ICI staff Briefed President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities on Employment

The ICI’s Jean Winsor and John Butterworth of the State Employment Leadership Network and ThinkWork briefed the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities (PCPID) on emerging employment strategies for people with intellectual disabilities (ID).

Their presentation highlighted the promising increase of people with ID participating in integrated employment, which is at its highest since 2001. Jean and John also shared helpful feedback from families who received employment services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, they emphasized the ID systems’ critical needs: a clear pathway from non-work to work, the belief that people can work, responsive goals and action steps toward integrated employment, and a fundamental shift in how we approach employment supports.

Jim Brett chaired this meeting. Jim was recently appointed to chair the PCPID by President Joe Biden. Jim also serves as Vice Chairman on the National Council on Disability, and as Chair of the Massachusetts Governor’s Commission on Intellectual Disability and the Disabled Persons Protection Commission. UMass Boston established the James T. Brett Chair in Disability and Workforce Development in 2013.