The past thirty years have seen considerable growth in community-based services and supports for adults with developmental disabilities. One category of community-based day supports, integrated employment, has been clearly defined and widely implemented for years. However, another emerging model, community-based non-work (CBNW), is used in a number of states but is less clearly defined and understood.
The data for this fact sheet have been compiled from the Rehabilitation Services Administration national data collection system, the RSA-911 database. This database contains demographic and employment information on each individual whose case was closed by VR each year, across the nation.
Friendship is important for all of us! This includes people with and without disabilities. People often feel better and happier when they have friends. As part of a research project about the choices people with disabilities make about work, we interviewed 16 people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD). These people also chose family members and professional staff people for us to interview. We asked them how they made decisions about working and making friends.
Tennessee implemented its Employment First initiative in 2002 with a goal of making employment the first day service option for adults receiving supports from the Department of Mental Retardation Services. As part of the Employment First initiative, the state requires a periodic community-based work assessment for all individuals not currently employed in the community. State-contracted and independent individualized support coordinators ensure that individuals who are not in integrated employment participate in a community-based work assessment at least every three years.
The following report represents an expansion of the data collection activities mandated by a 2012 Administration of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). Prior to 2012, the AIDD funded data projects, Access to Integrated Employment, Family and Individual Information Systems project (FISP), Residential Information Systems Project (RISP) and the State of the States in Developmental Disabilities only collected data from the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Emmitt is a man in his mid-20s from Indiana. He describes himself as loving, caring, and good at teamwork. Outside of work, he likes to read and participate in the Best Buddies program.
This document is intended to help people use flexible funding to find and keep the jobs they want. The funding might come from the Vocational Rehabilitation or Developmental Disabilities agency in your state, your school district, or maybe through the Social Security Administration. The flexible part means that you decide how to use the funding to get the job you really want. You might pick a service provider agency, take classes, buy equipment for your business, or interview and hire a
job coach
who works directly for you.
Emmitt is a man in his mid-20s from Indiana. He describes himself as loving, caring, and good at teamwork. Outside of work, he likes to read and participate in the Best Buddies program.