The Road to Economic Freedom
MADELEINE WILL
Founder, Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination
University of Memphis
Memphis, TN
OCTOBER 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 & FerronDavis, 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
100%
80%
60%
Washington State (88 %)
Oklahoma (60%)
Connecticut (54%)
Louisiana (47%)
New Hampshire (46%)
40%
20%
0%
2009 – UMASS Boston ICI ID/DD Agency Survey
Poverty by the Numbers
SUBPOPULATION
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 Numbers
Money 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]
$357 Billion
in FY 2008
Also includes LTSS for PWD via Medicaid & Medicare
[1]
Adapted from Livermore, Stapleton and O’Toole (2011, Health Affairs)
8
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 Act
2008
•
•
•
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 911
Migliore, 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
Student Employment 2012-13
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*
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!