NCDHHS awarded $13.8 million to expand employment for those with disabilities

The U.S. Department of Education’s Rehabilitation Services Administration awarded the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services over $13.8 million to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities access Competitive Integrated Employment.

North Carolina is one of 14 states receiving funds from the $177 million grant. The five-year grants are designated for Subminimum Wage to Competitive Integrated Employment (SWTCIE) demonstration projects. 

The SWTCIE program intends to strengthen the vocational opportunities and economic security of Americans with intellectual or developmental disabilities. 

The grant will expand support for 500 individuals in N.C., 300 of whom will transition from subminimum wage settings to Competitive Integrated Employment.

North Carolina’s project will include three regional pilot sites that will work to target growing employment sectors such as green jobs, essential workers and travel and hospitality.

Kathie Trotter, director of NCDHHS's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services, said the three pilot programs will act as employment training hubs with services such as case management, benefits counseling, employment specialists and job coaches available to participants.

“We will focus (the regional) pilots on providers who really want to transition and enhance their services to offer more choices and opportunity,” Chris Egan, NCDHHS assistant secretary for employment and inclusion, said.

While many employers may be willing to employ individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, the lack of intermediary support can make it difficult to build the needed relationships and support networks for those seeking employment.

“It’s not a disdain or negative feeling around hiring someone with a disability as much as it is a lack of understanding about that person’s individual needs and not knowing how to support him or her,” Melinda Plue, director of advocacy and chapter development at The Arc of North Carolina, said. 

Advocacy and service groups, including The Arc of NC, work to educate and build working relationships between employers and potential employees with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Plue said employment services such as job coaching can provide the guidance these individuals need to function in the workplace independently.

B3 Coffee is an integrated employment coffee kiosk at the Chapel Hill Public Library. 

B3 Coffee aims to dismantle the stigmas and workplace hierarchies in integrated employment environments while providing vocational support and resources to its employees with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

“It’s difficult to access services that should be the pathway towards getting a foot in the door because there is a huge fear factor when it comes to people with disabilities,” Jacklyn Boheler, co-founder and executive director of B3 Coffee, said. “We really do need that middleman agency to be able to educate employers and break down the stigma while providing resources.” 

These services can be scarce and difficult to access, Boheler said. She added that waitlists for programs such as the N.C. Medicaid Innovations Waiver often reach about 15,000 people.

She explained there are service cliffs, which result from a lack of continued support for employment, higher education or daily life for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities after they graduate high school. 

“Unfortunately that often leads to marginalization and overall reduced quality of life,” Bohler said.

The grant awarded to the DVRS aims to address this cliff by providing funding for supportive services across the state, according to Trotter.

Egan said the programs are part of an evolution to put the decision into the hands of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities in order to navigate their own careers.

“We want to provide those extended support services,” Trotter said. “We want to make sure all of the pieces are there to be able to fully support folks that may have significant barriers in their pursuit of competitive integrated employment.”

@DTHCityState | city@dailytarheel.com