Episode 12: Increasing Employment Outcomes

Lisa Mills, Owner, Moving to a Different Drum, Disability Policy and Services Consulting, discusses the importance of disability inclusive employment policy, emphasizing the need to integrate people with disabilities into the workforce. They highlight the Social Security Administration’s definition of disability as an inability to work, which discourages employment. Mills advocates for policies that assume people with disabilities can work and suggests sequencing, braiding, and blending resources across funding sources such as vocational rehabilitation, Medicaid, and Ticket to Work to support employment. She cites examples from states like Tennessee and Wisconsin, where innovative models have improved employment outcomes. Mills calls for more empirical research to validate these approaches and urges federal support for state pilot programs.

• LISTEN: Spotify Episode 12: Increasing Employment Outcomes
  Web: open.spotify.com/episode/4jR3QACNnrhUO3T7wiVp4V
• TRANSCRIPT: Transcript – Episode 12: Increasing Employment Outcomes (PDF)