New Employment Opportunities and Resources

It can be disheartening for teachers who have maintained high expectations for their students with significant disabilities when they observe what happens when their students leave school. In far too many instances they watch as their students transition into day programs or sheltered workshops.

In contrast with past practices however, today students with disabilities in Maine have access to unprecedented levels of support for finding and keeping real jobs. Recent legislation and policy at both the state and federal level make a variety of new opportunities for employment and post-school support available. It is important for educators to be aware of these changes. Knowing that all students have real employment opportunities can encourage their efforts to provide instruction consistent with the Maine Learning Results and their own high expectations for all students.

Policy Changes in Maine Favor Competitive Employment

Some of the most significant changes in policy have occurred at the Maine Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services (BDS). The new BDS (2000) vocational policy places a strong emphasis on real work in competitive employment. More importantly, it assumes employability for everyone when it lists the following as one of its guiding principles: Persons who express a desire to work will be presumed able to work and planning will be individualized to the person’s desired quality of life.

In a statement describing this policy Brenda Harvey, the Director of Program Development for BDS, stated: BDS adopted a vocational policy that sets the direction for the development of new vocational services and encourages the conversion of segregated employment settings to integrated, competitive settings. In addition, Harvey claimed that BDS is “positioning its resources” to fully support this policy.

Fortunately these policy changes are not limited to BDS. Other agencies, such as the Department of Labor, Bureau of Rehabilitative Services, are also collaborating in the effort to ensure that everyone receives the combination of supports they need to be successful in competitive employment. Additionally, many state agencies are working in collaboration with the Department of Human Services to assure that Maine citizens with disabilities can work without jeopardizing their health care benefits through MaineCare. The MaineCare Option for Workers with Disabilities makes MaineCare benefits available when people enter or return to work.

The Maine Employment Curriculum Implementation Project

Policy makers at several agencies recognized that the new commitment to employment would require a larger workforce of trained employment specialists. Over the past two years staff from The University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies collaborated with representatives of community providers, BDS, and the Bureau of Rehabilitative Services to create the Maine Employment Curriculum. This curriculum consists of 14 modules designed to educate job coaches and employment specialists in best practices consistent with new legislation and policy. Last summer a group of experienced employment specialists attended a week-long institute at The University of Maine where they gained the expertise to deliver the curriculum modules to job coaches and employment specialists in their local regions. Since the fall more than 250 educators, job coaches, job developers and employment specialists have participated in the training statewide. Completion of eight of the modules leads to certification as a job coach; completion of all fourteen leads to certification as an employment specialist.

Implications for Educators

These policy changes have important implications for educators. Students are now transitioning into an adult service system that assumes everyone can be employed. New work incentives make employment a viable option without the threat of losing critical health and long term care benefits.

Because of these changes, schools should be preparing all students for real work instead of sheltered workshops or segregated day programs. Transition plans can focus on, among other things, helping individuals obtain the supports that will be necessary for them to work.

Literature on best practices in supported employment emphasizes the importance of choice in career planning. Gone are the days when any job we could find for a person with a disability was acceptable. Students with disabilities, like all students, need to learn about career options. They need opportunities to explore their own interests and learn about employment options consistent with their unique skills and gifts. This is consistent with the first goal in the Maine Learning Results under Career Preparation: Students will be knowledgeable about the world of work, explore career options, and relate person skills, aptitudes, and abilities to future career decisions.

Finally, these changes in policy and practice make it necessary to rethink what is possible for all students. New opportunities allow educators to expand their expectations for all students, while at the same time helping students maintain higher aspirations for themselves.

Job Coach and Employment Specialist Training Available Statewide!

The Maine Employment Curriculum is being delivered statewide through the efforts of The University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCI) and the fourteen community rehabilitation agencies who have committed resources to support their trainers with funding from BDS. CCI maintains a comprehensive website about the project, including a statewide calendar of training. School staff are eligible to participate in the training that is being offered at little or no cost. For information regarding the curriculum, trainer contacts, and the statewide calendar, point your browser to: http://www.ccids.umaine.edu/projects/mec/default.htm or contact Project Director Debbie Gilmer at debbie.gilmer@umit.maine.edu

Work Incentives

We often hear educators and other professionals express the mistaken belief that individuals receiving SSI or SSDI benefits will not benefit financially or will lose important benefits if they go to work. It is also widely believed that if a person works, she or he will lose MaineCare (Medicaid) benefits – benefits that may be used to fund other necessary long-term supports. Maine has three federally funded benefits counseling programs that provide invaluable information to individuals regarding the impact of employment on their eligibility for public benefits.

While there has always existed an array of work incentives in the Social Security Act, over the past few years significant legislation has been enacted that has made it much easier for people with disabilities to work. The most important thing to remember about benefits and work is this: Most people with disabilities who receive SSI or SSDI benefits do not need to choose between working and receiving benefits. With only a few exceptions, most people will benefit financially from working. Some of the most significant incentives are described below:

SSI Payments – The first $86.00 earned each month is excluded in determining cash benefits. After that benefits are reduced $1 for every $2 earned.
Section 1619(a) of the Supplemental Security law permits people to continue to receive an SSI payment while they work.
Section 1619(b) provides continued Medicaid eligibility for people with disabilities whose income is too high to qualify for SSI payments but not high enough to offset the loss of Medicaid.
MaineCare Option for Workers with Disabilities was designed to help workers with disabilities to go back to work, or work more hours, and keep their Medicaid benefits. The employee pays a small ($0-50) premium, depending on wages earned.
PASS Plans – Plans for Achieving Self Support allow people to set aside their own wages to pay for supports and services to help them reach identified work goals. These services might include help with finding a job, help finding a better job or training to become more independent at work. A PASS plan will not reduce the person’s Social Security benefits or affect their eligibility to receive SSI money.
Trial Work Period allows individuals receiving SSDI to test your ability to work for at least 9 months. During your trial work period, they can receive your full disability benefit regardless of how much you earn as long as you continue to be disabled.

You can find more information on these and other work incentives at:

http://www.ssa.gov/work/ResourcesToolkit/workincentiveschart.html#BWE. Information on the MaineCare Option can be found at http://www.state.me.us/dhs/beas/work/welcome.htm

Another important piece of legislation is the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999. It further eliminates disincentives in the Social Security system requiring people to choose between their jobs and their health care coverage. It also increases consumer choice in acquiring necessary vocational and rehabilitation services. (The Social Security Administration will begin implementation of the Ticket to Work in Maine in November, 2003: for more information see: www.maineticket.org).

Benefits Specialist Poster

Do you receive SSI or SSDI? Do you have questions about work or education and preparing for a career? Call Toll Free to talk with a Benefits Specialist They can answer many of your questions, and help you plan for your future career.

Did you know:

Social Security does not count $5,410.00 per year of your wages, as long as you are a student?
MaineCare has a Workers with Disabilities Option that enables people with disabilities who work to access health insurance?
Many housing programs do not count your wages in figuring your rent for the first year you work?
Social Security has a PASS plan option that allows you to save money for college or job training?

Call one of the agencies listed below on their Toll Free line and ask for the Benefits Specialist program.

Alpha One 800-640-7200 or 800-300-6016 Voice & TTY

Maine Medical Center Dept. of Vocational Services 888-208-8700 TTY: (207) 871-4900

This information brought to you as a public service by Maine Works for Youth! The University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, Maine's University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service. Funded by grant #5 H01 MC 00028-03 from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (Title V, Social Security Act), Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Click here to view this information as a printable Benefits Specialist poster in PDF format.