Georgia SWTCIE Project

With funding available through the Rehabilitation Services Administration’s Disability Innovation Fund, the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA) and Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability (DBHDD) are implementing a five-year project that will transition individuals with disabilities from subminimum wage employment to competitive integrated employment (SWTCIE).

Dubbed “Georgia SWTCIE,” the project incorporates important partnerships between GVRA, DBHDD, Georgia Department of Education, local school districts, community rehabilitation providers, and other entities to ensure participant success and positive employment outcomes.

GVRA and DBHDD will work with community rehabilitation providers and employers holding 14(c) certificates across the state to coordinate programming for the grant. The coordination with schools will include working with students to encourage pursuit of competitive integrated employment (CIE), instead of subminimum wage opportunities.

The first year will be a planning year to set the stage for piloting the project.  Work will begin in the second year at a pilot site and then be replicated across the state at other sites in the remaining three years.

Approaches to support CIE opportunities:

• Supported Employment: Traditional and Customized (Discovery)
• Person-Centered Employment Planning, Transition IEP, and VR IPE
• Job-Finding and Job Match
• Benefit Counseling (DB101)
• Inclusive Apprenticeships and Internships
• Assistive Work Technology (AWT)
• Wraparound Supports for Individuals after Placement
• Other Vocational Rehabilitation Agency Services
• Strategies to Ensure Equal Access and Treatment

Important project updates and milestones will be shared on this page, as well as links to websites for our strategic partners.  For more information about this project, please contact GVRA at [email protected].

Project Partners:

Rehabilitation Services Administration

https://rsa.ed.gov

Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities

https://dbhdd.georgia.gov

Georgia Department of Education

https://www.gadoe.org

Creative Enterprises

https://www.creativeenterprises.org

UGA Institute on Human Development and Disability

https://www.fcs.uga.edu/ihdd

The contents of this website were developed under a grant number H421D220006 from the Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. §§ 1221e-3 and 3474)