For National Disability Employment Awareness Month the Administration for Community Living (ACL) released information to help people understand Employment First policies. Employment First is the belief that every person with a disability has a right to work in the community if that is something they want to do.
ACL has shared resources created to educate people about what Employment First policy is and empower more people to participate in disability employment policy-making:
- “What is Employment First?” is a short video created by the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration (which is both our Research and Training Center on Community Living and a University Center for Excellence in Development Disabilities Education, Research and Service). It offers a concise, plain-language description of the Employment First movement and approach.
- “Real Work For Real Pay: A Self-Advocate’s Guide to Employment Policy” is a new toolkit developed by the by ACL’s Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center. The guide explains the “Employment First” approach in an “Easy Read” format that uses simple language, pictures, and increased white space to maximize accessibility.
In case you missed it, ACL’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month webpage can point you to a collection of NDEAM materials and disability employment resources.