Employment for Individuals on a Waiting List: A Case Study on Using State Legislature's Funds
Publication Year: 2013
This case study focuses on the efforts made by the Utah state Office of Rehabilitation to use funds available from the state legislature. Utah's office of rehabilitation used state legislature to fund long-term supported employment for individuals on a waiting list.
In 2006, Utah’s developmental disability agency, the Division of Services for People with Disabilities (DSPD), was faced with a waiting list that reached 2,012 people due to budget limitations. The Utah State Office of Rehabilitation (USOR), DSPD, and the Utah state legislature created House Bill 31 to fund a pilot project that provided long-term supported employment (SE) for 100 individuals with disabilities in fiscal years (FY) 2007 and 2008. In 2008, House Bill 45 was passed to continue funding long-term SE through a special pool of state dollars that would serve individuals on the DSPD waiting list.