IU Report Provides Employment and Inclusion Data About Hoosiers with Disabilities (IN UCEDD)

December 12, 2016

Indiana residents who receive employment services and other support from disability service providers have made few gains in the past year, according to a new report from Indiana University's Center on Community Living and Careers.

Findings about how people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are interacting with their communities are included in the 2016 "Day & Employment Services Outcomes Systems Report." The report is published annually by the center, a division of the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community at Indiana University Bloomington.

Among the findings of the 2016 DESOS report:

• Just 27 percent of individuals represented in the survey were employed in competitive jobs, or jobs within the community
• 25 percent were working in facility-based, segregated work environments
• Fewer than 1 percent were self-employed.

Twenty-three percent of the individuals represented in the data were not working, but were instead participating in a day program, an increase of 4 percentage points from 2011 figures.

Wages and hours for individuals employed in competitive jobs have remained constant over the past five years. Workers with disabilities continue to earn on average $7.83 per hour, working an average of 20 hours per week.

"Increasingly, employment has to be our first option for people with disabilities," said Teresa Grossi, director of strategic development at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community and author of the DESOS report. "This data is an indication that Indiana has work to do to begin delivering the services and supports that will help individuals be included, productive and successful in the workplace."

DESOS provides information about thousands of people who are receiving support from Indiana's adult disability service providers. The report is compiled annually by the Center on Community Living and Careers for the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration's Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services.

DESOS gives state administrators, legislators, and service providers a data "snapshot," which can help policy makers answer questions about where individuals with disabilities throughout Indiana are spending the majority of their day; what types of work they may be doing; and the outcomes they are achieving related to employment, specifically wages earned and hours worked.

The information is key, as Indiana complies with Centers for Medicaid and Medicare regulations intended to ensure that people with disabilities receiving Medicaid funding have opportunities to seek employment, work in competitive and integrated settings, engage in community life, control personal resources and receive services in the community.

About the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community

The Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, Indiana's University Center for Excellence on Disabilities, works to increase community capacity in disability through academic instruction, research, dissemination and training, and technical assistance. With a focus on employment, secondary education, and transition to adult life and services, the Indiana Institute's Center on Community Living and Careers (CCLC) brings positive change to people with disabilities and their families as they work and participate in their communities. For more information on CCLC, contact Teresa Grossi at [email protected].