A statewide effort is underway to increase employment
opportunities for people supported by the Tennessee Department of Intellectual
and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD).
Locally, almost 20 DIDD-supported people living at Greene
Valley Developmental Center and East Tennessee Community Homes are employed
throughout the community. Many have worked in traditional jobs for several
years.
Now, DIDD is working to extend the same opportunities to more
of its clients.
EMPLOYMENT FIRST
The Employment First movement is a nationwide initiative to
transition disabled persons working in sheltered workshops into integrated
employment settings.
Tennessee has received national recognition for its work in
Employment First, and is the only state to have two State Ambassadors working
with the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment First State Leadership Mentoring
Program.
"Employment First is one of many of the department's
efforts to help ensure that people with intellectual disabilities have the same
opportunities to live and work in the community that we all have," said
Cara Kumari, communications director for DIDD.
The Employment First initiative is an effort to comply with
federal laws and regulations that require de-segregation and
de-institutionalization of people living with intellectual and developmental
disabilities.
Since 2014, federal regulations related to Medicaid's Home
and Community Based Services (HCBS) waivers dictate that individuals must be
supported in settings that are not institutional in nature, Kumari said.
To read more on this story, click here: State Helping Disabled Persons Get Community Jobs
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