Kansas launches pilot program to help people with disabilities find and keep employment
A new employment program for people with disabilities in Kansas launched earlier this month by the state is intended to help participants gradually decrease reliance on public benefits and increase their income.
Supports and Training for Employing People Successfully, or STEPS, launched July 1 as a pilot program under the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
In order to be eligible, a worker must be a recipient of KanCare aged 16 to 65.
They must also meet one of the following criteria:
Receive SSI or SSDI and have one or more qualifying behavioral health diagnoses
Receive SSI and are waitlisted for the Physical Disability or Intellectual or Developmental Disability home and community-based services waiver
Be current on the Brain Injury, Physical Disability, or Intellectual or Developmental Disability home and community-based services waiver but who wish to leave their waiver to participate in STEPS
Qualifying behavioral health diagnoses include schizophrenia, bipolar and major depression, delusional disorders, personality disorders, psychosis not otherwise specified, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder.
The program is facilitated by a community services coordinator who helps participants prepare for employment. The community agencies that provide STEPS services should have the experience to support people with disabilities.
The program also aims to help people increase their independence, receive and preserve health care coverage and provide ongoing support to maintain their employment.
STEPS is scheduled to run through 2023 and could be extended if it is successful.
Under federal labor law, employers can pay some workers who experience physical or mental disabilities less than the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
For more information about STEPS, visit www.kancare.ks.gov/consumers/working-healthy/steps.
To enroll or to ask questions about STEPS, contact program manager Erin Sanders-Hahs at Erin.SandersHahs@ks.gov. Community providers who are interested in participating or learning more are also encouraged to contact the program manager.
This story was originally published July 27, 2021 at 10:19 AM.
