US Government Accountability Office highlights ICI research in report on competitive integrated employment
Competitive integrated employment (CIE) is employment that pays employees at or above minimum wage and is performed in integrated settings, among people with and without disabilities. It is still legal in many states for employers to pay people with disabilities below minimum wages for work in segregated settings. What impacts this transition from segregated, subminimum wage jobs to CIE?
Studies by ICI researchers and interviews with ICI policy experts contributed significantly to the US Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) latest report, Subminimum Wage Program: Factors Influencing the Transition of Individuals with Disabilities to Competitive Integrated Employment.
The GAO reviewed 96 studies and gathered data from 17 expert interviews for this report. They ultimately identified three relevant studies to include in the report. All three relevant studies were authored by ICI researchers, including John Butterworth, Allison Cohen-Hall, Dana Gilmore, Alberto Migliore, Oliver Lyons, and Jaimie Timmons.
Through the literature review and interviews with state officials and disability employment experts, the GAO identified 32 factors that influence people with disabilities transitioning from subminimum wage, or 14(c), to competitive integrated employment. They grouped the 32 factors into four main categories, validated by ICI’s John Butterworth, Jean Winsor, and 15 other experts through interviews with the GAO:
- Employee: Concern for Maintaining Benefits
- Employer: Sufficiency of CIE Resources for 14(c) Certificate Holder
- Public Policy: State Resources for CIE
- Local Economy: Available Transportation
Read the full report from the GAO!
Learn more about ThinkWork and ICI’s research on the transition from subminimum wage to CIE:
- ThinkWork’s Key Elements of Organizational Transformation: Lessons Learned from the Provider Transformation Network: for disability services providers implementing best practices.
- ThinkWork’s Building quality supports: Implementation support beyond training: the evolving work of community rehabilitation providers (CRPs)