Employment is more than food, filth, or flowers

Are we doing everything we can to help our kids be competitive?

I believe “Employment First” is going to become the national standard. This means states will expect individuals to work to receive Medicaid benefits. In a perfect world, individuals will have the supports they need and employers will recognize them for their talents and skills, not their disability. However, I fear we have a long way to go before Competitive Integrated Employment becomes a reality. It’s not enough to tell businesses they need to hire people with disabilities, we need to show them how it will positively impact their bottom line.

This means individuals need to have the skills employers want. Unfortunately, I foresee many manual labor jobs being replaced by robots. Technology is making it much less expensive to use machines than to hire people. Perhaps we’ll always need humans in the fast food, hospitality, and landscaping (food, filth, and flowers) industries; but these jobs have historically paid minimum wage, not enough to live independently.

So why do we continue to try to place individuals with disabilities in these jobs? I believe it’s because there is always demand. This makes it easy for Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors overburdened with large caseloads to place their clients and move to the next one. It’s not malicious, they’re doing the best they can. And, to their credit, companies in these industries were likely the only ones to give Voc Rehab the time of day.

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We can, and should, do better. Individuals with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities are getting Person-Centered Plans as part of their transition from High School into Adult Services. This means they have the opportunity to share what they would like to do for work. Sometimes it will be easy to match this with opportunities available, but not always. It may require some creative thinking.

For example, if someone wants to work on Formula 1 race cars they may have to “settle” for something else, especially if they don’t have the requisite skills yet. This could mean they find a job working for a car dealership or local auto shop. Note I said “working”, not “volunteering”. If there is work for them to do for free, they should be able to get paid for it. While there, they could explore ASE certification. They may never make it to the Formula 1 circuit, but that doesn’t mean they can’t find meaningful work doing something they enjoy.

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