WHAT WORKS: EMPLOYING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Presentation to the National Disability Authority Annual Conference, 29 October 2014 Dublin, Ireland Michael.

WHAT WORKS: EMPLOYING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Presentation to the National Disability AuthorityAnnual Conference, 29 October 2014Dublin, Ireland

Michael J. Prince University of Victoria

Evidence

• Employment of people with disabilities – complex issue

• Obtaining conclusive evidence on what works is difficult

• Different measures work in different countries

• People with disabilities are not a homogenous group

• Quality and evaluation of studies varies

(OECD 2010; 2011) (Prince 2011, 2012; 2014)

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What Works• Government policies and strategies that:

- Prioritise the employment of people with disabilities

- Support employers to not only employ but to retain people with disabilities

- Support people with disabilities to access education, training and employment opportunities

- Most importantly that focus on creating partnerships between people with disabilities and employers

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Financial Incentives -Employers?• Part of the solution but not the most influential factor

• Financial incentives for employers e.g. wage subsides, tax exemptions

• Aim to address employers’ concerns – perceived costs of employing people with disabilities

• Danish Flexi Jobs system – employers get 50-60% wage subsidy for flexible working hours and accommodations

• Positive outcomes only for people aged 35-44

• Majority of OECD countries - low uptake by employers

• Little progression for people with disabilities to unsubsidised employment (OECD 2010)

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Issues - Financial Incentives• Many employers are not aware of supports e.g.

- Financial incentives

- Funding for reasonable accommodations

- Funding for training in disability competence

• Many employers have concerns about employing people with disabilities

• Lack experience and knowledge of working with people

with disabilities

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Financial Incentives – People with disabilities?• Financial incentives - encourage people with disabilities into

work

• Part of the solution, not the main factor

• Earnings disregard (Ireland, Canada), Tax Credits (UK),

• Resting Disability Pension (Sweden) awards additional income for people going into employment

• USA Ticket to Work – people get a ticket exchanged for job or supports services from employer networks

• Employer networks – public and private providers, and employers

• In 2007 fewer than 1,400 of 12.2 m tickets issued over 5 years converted to workforce participation (Autor and Duggan, 2007; OECD 2010)

• Low uptake of these schemes – fear of loss of benefits

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What Works• Raising expectations from birth throughout adulthood

• Employment is a realistic option for people with disabilities

• Joined up system of supports across education, health and employment services

• Support young people and adults with disabilities to not just obtain but to retain employment by:

• Building a partnership between:

- person with a disability

- the educational, health services and disability employment services and the employer

• Engage employers in the process – address their concerns

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Transitions from school to work• Early participation in work placements/ internships in post

primary school aged 14/15

• Key element to this success:

• Education staff including guidance counsellors trained in disability competence

• Employers trained in disability competence

• Strong partnerships between schools, disability employment service and students with disabilities

• Ongoing support for the young person and the employer(Luecking 2011; Prince 2012)

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Training for Work Post primary options

• Access to further education/vocational programmes• Higher education programmes that provide internships in

mainstream employment

• Apprenticeships/employment programmes that provide with on the job training

• Successful examples: Québec career/technical programs in community colleges:• 5 to 10 months after graduation, of students with disabilities, 51%

working full-time, another 15% working part-time • 81% in a job related to their field of study (Fichten et al 2012)

• Evaluation of Australian apprenticeship/training system - 82% of graduates with disabilities in paid work (Cocks, Thoresen and Lee 2013)

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Ongoing support• Balance between mainstream services and provision of specialist services e.g. Australia

• Denmark – one disability expert for disability employment in each employment office

• Member of the employment services sits on the community mental health teams

• Profiling of people’s work capacity and swift referral to an appropriate service e.g. Australia and Norway

• Often a need for ongoing supports – supported employment

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Retaining Employment/Return to Work • Vocational rehabilitation (VR) programmes

• Joined up system of health, training and employment services and working with employers

• Focus on getting people who have acquired a disability back into work

• Several countries including the UK, Australia, Canada have countrywide vocational programmes.

• Positive outcomes in some countries, less so in others

• Early intervention of services within 6 weeks is key

• VR programmes focused on employment and rehabilitation more effective

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Programme elements• Building relationships with people with disabilities: file reviews, strength-based selection, pre-vocational activities, job carving

• Building relationships with employers: networking, site visits, identification of employer needs

• Creating a pool of VR participants: motivated and reliable

• Creating a pool of job vacancies: government and public sectors, social enterprises, private sector

• Individualizing job plans: protocols for specific disability groups, collaboration with partners

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Canadian System• Evaluation of Canadian Pension Plan Disability (CPPD)

Vocational Rehabilitation Programme (2003)

• Average expenditure for vocational rehabilitation services of $6,154 (€4,303)

• Of the 230 in the study group, 40% obtained employment

• Cost savings of approximately $5,000 (€3,500) per client over four year period

• Estimated gross savings of approximately $440,000 (€308,000)

• No substantial difference in the probability of obtaining employment for clients as they get older

• Possible social benefits (e.g. higher self-esteem, lower use of health services) not examined in this evaluation

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Additional Employment Supports• In Canada, Australia and other OECD countries

• Time limited benefits that assist people with disabilities on the pathway to employment

• One time benefit, for example a single payment or reimbursement for purchasing tools or work clothes

• Transitional time, extended health or drug benefits for 12 or 18 months after leaving disability income support and while in employment

• Trial work periods, e.g., Canada, USA

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Fear of losing benefits• How can you address people’s fears of losing benefits?

• Make work pay?

• Flexible system whereby people can quickly return to benefits

• If they cannot continue working due to their disability:

- Implement an automatic reinstatement system

- Implement a fast track reapplication to benefits

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Automatic Reinstatement• Situation: A person with a disability is in employment but cannot continue working because of their disability

• In Canada, people on CPPD can ask to have their benefits automatically reinstated without having to go through the usual application process• Available for 2 years from the date benefits end

• Disability benefits are reinstated starting the month after the person became unable to work due to their disability

• There is no limit to how many times you can ask for your benefits to be reinstated.

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Fast Track Application• In Canada, if a person with a disability has worked longer than two years and they cannot continue to work

• They may be eligible for a fast-track reapplication—a simpler and faster process than filing a new application

• Fast-track reapplication is available for up to five years after your benefits stopped

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Earnings disregard• In Canada people with disabilities can earn up to $5,100 (€3,570) (before taxes) without telling the government and without losing their benefits

• If they earn more than this threshold, they must contact Service Canada

• Service Canada is a “one-stop shop” for access to a wide range of federal government services

• Person can do volunteer work, go back to school to upgrade or complete a degree, take a re-training programme: none of these activities affect the client’s income benefits

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Results of these measuresEvaluation of the CPPD program found that:

a.automatic reinstatement combined with the earnings disregard increase the employment of beneficiaries

b.Increased employment of 9.5% for women and 5.1% for men

c.No evidence of induced entry effect, that is, no increased uptake of the benefits

(Campolieti, Gunderson and Smith 2014)

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Summary: What works• No one measure in isolation

• A combination of many things

• Automatic reinstatement, earnings disregard and time limited benefits

• Providing a pathway into employment and a pathway to remain in employment

• Integrated system of employment supports across education, health, employment and transport

• Integrated national vocational rehabilitation systems

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Engagement & Partnership

• Engage people with disabilities and their support networks and employment services

• Engage and involve employers

• Develop mutually beneficial integrated partnerships between the two groups

• Increase employers’ awareness and understanding of supports

• Establish employer networks and peer support groups

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Monitor and Evaluate• Develop effective systems to capture reliable data

• Evaluate, review and provide evidence of: - What works? - Where (what countries does it work in)? - Why does it work? - How does it work? - Who does it work for?

• Evaluate quality and consistency of employment services and supports for people with disabilities and employers

• Develop necessary next steps to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities

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Thank you

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