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The goal to achieve in this project is as follows: to increase opportunities for individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD) to seek and obtain employment through providers using best-practice approaches such as customized employment, self-employment, and individualized placements and supports. Many people still end up not working at all, working in sheltered workshops, or attending segregated facility-based adult daycare programs (e.g., Bates-Harris, 2012; Migliore et al., 2008; Migliore et al., 2007; Rusch & Braddock, 2004). In Georgia, in 2014, less than six percent of total funding for all of I/DD agency services was spent on integrated employment. Nationally, individuals with intellectual disabilities accounted for less than 15% of the state vocational rehabilitation programs total successful closures, and they were closed earning considerably less compared to the other successful closures (Butterworth, et .al, 2015). The Institute on Human Development and Disability (IHDD) plans to address these dismal statistics by: a) Support provider transformation and their implementation of best-practice strategies that lead to competitive, integrated employment among individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through individualized, hands-on technical assistance and mentoring and, b) promoting meaningful employment opportunities for individuals with intellectual and development disabilities through sharing of information, resources and dialogue through a virtual Community of Practice and Learning Community.
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