Commentary on “Employment for all: United States Disability Policy”

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on Rebecca Monteleone’s paper “Employment for all: United States Disability Policy” and provides a commentary on its implications for the UK. Design/methodology/approach – The approach is to provide a comparison of the situation described in the article for the USA with that of the UK. Findings – There has been significant progress in legislation and policy relevant to the employment of people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) in the USA. They have achieved higher employment rates than the UK, but are still at lower levels of employment than other citizens. The importance of collecting data on the employment rates of people with ID to monitor policy effectiveness is clear. The US has a more comprehensive approach to transition to employment that the UK could learn from. The importance of job coaching to community-based employment is highlighted. The balance of investment between community and sheltered jobs appears to be the key to further growth of community-based employment rates. The detailed impact of welfare benefit regulation is important to motivation to work and changes need to be monitored from an ID perspective. Originality/value – This paper contributes to cross-cultural policy comparisons and underlines the value of comparing and contrasting legislation, policy and outcomes across countries.