Welcome to EFM!

Employment First 2.0 Forum

For those who were unable to participate in the EFM 2.0 Forum, and those who want to check it out again, now you can! Click below to view a recording of this event. The PowerPoint presentation is also available for download and viewing.

Maine has made great strides in improving employment outcomes, first by the passage of the Employment First Maine Act in 2013 and second through the elimination of subminimum wage in 2020, but there is still much work to be done. This year, Disability Rights Maine (DRM) is celebrating NDEAM by hosting our first Employment First Maine Forum as we work to reimagine and reignite a new Employment First Coalition, and in turn, further advocate for the employment of people with disabilities. Throughout October, our staff will be conducting interviews with stakeholders and interested individuals regarding the status of Employment First. If you would like to provide feedback, please email Julia Endicott at jendicott@drme.org.

We also invite you to join us on October 28th from 3:30-5:30pm for the First Employment First Maine 2.0 Forum. You can register for this event here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/employmentfirstforum2021

Maine E1st Conference - October 2020

Download/view a PDF of "Employment First in Maine: Looking Back, knowing now, Moving forward". Presentation by Dr. Lisa A. Mills, PhD.

Participant Responses to Employment First Recommendations

(July 2018)

2018 Report to the Joint Standing Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development

EFM Coalition Final Report, Updated June 2017

Letter from Commissioners in Response to EFM Report

Subminimum Wage Changes Catch States ‘Flat-Footed’

Disability Scoop (August 2016)

MINNEAPOLIS — After years of deliberation, state workforce regulators in Minnesota and across the nation are preparing to enforce tough new limits on paying people with disabilities less than the minimum wage, a practice that has long been decried by civil rights advocates as discriminatory. (full story)

New Restrictions on Subminimum Wage Go into Effect Today

APSE (July 2016)

As a result of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), new restrictions on subminimum wage go into effect today, Friday July 22nd. The information below outlines these new requirements. Given APSE's long-standing call for phasing out subminimum wage, APSE is pleased to see efforts to limit its use. It is critically important for APSE members and other advocates to be aware of these new requirements, and ensure they are fully enforced in a way that does not result simply in a "checklist" approach so that an individual can be paid subminimum wage. (More Info)

Landmark Sub-Minimum Wage Decision, Ordering Back Pay and Fair Wages

Disability Rights Ohio (February 2016) Link to Article

Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities

Interim Report to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez (September 2015)

Nineteen Core States in FY2016: ODEP's Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program is Growing Strong

The Office of Disability Employment Policy has selected the core states in ODEP's Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program (EFSLMP) for FY 2016: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Utah. Since its inception in FY2012, the EFSLMP has provided intensive onsite and virtual technical assistance to cross-system state government teams to further their efforts to increase competitive, integrated employment outcomes for all individuals with disabilities. In addition to the EFSLMP technical assistance offerings to its core states, ODEP will continue to host its virtual National Employment First Community of Practice, which now includes approximately 1,200 participants across 44 states. Webinars are held monthly, and membership is open to disability policy stakeholders in all fifty states. Click Here for More Information

Recruiting, Hiring, Retaining & Promoting People with Disabilities: A Guide for Employers

This guide has information to help businesses include people with disabilities in their workforce. Learn about reasonable accommodations and employment laws. Developed as part of Curb Cuts to the Middle Class, a federal initiative to increase equal employment opportunities and financial independence for people with disabilities.

Employment First National Perspective

PowerPoint Presentation by Stephen Hall, Ph.D. (April 2015)

A Review of Maine DHHS’s Draft Transition Plan for Complying with New HCBS Rules

Ensuring the Alignment with Maine’s Employment First Law by Lisa Mills, Ph.D.

EFM Summit Feedback

"What's It Going to Take to Make EF Happen?"

Final Report from the Independent Living and Disability Commission

Includes legislative recommendations on education, transportation, etc.

Poverty, Employment, and Disability: The Next Great Civil Rights Battle

From the American Bar Association’s Human Rights Magazine

Employment First Self-Advocacy Guide - APSE (PDF)

Maine's Employment Policy for Individuals Served

Employment First Maine: An Overview of EFM's First Year

Leading Employment First Change at the Local Level

Cary Griffin, Senior Partner, Griffin-Hammis Associates

An EFM Overview

Lisa Sturtevant, Employment Coordinator with DHHS/OADS, developed this quick overview presentation on EFM

Delivering the Good Stuff

Debbie Gilmer, EFM Coalition member, serves as a national subject matter expert with ODEP. Check out Debbie's blog post Delivering the Good Stuff: Collaboration and Commitment are Keys to a Quality Workforce.

Employment First Maine (EFM) is a broad based coalition of individuals with disabilities, families, advocates, providers and state agency representatives committed to improving and enhancing employment outcomes for Maine citizens with disabilities, including veterans with service-connected disabilities. EFM has worked for over 18 months, participated in the national Alliance for Full Participation and is now an active member of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy’s Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program’s Community of Practice.