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Like most states, the backbone of Alabama is
countless individual women and men who wake up and go to
work on most days. Yet, like many other states, too few
Alabamians with disabilities have this same opportunity to
work and earn a living making a meaningful contribution to
the economy.
Even as we experience the Great Resignation that is
shrinking the American workforce, the fact remains that
very few Alabamians with disabilities receive the supports
they need to work in our mainstream economy. Alabama’s
August 2021 unemployment
rate was only 3.1% , but this figure leaves out
individuals with disabilities who wish to join the workforce
and contribute to their communities, yet do not have the
opportunity to pursue their dream of a job. Only about
1 in 4 people with any type of disability
are employed in the state of Alabama, a number even
lower than the national average of employed individuals
with disabilities.
Like other states, Alabama has an economic
interest in helping individuals with disabilities seek and
gain work because, with work, those individuals can secure
their own livelihoods and propel the economic status of the
state. But what does it take to make the change happen?
As the Executive Director for the protection
and advocacy program for Alabama and a national Employment First
consultant, we are united in supporting Alabama’s work with
the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to
introduce the state’s new Community
Waiver Program (CWP).
It is fitting that the program launched last
month, as we celebrated National Disability Employment
Awareness Month. Through the CWP, state and federal
resources will focus on promoting
competitive employment and community inclusion
for people with disabilities by providing supports that
keep families together and enable individuals with
developmental disabilities to explore, seek, and gain jobs
in the mainstream workforce.
The CWP design offers more than a dozen different
employment services to meet every person where they are and
assist them to move forward with competitive employment.
Among the services offered are work incentives counseling,
financial literacy, employment exploration, customized employment services,
job coaching, co-worker supports, and career advancement.
In addition, the CWP offers incentives for individuals to
work, including access to increased transportation
services, and services that support community inclusion
when people are not working. A close relationship between
the Alabama Division of Developmental Disabilities and the
Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services ensures
braiding of services and funding to support competitive
employment is done consistent with federal requirements.
The CWP design also includes priority access
to enrollment in the program for individuals with
developmental disabilities that want competitive
employment. Shattering assumptions that people don’t want
to work, 49% of individuals on the waiting list for home
and community-based services (HCBS) who’ve indicated
interest in enrolling in the CWP also state they want
supports to find and keep competitive employment. The
availability of the employment exploration service is
expected to further increase program participants who have
a goal to work in competitive employment.
For decades, Alabama’s traditional HCBS
waiver system for individuals with developmental
disabilities has operated in crisis mode. The new CWP will
support individuals and their families to avoid crisis,
maintain stability in their home communities, expand
relationships, and make smooth transitions from school to
the workplace while reducing the state’s waitlist for
needed supports.
Alabama’s new Community Waiver Program
represents a giant leap forward for providing effective,
meaningful, and timely supports so individuals with
disabilities can live, work, and be valued participants in
their communities of choice. By ensuring that people with
disabilities have full access to employment and community
involvement during the national recovery from the COVID-19
pandemic, we see more fully the promise that America’s
recovery is indeed “Powered by Inclusion.”
James Tucker is the
Director of the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program.
Lisa Mills is the owner of Moving to a
Different Drum, a consulting group specializing in
disability policy and services.
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