North Carolina has been awarded a $13.8 million federal grant to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities access inclusive jobs with competitive wages and benefits. As part of the project, three regional sites will provide intensive support and training to increase access to jobs in growing employment sectors.

The five-year grant is part of $177 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Rehabilitation Services Administration for Subminimum Wage to Competitive Integrated Employment demonstration projects. 

“Building a strong and inclusive workforce is a top priority for our department and our state," said NCDHHS Secretary Kody H. Kinsley in a press release. "Working a community job, alongside people with and without disabilities and earning the same wages and benefits as others doing the same job, has a positive impact in the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This historic investment will help North Carolina make progress towards the strategic priorities in our state’s Olmstead Plan.”

The demonstration project includes enhanced training for NCDHHS partners, including service providers and employers, to increase their capacity to effectively support individuals with complex needs as they transition to competitive integrated employment. North Carolina’s demonstration project will benefit greatly from a stakeholder advisory council which includes individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families, service providers, employers and other key system partners.

Kathie Trotter, leader of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services at NCDHHS, expressed gratitude for the extreme support North Carolina’s SWTCIE proposal garnered: “I want to thank the internal and external partners who provided feedback on our proposal, submitted letters of support and voiced their commitment to our common goal of increasing opportunities for people with disabilities to find and keep good-paying, community jobs.”