Work Matters for Everyone: Task force recommendations for employing Alaskans with disabilities.

• Author: Pesznecker, Katie

Both of Duane Mayes' parents are deaf and communicate through sign language. When Mayes was growing up, his father worked as a press machine operator for a local newspaper in their small town.

"Over the years, he was visibly disappointed that he was not keeping up in terms of pay with others working in the same position without disability," Mayes recalls. "He worked there for years and did not get a raise."

At the time, the federal government commonly approved waivers for states to pay people with disabilities less than minimum wage and less than their peers, even in integrated settings where people performed the same tasks. Often, when people with disabilities had jobs, they were segregated into workshops alongside other disabled people--an isolating practice that did nothing to support socialization and well-being.

The newspaper press was integrated, yet deafness still set Mayes' father apart. "I remember as a little boy, going in and watching him work this big press machine, and I was proud of him," Mayes says. "But I remember the day he walked through the door and was crying and said, 'I can't take it anymore,' because he wasn't being paid proportionally. So it's personal for Patrick and I, people being paid for what they deserve."

Patrick Reinhart is executive director of the Governor's Council on Disabilities and Special Education, and Mayes is director of labor and workforce development in the Alaska Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR). Together, they co-chaired the Alaska Work Matters Task Force, convened in early 2021 by Governor Mike Dunleavy. The twenty-four-member group reviewed and analyzed existing policies, practices, procedures, barriers, and workforce utilization data regarding the employment of people with disabilities in Alaska.

The panel produced a report that includes sweeping recommendations for legislation and for executive branch departments, agencies, and commissions.

"Duane and I have been around for many years in state government, and we've had multiple conferences and meetings about employment with people with disabilities over the years," Reinhart says, "but this was the first dedicated effort within state government to cross all departments involved with this issue and ask what the state can do to improve employment for people with disabilities."

Overcoming Barriers

Part of the report documents the glaring disparity of employment of people with disabilities. Data sets from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau's American Community Survey show that 35.1 to 51 percent of Alaskans with disabilities are employed, compared to between 76.3 and 80 percent of working-age Alaskans without disabilities.

"It's very clear that people with disabilities are underrepresented," says Steve Williams, CEO of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, which co-led the task force along with Governor's Council on Disabilities and Special Education.

The trust serves Alaskans who experience mental illness, developmental disabilities, chronic alcohol or drug addiction, Alzheimer's disease and related dementia, and traumatic brain injuries. Williams says that connecting a person with disabilities with a meaningful and integrated employment opportunity provides structure and routine that can be foundational to recovery or living a fulfilling life.

"The underlying premise here is that, just like anyone else, people experiencing a disability want...