Toward an Understanding of Effective Practices in Employment Programs for People with Disabilities in California
July 7, 2020
By Manushri Desai, Shivam Saran
In the past two decades, equal opportunities for people with disabilities (PWDs) have been outlined and guaranteed through two federal acts: the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and the 2014 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Intended to increase access to high-quality workforce services and preparation for competitive integrated employment, these federal acts set precedent for statewide employment programs for PWDs. Despite continued efforts to provide greater employment opportunities to people with disabilities, their employment rate in California remains only 33.8 percent.
In “Toward an Understanding of Effective Practices in Employment Programs for People with Disabilities in California,” Roosevelt Network Summer Fellows Manushri Desai and Shivam Saran analyze various initiatives to increase employment for and accommodate PWDs in the California workforce and argue that, on the basis of California’s legislative precedents, only providing equal treatment for PWDs once they have entered the workplace has not been effective at increasing employment rates for PWDs.