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Employment Policy Imperatives for Georgians with Disabilities

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See below for status of each policy imperative
and where you can find additional information. 

2024 Employment Policy Imperatives for Georgians with Disabilities

To realize the contributions of Georgia citizens with disabilities to the economic life of our state, a coordinated and focused approach to policymaking should be pursued and include the following steps:

STEP 1:

State as Model Employer

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Status: A bill known as GAME or Georgia as Model Employer was passed in the spring of 2024. Georgia state agencies, including their regional and local sites, will increase their recruitment, and retention of workers with disabilities. The short bill can be found here: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/66275 

STEP 2:

Phase out the use of subminimum wages in Georgia by 2024. 

Status: House Bill 1125 was passed unanimously in the House but failed to get a vote in the Senate. A recent news article praised the bipartisan approach: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/04/georgia-republicans-bipartisan-disability-workers-sub-minimum-wage/  Advocates will continue to push this issue as an outdated, unnecessary and discriminatory practice that should end as it has in 17 other states.  

STEP 3:

Create a pilot project(s) to demonstrate the use of paid co-worker supports as an alternative to traditional job coaching.

Status: This project is successful in Wisconsin and to that end we have had meetings, webinars, and discussions to bring this tool to Georgia. With turnover of staff at all-time highs, and employers demanding better job coaching models, we must find the will to add this crucial practice to our supported employment efforts. https://itacchelp.org/wisconsin-partners-with-business-initiative/ 

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STEP 4:

Enact the self-employment policy recommendations provided to GVRA in 2018 so that microenterprise is an option for Georgians with disabilities. 

Status: In 2020, we were asked to create policy recommendations to improve GVRA’s approach to self-employment. A set of suggested changes, including training for VR counselors and provider agencies, was submitted to the state agency. The policies were updated, and training is set to start in the fall of 2024.  

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