Employment Equity for People With IDD Across the Lifespan: The Effects of State Funding

In the last decade, major strides have been made to elevate the importance of employment for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Despite progress, improvement in employment outcomes remain modest. Using extant data, a sample of 9,871 adults with IDD accessing Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services waiver services across 33 states were studied using hierarchical modeling to understand the effects of age on employment as well as assess how state fiscal effort toward integrated employment services affects employment equity across the lifespan. Key findings showed young and older adults experienced the lowest employment outcomes. The effects of age, however, were moderated in states with higher fiscal effort to integrated employment services. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.