Winter 2016

Exchange Newsletter

Michigan Developmental Disabilities CouncilIssues Report on Transition to Employment First in Michigan

The Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council released a report on Sept. 30, 2015, that lays out a vision for the ideal system oftransition in Michigan and proposes policy action items that will result in better preparation of youth for employment success as adults.

The report, called the Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Project (EFSLMP), is funded by the US Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). This program supports ODEP’s goal to:

“invest in systems change efforts that result in increased community-based, integrated employment opportunities for individuals with significant disabilities. This priority reflects growing support for a national movement called Employment First, a framework for systems change that is centered on the premise that all citizens, including individuals with significant disabilities, are capable of full participation in integrated employment and community life. Under this approach, publicly-financed systems are urged to align policies, service delivery practices, and reimbursement structures to commit to integrated employment as the priority option with respect to the use of publicly-financed day and employment services for youth and adults with significant disabilities.”

“This report by the DD Council should be the policy recommendation that lawmakers take most to heart,” said Elmer L. Cerano, MPAS Executive Director.

“The Governor’s November 2015 Executive Order on Employment First, while done with the best of intentions, defines ‘employment’ in too broad of terms which includes non-competitive, sheltered work. This goes against the true intent of Employment First.”

MPAS worked closely with the Developmental Disabilities Council and the Developmental Disabilities Institute at WayneStateUniversity in 2014 to publish a report on the state of employment for people with disabilities in Michigan highlighting the need for an adoption of Employment First policies. The passage and implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) in July 2014 has provided a wonderful opportunity and catalyst

to make significant forward progress on a transition system where all young people with disabilities are well prepared for the world of work. Michigan then adopted Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts (see page 3 of this newsletter) in 2015, allowing people with disabilities and their families to save the money earned through employment without compromising their means-tested assistance. The DD Council report is one of the latest developments in the move to Employment First.

MPAS applauds the hard work of the DD Council on their participation in the EmploymentFirstStateand looks forward to our continued partnership on this important issue.For the full report, pleasevisit gov/documents/mdch/ODEP_employment_ report_503193_7.pdf

From the Executive Director

Throw out your previous assumptions of what can’t be done. What a novel idea to ask people with disabilities what their interests are beforewe assume for them that they cannot work or what uninteresting job they should have.

It seems like we have been discussing new and creative ways to provide employment opportunities for people with disabilities for eons. Yet we still seem to have fallen short of the expectation that people with disabilities can be gainfully employed in a fully inclusive American workforce and can successfully earn a decent wage.

Typical kids are regularly asked, “so what do you want to be when you grow up?” When I was growing up, boys’ answers were always the usual fireman or policeman. And the girls’ response, if they were ever asked, was a nurse, a teacher, a secretary or finding Mr. Right and getting married. All honorable life choices, but in retrospect, we now clearly recognize the choices were bound by traditional and unquestionedgendered expectations.

Flash forward to 2015, and many of the stereotypical assumptions and expectations about what people can do or should do as a career or life choice are no longer valid. We have, at least to a significant degree, destroyed the myth that gender is a legitimate predictor of employment, career or life choice.

For children with disabilities, we seldom hear the question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”

Perhaps we really don’t expect them to have an answer, and unfortunately the student’s own expectations of “being something when they grow up” soon fades.

Our expectations of students with disabilities, although nudged a bit over the decades, remains stuck in an educational system that continues to limit expectations of what might be possible. Unlike the typical student, whose interests may spark a potential career path, the interests of students with disabilities are neither recognized nor valued.

In Michigan we segregate students with disabilities from their typical age appropriate peers for 26 years, then we wonder why inclusive employment opportunities for adults with disabilities are so limited. Is it that we never really expected students exiting special education to live in an inclusive community or to work and be productive, contributing members of society?

Even with Michigan’s 1970s progressive special education entitlement to the age of 26 (federal law only goes to 21), we created half-hearted efforts to design “make-work” opportunities, training programs that lead nowhere and endlessjustifications to pat ourselves on the back for the fine work we did resulting in “well, at least they have something to do during the day.” (Man, that was hard to admit!)

I was one of those “progressive” advocates who helped created a 26-year segregated education entitlement for students with disabilities. I am proud, however, that I stuck around long enough to witness the cusp of real innovation in creating career options for people with disabilities.

The recently enacted Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) changes the expectations that young people with disabilities will have about their own futures.

WIOA starts with a presumption that students with disabilities can and will work alongside other people with and without disabilities. Also imbedded in WIOA are presumptions that the work will be rewarding and that the worker will be productive and successfully earn a competitive wage.

So the task for people with disabilities and the people they trust is how we are going to get from where we are today to a brighter future.

WIOA sets the stage and demands a more challenging expectation of the potential for all people with disabilities.

The expectation that all people with disabilities are able to be gainfully employed is a heavy lift. However,with innovation in technology, heightened expectations and designing employment and income generating opportunities around the interests, skills and abilities of the individual, the future is full of exciting and very real possibilities.

New innovations spark new innovations.

What is also significantly different now from past attempts is that much of the innovation in job creation is coming from creative, private sector employers. Employers are recruiting and willing to fairly compensate people who are competent to do the work with or without accommodations, people who are dependable, loyal, good employees, and most importantly, people who can help the company’s bottom line.

It appears to me that our traditional disability service infrastructure is far too encumbered with past assumptions, limited expectations of potentials, and investments in old approaches to create the future.

Given the opportunity, people with and without disabilities, along with innovative entrepreneurs and a re-configured educational system, will not only be prepared for jobs of the future - they will help create them.

WIOA is a game changer. People with disabilities and their allies cannot afford to sit out this unprecedented opportunity.

ABLE Act Legislation Signed into Law in Michigan

On October 28, 2015, Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley signed Michigan’s new law implementing the federal ABLE (“Achievinga Better Life Experience”) Act. This state law will implement accounts under the federal law passed by Congress in late 2014, designed to allow certain people with disabilities to save money and help cover certain disability-related expenses without risking eligibility for governmental benefits. Eligible individuals are those whose disability began before the age of 26.

Many people with disabilities depend on Medicaid for health insurance and on the federal Supplemental Security Income program (SSI) and other programsfor financial support. People with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed, unable to work, employed part-time, or work in jobs that do not provide health care benefits. Some changes in the Affordable Care Act that extend coverage to age 26 and that limit pre-existing condition exclusions help somewhat with families obtaining health insurance but do not completely address the issue. Medicaid and SSI remain an important way for people with disabilities to live independently in the community and cover needed expenses.

As valuable as these programs may be to someone with a disability, they are means-tested, and participantshave to be careful of earning too much or accumulating too many assets and becoming ineligible. This makes it difficult for someone with a disability to save money to afford other supports and services they

may need to learn, work, or live independently, but are not covered by Medicaid or SSI. It also makes it practically impossible for someone with a disability who does work to save for retirement and still qualify for Medicaid and SSI. And it becomes very difficult for parents of a child with a disability to provide for the child in the long term without jeopardizing benefits eligibility. The result is that a person with a disability can be faced with an unpleasant choice-remain poor and remain eligible for benefits, or try to work, save, and plan for retirement but risk losing health insurance and SSI. There are estate and financial planning techniques such as special-needs trusts or pooled income trusts that can help, but these can be complex and costly for some families to use.

The ABLE Act as passed by Congress added a new provision to Internal Revenue Code Section 529, which governs college saving plans. The new ABLE Accounts operate similarly to existing 529 plans, allowing tax-deferred savings of funds that could be used for qualified plan expenses of the beneficiary. But with an ABLE Account, instead of the qualified expenses being for college, they would be for expenses that would support the person with a disability in obtaining education, working, and living independently in the community. The qualified expenses include education, housing, transportation, supports for employment, health and wellness expenses, and some other expenses. The plans would allow a family to accumulate and invest assets for the benefit of the person with a disability, and even plan for retirement, without disqualifying the person for Medicaid and SSI. The Michigan ABLE plans will also assist with providing financial competency training for people with disabilities and their families.

“Momentum is growing in the state of Michigan to develop and implement policies and practices to increase opportunities for competitive integrated employment for people with disabilities. By establishing ABLE accounts in our state, we have moved that much closer to making real employment opportunities a reality.”

MPAS Executive Director, Elmer L. Cerano.

Oct. 28, 2015 - Lt. Gov. Brian Calley signs ABLE Act

From the Employment Team:

Monitoring Sub-minimum Wages in Michigan

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Section 14(c) authorizes employers, after receiving a certificate from the U.S. Department of Labor, topay wages less than the federal minimum wage. These “14(c) waivers” are granted by the federal government under specified conditions and allow employers to pay people with disabilities at rates below the minimum wage. Individuals performing work under this program are workers whose earning or productive capacity is impaired by a physical or mental disability, including those relating to age or injury.

Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service, Inc. (MPAS) has developed a new monitoring review project related to community rehabilitation organizations holding 14(c) waivers. Since developing this project, advocates from the MPAS Employment Team have monitored over 33 community rehabilitation organizations throughout Michigan (most of which pay subminimum wage), checking to ensure that the employer’s 14(c) certificate is current and providing information to beneficiaries who may be interested in working competitively in their community. The team has spoken with many individuals with developmental disabilities in this face-to-face outreach. As a result, many of these individuals have asked for assistance in becoming involved with Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS), hoping to find employment in a more competitive and integrated setting. Advocates have also handed out business cards, brochures, and posters at most visits encouraging individuals to contact MPAS or MRS for further assistance. Throughout this monitoring activity, MPAS will be working hard to help further educate policymakers and address continued inequities of employers preventing beneficiaries from receiving fair and comparable wages in the employment setting of their choosing.

If you are or know an individual with a disability who is interested in working in a more competitive integrated work setting, please contact MPAS at 1-800-288-5923 or visit our website at .

From the Legal Team: Recent Circuit Court Rulings Favor Michigan

Rehabilitation Services Consumers

Federal law prohibits Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) from requiring the financial participation of SSI or SSDI recipients. Thismeans that it cannot apply a financial needs test or impose a cap on tuition assistance for higher education. But MRS used to have a policy that did just that. For the past year, MPAS attorneys have been working with two SSDI beneficiaries challenging MRS’ decision to impose a financial needs test and cap on the tuition assistance they received for college training. Because of this, both had to pay out of pocket for tuition costs for which they shouldn’t have had to pay. Each are seeking relief ranging from $10,000- $18,000.

Both individuals’ administrative appeals were dismissed by the administrative court. With MPAS’ assistance, they appealed to the Ingham County Circuit Court. Both cases were reversed and remanded back to the administrative court with two important rulings:

(1) administrative law judges can order reimbursement, and (2) MRS policy requiring individuals to file an appeal within 30 days is unenforceable because it was never promulgated as a rule.

A number of years ago, MRS modified its college policy to comply with federal law. The problem is that so many individuals never knew the old policy violated federal law. While MPAS strongly encourages individuals to file appeals within the 30-day window, as a practical matter, decisions like this made years ago might still be appealable in that the policy has not yet been promulgated as of this writing. The current rules can be found at Michigan Administrative Rule 395.1 and following. MRS is in the process of seeking approval of additional rules, including its statute of limitations. This approval will make the statute of limitations enforceable.

Entries Being Accepted Now for the Ernie Reynolds Memorial Essay Contest

Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service, Inc. (MPAS) is proud to, once again, hold our annual essay contest in honorof an outstanding disability rights advocate, Ernie Reynolds, who passed away in 2012.

MPAS is looking for real, motivating stories about people with disabilities who have successfully advocated for themselves or others. In 500 words or less, describe how you overcame barriers and achieved success.

1st Prize: $300

2nd Prize: $200

3rd Prize: $100

Entries are to be submitted no later than April 1, 2016, and will be judged on:

  • Authenticity
  • Content and appeal of the advocacy story
  • Impact the story has had on the life of the individual or the lives of other people who have disabilities
  • Impact the story has had on the priorities within Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service.

RULES:

  • Entries are limited to 500 words or less and can be submitted in writing or audio tape via regular mail.
  • Entries will be judged by the MPAS Essay Contest Committee. All decisions are final
  • Late entries will not be considered.
  • Employees of MPAS, volunteers, board members and members of MPAS Advisory Councils and their immediate families are not eligible to win.
  • All entries become the property of MPAS and will not be returned to the author.
  • Entries, in part or in total, may be used by MPAS in publications.
  • Actual names will be used ONLY with written permission from the individual. Prizes will be awarded to the person about whom the story is written, and not the author (if different).
  • Winners will be notified by phone. Winners will also be honored at MPAS’ board meeting in May.

You may submit your entry via fax at 517-487-0827. Be sure to include your name, address, phone number and email address so we can contact you if you are a winner. Those wishing to mail their entry may do so to: