Report from Office of The Inspector General Regarding
Employment Programs for Persons with Developmental Disabilities
Report # OEI-07-98-00260, August,1999

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While State developmental disabilities councils do not obtain direct employment for persons with developmental disabilities, they facilitate job opportunities for them by funding demonstration projects for promising employment approaches. Key factors in creating and maintaining jobs for persons with developmental disabilities include involvement of the employer community, collaborative arrangements among State entities, and planning for long term support systems. Outcome data to assess the success or effectiveness of employment programs is not generally available. The data that is available is limited and inconsistent from State to State. This inspection suggests that ACF work with State councils to develop an ongoing inventory of successful employment initiatives and mandatory performance measures with which all State councils must comply.

 

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Employment Programs for Persons with Developmental Disabilities

OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

 

The mission of the Office of Inspector General (OIG), mandated by Public Law 95-452, as amended by Public Law 100-504, is to protect the integrity of the Department of Health and Human Services programs as well as the health and welfare of beneficiaries served by them. This statutory mission is carried out through a nationwide program of audits, investigations, inspections, sanctions, and fraud alerts. The Inspector General informs the Secretary of program and management problems and recommends legislative, regulatory, and operational approaches to correct them.

 

Office of Evaluation and Inspections

 

The Office of Evaluation and Inspections (OEI) is one of several components of the Office of Inspector General. It conducts short-term management and program evaluations (called inspections) that focus on issues of concern to the Department, the Congress, and the public. The inspection reports provide findings and recommendations on the efficiency, vulnerability, and effectiveness of departmental programs.

OEI's Kansas City regional office prepared this report under the direction of James H. Wolf, Regional Inspector General. Principal OEI staff included:

 

REGION HEADQUARTERS

 

Dennis Tharp, Project Leader Al Levine, Program Specialist

Tricia Fields, Program Analyst

Tim Dold, Program Analyst

 

 

To obtain copies of this report, please call the Kansas City Office at (816) 426-3697.

Reports are also available on the World Wide Web at our home page address:

 

http://www.hhs.gov/progorg/oei

 

 

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

FINDINGS

• Promising Employment Programs
  
  
  

• Factors and Relationships Important in Obtaining Jobs

  • Factors in Creating Jobs for Persons w/ Dev. Disabilities (Table 1).

  • Relationships Important for Success in Employment Programs (Table 2).

  
  
  

• Less than Effective Approaches to Employment
  
  
  

• Barriers and Ways to Address Them
  
  
  

• Limited Employment Outcome Data
  • Importance and Impact of Numerical Employment Goals

RECOMMENDATIONS

APPENDICES

• A: Recent Trends As Reported by Respondents.
  
  
  

• B: Ineffective Approaches/Barriers As Specifically Reported By Respondents.
  
  
  

• C: Barriers As Reported By State Councils.
  
  
  

• D: Agency Comments.