Employment

Medium

ND Olmstead Plan Goal #7: Increase employment opportunities and incomes.

Increase the economic self-sufficiency of people with disabilities.
- Eliminate subminimum wage for people with disabilities.
- Strengthen policies to address the benefits cliff and protect workers from losing needed supports when they become successful at their jobs. Support affordable health insurance for all workers to remove the disincentive to work for fear of losing benefits including Medicaid.
- Increase the number of individuals receiving supported employment services through 1915(i).
- Promote participation in the Statewide Customized Employment Specialist Training Project (ND CREATE).
Expand opportunities to work in the most integrated settings that align with people’s strengths, interests, and goals.
- Increase the number of students with disabilities receiving pre-employment transition services.
- Enhance pre-vocational services to ensure people with disabilities are being prepared for real jobs with fair pay.
- Increase access to vocational technical education by people with developmental and other disabilities.
- Increase opportunities for people with disabilities to experience a variety of life and work experiences before and after leaving school in order to identify what they want to do for work.
- Increase supported employment services including job matching, job development, natural supports, and job advancement with a focus on valued integrated work and settings. Ensure that job matching is based on interests, abilities, and skills, and not only on jobs easiest to obtain.
- Develop a culture of expectation that people with disabilities will work at real jobs across the spectrum including the school system, post-secondary education, behavioral health, vocational rehabilitation, and workforce services.
Provide individuals with independent living skills training/development (being on time, social skills, personal hygiene), utilizing Centers for Independent Living to increase job success.