California has a Competitive Integrated Employment Blueprint. It says people with disabilities can work with people without disabilities. It makes sure people earn minimum wages. To find out more, keep reading.

Disability Rights California applauds the historic step taken by California to transform its employment services to better support individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. With the finalization of the Competitive Integrated Employment Blueprint, the state moves away from a model of segregated job sites, and instead joins an emerging national movement that recognizes the right of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to work in integrated settings earning a livable wage.

Several major outcomes of the Blueprint (effective 2017-2022) include:

• Improved coordination between state agencies that provide employment services.
• Additional support for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to earn a competitive wage in integrated settings.
• A commitment that by March 2019, the state will no longer place or serve individuals in segregated work settings, including sheltered workshops. The state will also provide individual planning and supports to help individuals in these settings develop alternative pathways to employment.
• Immediate restrictions on the state’s ability to place individuals under 24 years old in jobs earning less than minimum wage.

The Blueprint is the combined effort of the California Department of Education, California Department of Rehabilitation, and the California Department of Developmental Services. The three departments worked in partnership with a number of stakeholders, including Disability Rights California, the federally mandated protection and advocacy agency for Californians with disabilities.