The Honorable Scott Wiener
Chair, Senate Budget Committee
1021 O Street, Suite 8620
Sacramento, CA 95814

The Honorable Jesse Gabriel
Chair, Assembly Budget Committee
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 95814

The Honorable Caroline Menjivar
Chair, Senate Budget Subcommittee #3
1021 O Street, Suite 6720
Sacramento, CA 95814

The Honorable Dr. Corey Jackson
Chair, Assembly Budget Subcommittee #2
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0060

Subject: Governor’s 2024-25 May Revision Proposal “Office of Employment First and Naming the Department of Rehabilitation”

The signers of this letter and the organizations they represent appreciate the Governor’s support of the Employment First Office (EFO) but oppose moving this Office to the newly named Disability Works California. We ask that it stay in the Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS).

Like all people with disabilities, Californians with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) deserve to get the supports they need to live the lives they want when they need them. The creation of the EFO in last year’s budget represented a major step towards creating a more seamless system of supports for Californians with IDD who want to work. Its placement at CalHHS, which plays a critical role in coordinating services across health and human services systems, signaled a renewed commitment for that system to be driven more by the needs of people it serves than by the siloed structures of state departments, programs and funding streams. The proposed move of the office would represent a disappointing step back from that commitment.

Current and recent efforts to promote cross-agency collaboration around competitive integrated employment (CIE) in California, such as the CIE Blueprint and the Employment First Committee, have proven insufficient to reach consensus around state-level goals or achieve alignment of CIE initiatives across departments. Instead, the Department of Developmental Services, the Department of Rehabilitation, the Department of Education, workforce development boards, and other stakeholders continue to develop and launch their own CIE initiatives with minimal coordination with other departments. As a result, despite unprecedented workforce challenges across the state, a potential workforce that wants to work is going untapped due to misaligned efforts and missed opportunities to leverage resources. This fragmented approach has led to barriers that prevent people with disabilities who want to work from being able to access the opportunities and support they may need to do so.

The lack of coordination has human impacts. Despite adopting an Employment First Policy in 2013, California’s employment rates for adults with IDD remain abysmally low, never exceeding 18%. In 2022, the employment rate was 13.8% for adults with IDD compared to 61.9% for adults without disabilities. State services and systems must do better to make this goal a reality.

Placing the office at CalHHS ensures strategic alignment of vision and responsibility among diverse participants in different departments. Indeed, the most requested and needed reforms suggested by disabled individuals, service providers, and national experts alike require major structural changes— such as fiscally responsible payment structures that support best practices and shifts in systemwide norms and expectations--- that cannot be addressed by one department alone. Even in the context of subminimum wage phase-out, a national subject matter expert consulting with California has stated that “the responsibility for implementing [sub-minimum wage phase-out] successfully must transcend any one agency and ultimately is an overall state executive function responsibility.”

Finally, current statute charges the EFO with providing leadership and technical assistance around best practices and effective partnerships regarding the employment of Californians with IDD. No matter where it is placed, for the office to succeed in its mission, it must address specific best practices for braiding federal and state funding streams, restructuring rates to incentivize improved employment outcomes, and promoting the integration and continuity of supports across departments to achieve employment.

We urge the Legislature to reject the proposed move of the EFO, and appreciate your leadership on this important goal.

Sincerely,
Autism Society Inland Empire
California Association of People Supporting Employment First
California Community Living Network
California Disability Aging Community Action Network
California Disability Services Association
California TASH
Disability Rights California
Disability Voices United
Integrated Community Collaborative

Cc: Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas and Senate President Pro Tempore Senator Mike McGuire
Nancy Bargmann, Department of Developmental Services
Carla Castaneda, Department of Developmental Services
Brian Winfield, Department of Developmental Services
Pete Cervinka, Department of Developmental Services
Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary, Health and Human Services Agency Debra Cooper, Health and Human Services Agency
Brendan McCarthy, Health and Human Services Agency
Marko Mijic, Health and Human Services Agency
Chris Odneal, Department of Finance
Joe Xavier, Department of Rehabilitation
Victor Duron, Department of Rehabilitation
Mareva Brown, Office of the Senate President Pro Tem
Elizabeth Schmitt, Senate Subcommittee #3 on Health and Human Services
Kelsy Castillo, Office of the Speaker of the Assembly
Nicole Vazquez, Assembly Subcommittee #2 on Human Services
Karina Hendren, Legislative Analyst’s Office
Mark Newton, Legislative Analyst’s Office