State as a Model Employer – Disability Employment Policy

February 3, 2017May 6, 2020

Workforce Development Efforts for People with Disabilities: Hiring, Retention and Reentry

By Elizabeth Whitehouse

In 2016, The Council of State Governments and the National Conference of State Legislatures assembled a national task force to focus on workforce development efforts targeting people with disabilities in the states. This task force had four subcommittees composed of state policymakers along with non-voting stakeholders from the private sector and academia. The third in a four-part series that coincides with the subcommittee topics, this CSG Capitol Research brief highlights the recommendations from the Hiring, Retention and Reentry, or HRR, Subcommittee of the National Task Force on Workforce Development and Employability for People with Disabilities.

November 17, 2016May 6, 2020

Workforce Development for People with Disabilities: Entrepreneurship, Tax Incentives & Procurement

By Elizabeth Whitehouse

State tax incentives and programs can help encourage employment of people with disabilities in the private and nonprofit sectors. This FREE CSG eCademy webcast will discuss incentives and focus on entrepreneurship strategies for individuals with disabilities and state supports for established business owners with disabilities. This is the second webcast in a four-part series presented by the National Task Force on Workforce Development for People with Disabilities in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy.

Workforce Development for People with Disabilities: Entrepreneurship, Tax Incentives & Procurement
Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2 p.m. EST
Part two of a four-part FREE CSG eCademy Webcast series

J. Edward (Ted) Townsend III
Chief of Staff
Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
Full bio>>

Michael Morris
National Disability Institute
Full bio>>

Jill Houghton
Executive director
U.S. Business Leadership Network

Full bio>>

Download the slides in PDF.

December 18, 2014August 29, 2022

Disabled, and able to work: With legislation and executive actions, states are doing more to improve job prospects of people with disabilities

By Laura Tomaka

For nearly 40 years, South Dakota Rep. Fred Romkema has run a jobs training center for a segment of his state’s population that he says is too often forgotten. About 140 people with disabilities are currently served at the Northern Hills Training Center, and 108 of them are earning a regular paycheck.

September 12, 2014May 6, 2020

Minnesota governor issues executive order to boost state’s hiring of disabled

By Tim Anderson

Concerned about a steady decline in the proportion of state workers who are disabled, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is ordering agency heads to do more. His executive order also includes a workforce goal — that by 2018, 7 percent of the people employed by Minnesota’s state agencies be individuals with disabilities.

In 2013, about 3 percent of the state workers in Minnesota were disabled. In his August announcement, Dayton pointed to neighboring states that have higher rates — 5.8 percent and 4.4 percent in Wisconsin and Iowa, respectively. State agencies will get guidance on how to recruit and hire people with disabilities. They must also promote employment opportunities for this population and, four times a year, report progress on meeting the state’s new goals.

Minnesota is not alone in establishing new initiatives to expand work opportunities for the disabled. Michigan, for example, issued a “Better Off Working” plan in August that identifies policy changes to help individuals with disabilities find work. One of the recommendations is to improve the state’s own hiring process. In 2012, Ohio Gov. John Kasich launched the Employment First Initiative, the goal of which is to deliver “meaningful employment opportunities for people with disabilities.”

Stateline Midwest September 2014