Employment First Act

The act establishes competitive integrated employment — work in a typical workplace setting, at prevailing wages, alongside people without disabilities — as the first and preferred outcome for individuals with disabilities served by public programs, and directs that state policy be applied consistently with that priority. It defines the core terms used to carry that policy out, including competitive integrated employment, individual with a disability, informed choice, self-employment, transition services, and which entities count as state agencies. Its principal mechanisms require state agencies to coordinate their efforts, share data, and adopt implementing rules regarding the employment of individuals with disabilities, and make obtaining competitive integrated employment an objective of the transition services provided to children with disabilities as they move from school toward adult life.

Editorial summary generated from the text of this act. It is not part of the statute — read the sections below for the operative language.