Post on 18-Jan-2016
transcript
The Road to Economic Freedom
MADELEINE WILL
Founder, Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination
University of Memphis
Memphis, TNOCTOBER 30, 2015
The Tennessee Alliance for
Postsecondary Opportunities for Students
With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Hosted by the TigerLife Program
University of Memphis
Memphis, TN
New Thinking Can Mean a New Reality
From:
Assuming that People With Disabilities:
Need to be taken care of Can’t work Need constant supervision Are a burden to families
To:
Discovering that People With Disabilities:
Can be self sufficient Can work and pay taxes Don’t need constant
supervision Are valued family members
LRE Data - Decades of Lessons
Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education (MCIE) Inclusion Works! Survey of research over a 20 year period by Xuan Bui, Carol Quirk, Selene Almazon, Michael Valenti (2010)
Findings include:•More instruction generally and addressed content more often with students with disabilities (Curry, Brennan, Sampson-Saul, 1998) •Small- to positive academic gains for students with high incidence disabilities (Baker, Wang & Walberg, 1004; Waldron, Cole and Majid, 2001)•Academic gains for students with significant disabilities (Hunt & Ferron-Davis, 1992)•More students without disabilities made comparable or greater gains in math and reading when taught in inclusive settings versus traditional classrooms where no students with disabilities are included (Waldron, Cole, and Majd, 2001)
LRE DATA from MCIE Meta-Analysis
(cont.)National Longitudinal Transition Study (NTLS-2)• Mandated by Congress and funded by the US Department of Education• Studied 501 LEAs and 38 special schools• Involved over 11,000 students with a broad range of
disabilities from 2000 to 2009• Over nine years and five “waves” of data collection
Findings highlighted better outcomes after high school in areas of employment and independent living, including more employment, higher wages, hours worked when student was educated in inclusive classroom www.ntls2.org
We Have Proof that People Can Work
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2009 – UMASS Boston ICI ID/DD Agency Survey
Washington State (88 %)Oklahoma (60%)Connecticut (54%)Louisiana (47%)New Hampshire (46%)
Poverty by the NumbersSUBPOPULATION 2009 Poverty Rate 2010 Poverty Rate
Children 20.7% 22.0%
African-American 25.8% 27.4%
Hispanic 25.3% 26.6%
Disability 25.0% 27.9%
Total U.S. Population 14.3% 15.1%
U.S. Census Bureau (13 September 2011)
•46.2 million Americans were living in poverty in 2010.
•Persons with disabilities experienced among the highest rates of poverty for the tenth year in a row. High unemployment rates.
•It is expected that SSI and SSDI annual payments will reach over $1 trillion by 2018.
Poverty by the NumbersMoney is not always the problem…
Figure 1. Percentage of Estimated Federal and State Expenditures for Working-Age People with Disabilities by Major Expenditure Category, Fiscal Year 2008 [1]
[1] Adapted from Livermore, Stapleton and O’Toole (2011, Health Affairs) 8
$357 Billion in FY 2008
Also includes LTSS for PWD via Medicaid & Medicare
Modernization Means….
1. Postsecondary Education Movement
2. Employment First Movement
3.Passage of the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014 (ABLE)
4. Passage of the Workforce Investment Opportunities Act of 2014
5. US House of Representatives Budget bill provisions regarding SSDI (2015)
National Down Syndrome Society: Inclusive Transition and Postsecondary
Initiative• Promote public policy and systems change• Promote: research, model demos,TA & outreach• Promote public awareness• Riggio Family grant: New Jersey model programs• SC partnership and model programs• Technical assistance to emerging programs• O’Neill Tabani Enrichment Fund
Higher Education Opportunity Act2008
• New eligibility for Financial Aid• Model Demonstration Programs• Coordinating Center at Think College
Eligibility for Work-Study Jobs, Pell and SEOP Grants
• Must meet definition of student with intellectual disability
• Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment in a comprehensive…program
• Be maintaining satisfactory progress in the program as determined by the IHE, in accordance with standards set by IHE
Paid Employment
Youth who participated in PSE were 26% more likely to leave Vocational Rehabilitation with paid employment
Earned a 73% higher weekly income Individuals need greater access to PSE supported by
Vocational Rehabilitation
Data Set: RSA 911Migliore, A., Butterworth, J., & Hart, D. 2009.
Postsecondary Education and Employment Outcomes for Youth with Intellectual Disabilities. Fast Facts Series, No. 1. Boston, MA: Institute for Community Inclusion
Of the 838 students who attended TPSIDs:• Over 70% of students participated in career
development activities including paid employment, other career development, or both
• 36% students held a total of 424 paid jobs• 62% students participated in other career
development activities• 89% of jobs were paid minimum wage or
higher*
Student Employment 2012-13
42% of students employed in Year 3
had never held a paid job prior to
attending a TPSID.
*Wage status was unknown for 8% of paid jobs. These are omitted from the calculation described
Employment First Activity
• Preferred outcome must be competitive, integrated employment
• 32 states have formal policy action—legislation, executive order or directive
• 46 states have some activity underway
• Some states focus on cross disability populations—others on a single disability
• Much collaboration across agencies
Workforce Investment Opportunities Act of 2014
Massive overhaul of workforce system change over time
The Stephen H. Beck Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014
Transformative tax advantaged savings account both in terms of
concept and impact
US House of Representatives’
Budget Bill of October 2015
Coherent and systemic focus on disincentives in SSDI and SSI
programs
Thank you friends and colleagues from Tennessee for accepting the challenge
of leading the way down the road to personal and economic freedom for
persons with disabilities.
Not another generation in poverty!