wilson

The Institute Brief Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, last amended in 2004 (IDEA 2004), encourages parents and educators to work collaboratively, emphasizing that as a team they are uniquely suited to make decisions that help improve the educational experiences and outcomes of children with disabilities. The Advancing Parent-Professional Leadership in Education (APPLE) Project was funded to develop the leadership skills of parents individually and within their communities. The project took place in Massachusetts, where school districts are required to have a special education parent advisory council (SEPAC).

Issues In Developing A Common Framework On Informal Employment, Françoise Carré, James Heintz

Center for Social Policy Publications

This paper has been written to stimulate discussion on the definition and measurement of informal employment in developed economies. Much has been written on the definitions of informal employment and the informal sector in the context of developing countries, and these definitions have been applied in collecting and analyzing data from labor force, multi-purpose household, and enterprise surveys. It is less common that the recommendations and techniques for measuring informal employment and informal sector have been applied in developed countries.

In high-income economies, it is more common to speak of ‘nonstandard’ or ‘atypical’ employment. The two concepts of ‘informal employment’ …

Nepali Female Migrants And Informalization Of Domestic Care Work: Service Or Servitude?, Shobha Hamal Gurung

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

Nepali female migrants are among the fastest-growing immigrant workforces in the South Asian community, particularly in service and domestic work in big cities of the United States. However, there has not until now been a study investigating the work experiences of Nepali immigrants/migrants employed in the service and domestic sectors in these cities. This article investigates the work experiences of Nepali female migrants who work in service and domestic/child care work in Boston and New York, focusing on examining the type and nature of women's work, labor practices, work and living conditions, women's experiences and views about their work, and …

Data Note: Postsecondary Education And Employment Outcomes For Youth With Intellectual Disabilities, Alberto Migliore, John Butterworth

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Completion of postsecondary education is commonly associated with better employment outcomes for the general population. There is increasing interest in postsecondary education as an opportunity for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID). One role that vocational rehabilitation (VR) serves is to support postsecondary education in accordance with their Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE).

Tools For Inclusion: Disclosure Of Disability Information At A One-Stop Career Center: Tips And Guidelines, David Hoff

Tools for Inclusion Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

One-Stops Career Centers (One-Stops) were established under the federal Workforce Investment Act to provide a full range of job seeker assistance under one roof. One-Stops are located at a variety of locations in each state, with more than 3,200 centers across the country. More than 13 million people per year use the One-Stop system. Many of these are people with disabilities.

Gaming In Massachusetts: Can Casinos Bring 'Good Jobs' To The Commonwealth?, Marlene Kim, Susan Moir, Anneta Argyres

Labor Resource Center Publications

This study examines the quality of jobs in the United States gaming industry and analyzes enabling legislation in five states that have legalized gaming. The authors find that the gaming industry -- particularly the unionized sector of the casino hotel industry -- provides good jobs with good wages and benefits for workers with less than a high school degree. The authors conlcude that workforce development efforts in Masschusetts must include strategies to address improving the quality of entry-level jobs.

An Overview Of The Gloves-Off Economy: Workplace Standards At The Bottom Of America’S Labor Market, Annette Bernhardt, Heather Boushey, Laura Dresser, Chris Tilly

Center for Social Policy Publications

When we talk about the “gloves-off economy,” we are identifying a set of employer strategies and practices that either evade or outright violate the core laws and standards that govern job quality in the U.S. While such strategies have long been present in certain sectors, such as sweatshops and marginal small businesses, we argue that they are spreading. This trend, driven by competitive pressures, has been shaped by an environment where other major economic actors—government, unions, and civil society—have either promoted deregulation or been unable to contain gloves-off business strategies. The result, at the start of the 21st century, is …

Data Note: Tracking Employment And Day Support Participation And Outcomes In State Intellectual Disability And Developmental Disability Agencies, Samita Bhattarai, Jean E. Winsor

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

As a part of the FY2007 National Survey of Day and Employment Programs data was requested from state Intellectual Disabilities and Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD) agencies regarding the sources of information used to report the total number of individuals served in the following services categories: integrated employment, facility-based work, community-based non work, and facility-based non work. Data on sources is an important factor to note when comparing each state’s service outcomes over time. Collecting information on the source of the data can help to explain unexpected trends in state service distribution when the state has not implemented changes in policy or …

Data Note: Wia Employment Outcomes And Trends, Monica Cox, Frank A. Smith

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

This data note focuses on employment outcomes for individuals served by the One-Stop system through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Adult funding stream. Outcomes data include the rate of WIA customers entering employment and their employment retention rate. This data note compares outcomes among adults with reported disabilities to those without reported disabilities.

Data Note: Employment Rates In The General Population And Vr Rehabilitation Rates, Alberto Migliore

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program plays a critical role in assisting people with disabilities gaining integrated employment. In 2006, for instance, 48,876 people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (ID/DD) exited the VR program after receiving services, with 56% of those who received services finding jobs in integrated employment. This percentage, known as the VR Rehabilitation Rate, varied from 42% in Hawaii to 77% in Maryland, if excluding the figure in Oklahoma where the VR rehabilitation rate was 22%.

Data Note: Persons Served In Community Mental Health Programs And Employment, Frank A. Smith, Samita Bhattarai

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

State Mental Health Agencies provide a wide range of supports to consumers including rehabilitation services, vocational and pre vocational training, and supported and competitive employment supports. This Data Note explores how states vary in number of individuals served in Community Mental Health Programs, i.e., all services not provided in an inpatient setting, who are employed as well as the percentage of individuals served in Community Mental Health Programs who are employed.

Data Note: State Mental Retardation And Developmental Disabilities Agencies Expenditures For Integrated Employment Services, Jean E. Winsor, Frank A. Smith, Brooke Dennee-Sommers

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

In FY2004, the average expenditure per person for integrated employment as reported by state Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MR/DD) agencies was $6,251 (Table 1). This figure has increased steadily since the mid-1990s indicating that states have slowly begun allocating additional resources towards integrated employment. However, growth in expenditures is likely a result of changes in federal law as opposed to changes in the amount of state dollars available to fund integrated employment.