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Grantees

Indiana Family and Social Services Administration: Disability and Rehabilitation Services

Project Summary

Indiana’s Supported Employment Plus (SE+) project layers interventions on a state, local, and individual level to assist individuals with disabilities who are employed in, or contemplating employment in, subminimum wage settings to transition to competitive integrated employment (CIE). Individuals with disabilities at risk of entering subminimum wage or other segregated settings are also enrolled in the project. SE+ addresses known barriers and needs of individuals with disabilities and builds local and state capacity to increase and expand CIE.
Through SE+, the Indiana Bureau of Rehabilitation Services (BRS) implements and evaluates a comprehensive employment service package with multiple pilot sites, representative of Indiana’s demographics. The systems approach is guided by key partners and stakeholders at state and local levels. SE+ uses evidence-based practices to implement Supported Employment with fidelity, plus applies research about family education and involvement, peer support, Social Security work incentives, and training, technical assistance, and coaching.
Key components of SE+ include:
1.    Fidelity of implementation of Supported Employment, plus;
2.    Use of peer support specialists;
3.    Expanded benefits information counseling, including ongoing benefits and financial planning after placement;
4.    Family education and awareness training and mentoring;
5.    Training, technical assistance, and coaching to build local capacity of service providers; and
6.    Piloting an Integrated Resource Team approach to wrap-around services tailored to the job seeker’s unique needs.
The project engages dedicated SE+ VR Counselors with regular onsite presence at pilot facilities to support outreach and enrollment of project participants, rapid engagement, and streamlined service delivery.

Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation

Project Summary

The InVEST Project is an innovative, three-component wrap-around model for assisting individuals with disabilities, including those considering or currently engaged in employment at subminimum wage, their families, and employers, to move from subminimum wage employment to competitive integrated employment. The project will provide SWTCIE participants and designated employers with an employer-based model, including embedded employer liaisons and employment specialists to facilitate communication, create a smooth hiring process, and provide on-the-job supports to ensure success. An interdisciplinary and collaborative resource team will anticipate and respond to the SWTCIE participants’ employment-related needs.

Texas Workforce Commission: Vocational Rehabilitation

Project Summary                                               

The Texas Beacons of Excellence (TBE) project will use a three-pronged approach to help subminimum wage earners with most significant disabilities attain competitive integrated employment outcomes. First, TBE will partner with in-demand businesses to identify local career opportunities and enhance employers’ capabilities to hire, train, and retain qualified persons with disabilities. Second, TBE will collaborate with public and private employers with Section 14(c) certificates under the Fair Labor Standards Act, to adapt their business models to emphasize customized and supported employment arrangements. Third, TBE will create a pipeline from high school to competitive integrated employment for students with most significant disabilities to reduce the number of students who will choose subminimum wage employment.

Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency: Vocational Rehabilitation

Project Summary                      

The Georgia SWTCIE Project, a project jointly sponsored with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, Institute on Human Development and Disability at the University of Georgia, and the Georgia Department of Education, will develop and evaluate an innovative model for reducing the use of subminimum wage in select pilot sites in Georgia. The project includes critical factors to ensure overall project success including personnel development and technical assistance to replicate and imbed the model in multiple sites, and initiatives to address broader underlying issues related to the current use of subminimum wage in Georgia, setting the stage for public policy changes to grow an expectation of full wage employment for people with disabilities.

Connecticut State Department of Aging and Disability Service: Bureau of Rehabilitation Services

Project Summary                                             

The Connecticut Pathways to Integrated Employment (CTPIE) model demonstration project is led by the Connecticut Bureau of Rehabilitation Services (BRS) and focuses on supporting job seekers with intellectual and developmental disabilities to secure and sustain competitive integrated employment (CIE). CTPIE uses a person-centered approach to connect job seekers with individualized employment services, supports, and resources that move them into paid work in integrated community settings. The project emphasizes informed choice, individualized career planning, and ongoing collaboration among community partners to improve employment outcomes for participants. Other CTPIE services include travel training, benefits counseling, financial literacy training, peer mentoring, and individualized employment support. In addition, CTPIE focuses on building the capacity of provider agencies to strengthen job development, employer engagement, and CIE placement practices for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The University of Maryland’s Center for Transition and Career Innovation provides training, technical assistance, implementation support, and evaluation to support fidelity, continuous improvement, and the long-term sustainability and replication of the model.  

Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services

  • Funding Amount: $13,829,686.58 (H421D220008)
  • Supplement Amount: $230,000
  • Project Director: Donna Bonessi
  • RSA Project Officer: Cassandra Shoffler
  • Project Title: Real Pay for Real Jobs Education and Outreach, Partnership Development, Provisions of Individualized Services, and Capacity Building (RPRJ EPIC) Project
  • Project Website: https://gwcrcre.org/epic/home/

Project Summary                                              

The Department and its partners, including an all-inclusive advisory workgroup, will assist individuals with disabilities who have been employed at or are contemplating subminimum wage employment to transition to competitive integrated employment. The project will develop integrated resource teams, community academies, value based performance contracting, training and technical assistance, and leverage previous initiatives to assist 14(c) employers to develop, implement, and sustain policy and system changes to provide opportunities for competitive integrated employment for individuals with disabilities. The project will also assist individuals with disabilities to participate in state employment, and to make informed decisions regarding their employment choices.

Illinois Department of Human Services

  • Funding Amount: $13,943,946.00 (H421D220009)
  • Supplement Amount: $230,000
  • Project Director: Jennifer Grissom
  • RSA Project Officer: Cassandra Shoffler
  • Project Title: From Subminimum Wage to Competitive Integrated Employment of Illinoisans with Disabilities: An Innovative & Collaborative Project Partnership (SWTCIE Illinois)
  • Project Website: https://swtcieillinois.ahs.illinois.edu

Project Summary                                     

The SWTCIE Illinois Project is a federally funded, state-led demonstration project designed to help individuals with disabilities transition from or avoid subminimum wage employment (SWE) in order to achieve competitive integrated employment (CIE). The Project operates through a partnership between the Illinois Department of Human Services–Division of Rehabilitation Services (IDHS-DRS), the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and six 14(c) community rehabilitation program agencies across Illinois.  SWTCIE Illinois seeks to reduce reliance on the outdated subminimum wage model by supporting individuals in obtaining meaningful employment opportunities in integrated-community settings. Through counseling, technical assistance, staff development, employer engagement, and wraparound supports, the Project promotes successful employment outcomes. SWTCIE Illinois also works to identify and address barriers to employment by engaging employers, community partners, and other stakeholders to promote collaborative and impactful solutions. Performance measures established focus on the number of participants who transition to CIE and those redirected from contemplating SWE. In addition, efforts are underway to develop and share transformative business model plans that can help other 14(c) organizations outside this Project, to successfully support CIE for all citizens in Illinois.  This initiative will advance statewide system changes to expand job opportunities, foster community engagement, and enhance economic outcomes for people with disabilities.    

North Carolina Division of Vocational Rehabilitation

Project Summary                                        

The North Carolina Subminimum Wage to Competitive Integrated Employment (NCSWTCIE) Model Demonstration Project uses a multifaceted approach to expanding CIE opportunities for people working in or contemplating SWE, building upon existing cross-sectoral partnerships to ensure that participants receive an enhanced array of evidence-based and person-centered services and supports that help them explore, prepare for, engage in, and sustain CIE as part of a meaningful week.  
The role of NCWSTCIE’s Stakeholder Engagement Advisory Group (SEAG), which includes members representing individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and lived experience with subminimum wage employment, along with family members of people with I/DD, disability service providers, disability advocacy and membership organizations, and program staff, is to provide guidance, build consensus, and support the implementation of NCSWTCIE. 
The SEAG supports implementation in a variety of ways, from selecting a memorable name that connects with target audiences – Project Spark – to providing input on program framework and guiding development of the enhanced array of services and helping ensure that North Carolina is ensuring a sustainable path to CIE and achieving its project goals. 
Project Spark aligns with ongoing efforts by NCDHHS divisions, including EIPD, the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Services (DMHDDSUS), and Division of Health Benefits (DHB, commonly known as NC Medicaid) to improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities across North Carolina. Project Spark utilizes a person-centered approach, incorporating employment and support services to help participants overcome complex barriers to CIE. In addition to expanding training and resources to help providers facilitate informed decision-making, the enhanced service array includes a peer mentoring service to leverage the experience of individuals with disabilities who have transitioned out of SWE and into CIE; customized employment services to find the right job match for participants’ strengths, interests and abilities; wraparound case management to ensure that participants with complex resource needs receive coordinated services regardless of provider; early and ongoing benefits counseling; transportation assistance; supportive activities for a meaningful day; and long-term job coaching to support job retention. 

New York State Education Department: Adult Career and Continuing Education Services: Vocational Rehabilitation

Project Summary                               

Promoting the Advancement of Competitive Integrated Employment (PACIE) will leverage the power of a peer facilitated model, through independent living centers (ILCs), to deliver an array of supports leading to competitive integrated employment, including customized employment, pre-employment services, independent living services, benefits planning, self-advocacy, assistive technology, and vocational rehabilitation services. PACIE will incorporate a broad, geographically dispersed, six-county cohort of sites including two rural, two suburban, and two urban regions building upon current partnerships (e.g., Office of Special Education partnership structure of Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Centers, Boards of Cooperative Education (BOCES), and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts) to open new doorways to competitive integrated employment opportunities for people with disabilities either in or contemplating subminimum wage employment. PACIE will offer lessons learned and strong evidence for dissemination nationally to expand the reach of the project.

Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities: Vocational Rehabilitation

Project Summary                                                   

Works4Me at Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD) helps people learn about competitive integrated employment (CIE), explore careers, and find jobs that match their interests and skills. The goal of Works4Me is to empower people with disabilities and their families to make informed choices based on reliable information and experiences, including finding fulfilling CIE.
To achieve this goal, OOD collaborates with stakeholders across Ohio, including the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities, the Ohio State University, other state agencies, and local entities, such as provider organizations and county boards of developmental disabilities. Twenty of these provider organizations contract with OOD to contact potential Works4Me participants and offer new Works4Me services designed to explore their interests and build valuable, marketable skills to help them succeed in CIE. 
Works4Me offers new services available when deciding whether to open an OOD case and pursue CIE. To explore career options, Works4Me offers Career Exploration and utilizes new technology, a virtual reality program, to help people try employment experiences. To address barriers, Works4Me offers Work Incentives Planning as well as two new mentoring programs: peer mentoring, where peers who have successfully transitioned to CIE support current Works4Me participants; and family mentoring, where family members of people who have transitioned to CIE support family and support teams of Works4Me participants.
After opening an OOD case, Works4Me participants receive supports to build practical, job related skills — including social, independence, and daily work environment skills — that help them prepare for and maintain employment. The program provides integrated paid work experiences in the community, allowing participants to practice skills, build confidence, and try different job settings with support. Additionally, Works4Me emphasizes assistive technology (AT) through Tech4Me, an easy-to-use online tool that participants can use to identify AT that will best support them at home, in the community, or on the job. 
To support both provider organizations and families, OOD contracts with the Ohio Provider Resource Association (OPRA). OPRA coordinates the family mentoring service and maintains robust online resources to support families who have questions or concerns about CIE. OPRA also provides guidance and technical support to help organizations transition to offering OOD and/or Works4Me services. This support includes online resources and on-demand training based on requests from individual providers.

Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development: Vocational Rehabilitation Services

Project Summary                                    

The Go MN! project offers people with disabilities in or contemplating subminimum wage work settings opportunities to explore careers with businesses in different industries. The project utilizes the Progressive Employment Model as a dual-customer strategy to connect students, youth, and adults across both the metro twin cities and greater Minnesota with work experience opportunities in different industries. The project provides opportunities for people with disabilities to explore work through activities like tours, job shadows, and informational interviews, increases the number of jobseekers with disabilities who have work experiences, expands the number of partnering businesses in various industries, and ultimately, increases the number of adults and youth with disabilities who transition from subminimum wage to competitive integrated employment and meet Minnesota’s workforce needs.

California Department of Rehabilitation

Project Summary                                                 

The California SWTCIE Project supports individuals with disabilities who have historically been employed in, or may have previously considered, subminimum wage work by expanding access to competitive integrated employment. The project operates as a multi agency collaboration that establishes coordinated services, supports, and strategies to address longstanding barriers faced by individuals who have traditionally been routed toward segregated or subminimum wage employment settings. It builds upon the existing College to Career framework at two community college campuses in Orange County and San Diego. These campus environments offer integrated settings where participants engage in education, career exploration, and employment preparation. The project provides a broad range of services, including supported education, vocational and pre vocational training, career development, and employment services with an emphasis on customized employment. Participants have access to community college coursework, technical education opportunities, and work-based learning experiences that support progress toward competitive integrated employment. The project also offers wraparound supports such as benefits counseling, peer mentoring, and family to family support. Activities include outreach to business entities to promote inclusive hiring practices and strengthen pathways to integrated employment. The project aims to develop innovative, evidence based practices that can be implemented on a broader scale across California. It focuses on strengthening natural community support and increasing the availability of trained peer mentors. The project works with employers to encourage adoption of integrated employment practices that expand opportunities for individuals with the most significant disabilities. Through these efforts, the project seeks to promote economic self sufficiency, and long term employment outcomes. The project maintains a foundational commitment to expanding opportunities in integrated settings and building sustainable statewide practices that support competitive integrated employment.

Iowa Workforce Development Center

Project Summary

The Iowa Blueprint for Change project advances statewide systems to expand opportunities for Iowans with disabilities to achieve competitive integrated employment. The project strengthens collaboration among state agencies, education partners, service providers, employers, and community organizations to support coordinated systems‑change efforts. It develops and refines models that improve alignment across partners and streamline pathways into competitive integrated employment. The project increases access to training, career development, and work‑based learning activities that support long‑term employment success for Iowans with disabilities. It enhances transition services by improving coordination among schools, families, and employment service providers as students move from secondary education to adult life. The project promotes higher expectations for competitive integrated employment among individuals with disabilities, families, educators, and professionals in the workforce system. It incorporates statewide training initiatives that strengthen person‑centered practices and build the capacity of partners to support employment outcomes. The project aligns policies, funding structures, and operational practices to ensure that competitive integrated employment remains the first and preferred outcome for all Iowans with disabilities. It utilizes evaluation activities to monitor progress, inform improvements, and support sustainability planning. Stakeholder feedback continues to guide ongoing refinement of strategies and priorities. With the Collective successfully concluding its work in April 2026, the project now focuses on implementing and sustaining the systems‑change models developed through that collaborative effort. Through these activities, the Iowa Blueprint for Change project supports stronger employment pathways, increased economic opportunity, and a more inclusive workforce across the state.