SACRAMENTO – On Wednesday, the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) was awarded $14 million by the U.S. Department of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to fund the Sub-minimum Wage to Competitive Integrated Employment (SWTCIE) project, a multi-agency, collaborative effort. The RSA provides five-year grants to states for phasing out sub-minimum wage in favor of Competitive Integrated Employment for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).
"SCDD is excited about California's SWTCIE award!" said Council Chair and Employment First Committee Chair Wesley Witherspoon of the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities (SCDD). "Moving people out of subminimum wage will take many different services and supports."
SWTCIE funds will provide innovative design of necessary resources and support to self-advocates and their family members to ensure that employees with disabilities receive needs-based services. These services will be available to people currently working in or diverted to sub-minimum wage employment.
"Meeting the needs and interests of individuals who are members of our diverse population includes expanding ways for self-advocates who have I/DD to access post-secondary education," said Deputy Director and national employment subject matter expert Tania Morawiec of SCDD. "Customized employment access, meaningful career exploration via discovery, and essential skills training come together in the SWTCIE."
Witherspoon says community college attendance can lead to meaningful integration and higher-paying jobs in growth industries for people with disabilities. "We are happy to support DORs SWTCIE effort and look forward to partnering with them."
Today, approximately 5,000 Californians with disabilities work in sheltered (segregated) workshops for wages of as little as 15 cents an hour. In 2021 the passage of SB 639 (Durazo), a bill co-sponsored by SCDD, began the transition away from the state's outdated federal 14(c) waiver program. This program allows employers holding a 14(c) certificate from the U.S. Department of Labor to pay individuals with disabilities less than minimum wage.
"This effort is one of many that will help support job seekers who have disabilities. In this path toward competitive integrated employment, we want to make sure that people have choices and that nobody who wants to work gets left behind," Morawiec said.
Through consultation with stakeholders and relevant state agencies, a requirement of SB 639, the SCDD will publish a multi-year plan report due in January 2023. The report will include recommendations about how to phase out the practice of paying people wages less than the state or federally mandated minimum. By January 1, 2025, paying an employee with physical or mental disabilities less than the legal minimum wage in California will be illegal.
The California State Council on Developmental Disabilities invites self-advocates and their families to make their voices heard and contribute to the content of the upcoming report by participating through their SB 639 letter-writing campaign here: https://scdd.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6tJz804hRtUlX5c.
