Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 533 To assist employers providing employment under special certificates issued under section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 in trans- forming their business and program models to models that support people with disabilities through competitive integrated employment, to phase out the use of such special certificates, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 27, 2023 Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. DAINES) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To assist employers providing employment under special cer- tificates issued under section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 in transforming their business and program models to models that support people with disabilities through competitive integrated employment, to phase out the use of such special certificates, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S533.IS S533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 533 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transformation to 2 Competitive Integrated Employment Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 4 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. Sec. 3. Purposes. TITLE I—COMPETITIVE INTEGRATED EMPLOYMENT TRANSFORMATION GRANT PROGRAMS Sec. 101. Program authorized. Sec. 102. State grant program. Sec. 103. Certificate holder grant program. TITLE II—PHASE OUT OF SPECIAL CERTIFICATES UNDER SECTION 14(c) OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938 Sec. 201. Transition to fair wages for people with disabilities. Sec. 202. Prohibition on new special certificates; sunset. TITLE III—TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND DISSEMINATION Sec. 301. Technical Assistance and dissemination. TITLE IV—REPORTING AND EVALUATION Sec. 401. Impact evaluation and reporting. Sec. 402. Wage and hour reports. TITLE V—GENERAL PROVISIONS Sec. 501. Definitions. Sec. 502. Authorization of appropriations. SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 5 The purposes of this Act are to— 6 (1) assist employers with special certificates 7 issued under section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Stand- 8 ards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 214(c)) to transform 9 their business and program operations to models 10 that support people with disabilities to find and re- 11 tain work in competitive integrated employment; 12 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S533.IS S533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 533 IS (2) ensure people with disabilities, families of 1 such people, State and local governments, and other 2 stakeholders are involved in the transformations de- 3 scribed in paragraph (1); 4 (3) ensure people employed in programs using 5 such special certificates transition to competitive in- 6 tegrated employment positions and, as needed, to in- 7 tegrated services that support them in their homes 8 and in community settings; 9 (4) identify models and processes for shifting 10 business and program models from such special cer- 11 tificates to competitive integrated employment mod- 12 els and integrated community participation and 13 wraparound services, and to share that information 14 with other such special certificate holders, State and 15 local entities, and other service providers for people 16 with disabilities; and 17 (5) support States and local governments as 18 they revise and implement their Olmstead plans and 19 local plans, respectively, in order to improve com- 20 petitive integrated employment outcomes for people 21 with disabilities through all State workforce develop- 22 ment systems. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S533.IS S533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 533 IS TITLE I—COMPETITIVE INTE- 1 GRATED EMPLOYMENT 2 TRANSFORMATION GRANT 3 PROGRAMS 4 SEC. 101. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 5 From the amounts appropriated to carry out this 6 title, the Secretary of Labor shall award grants under sec- 7 tions 102 and 103, on a competitive basis, to States and 8 eligible entities to assist employers who were issued special 9 certificates in transforming their business and program 10 models from providing employment using such special cer- 11 tificates to business and program models that employ and 12 support people with disabilities by— 13 (1) providing competitive integrated employ- 14 ment, including by compensating all employees of 15 the employer at a rate that is— 16 (A) not less than the higher of the rate 17 specified in section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor 18 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) 19 or the rate specified in the applicable State or 20 local minimum wage law; and 21 (B) not less than the customary rate paid 22 by the employer for the same or similar work 23 performed by other employees who are not peo- 24 ple with disabilities, and who are similarly situ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S533.IS S533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 533 IS ated in similar occupations by the same em- 1 ployer and who have similar training, experi- 2 ence, and skills; 3 (2) assisting people with disabilities who were 4 employed by the employer in finding and retaining 5 work in competitive integrated employment, which 6 work may be with the employer after such trans- 7 formation or in another competitive integrated em- 8 ployment setting; 9 (3) providing integrated community participa- 10 tion and wraparound services for people with disabil- 11 ities; and 12 (4) ensuring all such services and other non- 13 employment services offered by the employer comply 14 with the requirements for home and community- 15 based services under the final rule of the Depart- 16 ment of Health and Human Services entitled ‘‘Med- 17 icaid Program; State Plan Home and Community- 18 Based Services, 5-Year Period for Waivers, Provider 19 Payment Reassignment, and Home and Community- 20 Based Setting Requirements for Community First 21 Choice and Home and Community-Based Services 22 (HCBS) Waivers’’ (79 Fed. Reg. 2948 (January 16, 23 2014)), or a successor rule. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S533.IS S533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 533 IS SEC. 102. STATE GRANT PROGRAM. 1 (a) APPLICATION.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 3 grant under this section, a State shall submit an ap- 4 plication to the Secretary at such time, in such man- 5 ner, and including such information as the Secretary 6 may reasonably require. 7 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 8 under paragraph (1) shall include— 9 (A) a description of the status of the em- 10 ployers in the State providing employment 11 using special certificates, including— 12 (i) the number of employers in the 13 State using special certificates to employ 14 and pay people with disabilities; 15 (ii) the number of employers described 16 in clause (i) that also employ people with 17 disabilities in competitive integrated em- 18 ployment, which shall include employers 19 providing such employment in combination 20 with integrated services; 21 (iii) the number of employees em- 22 ployed under a special certificate, 23 disaggregated by— 24 (I) employer; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S533.IS S533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 533 IS (II) demographic characteristics, 1 including gender, race, ethnicity, and 2 type of disability, unless indicating 3 such characteristics would disclose 4 personal identifying information; 5 (iv) the average, median, minimum, 6 and maximum number of hours such em- 7 ployees work per week, disaggregated by 8 employer, and reported for the State as a 9 whole; and 10 (v) the average, median, minimum, 11 and maximum hourly wage for such em- 12 ployees, disaggregated by employer, and 13 reported for the State as a whole; 14 (B) a description of the activities of the 15 State with respect to competitive integrated em- 16 ployment for people with disabilities, including, 17 as applicable— 18 (i) a copy of the State plan for car- 19 rying out the Employment First initiative; 20 (ii) a copy of the Olmstead plan of the 21 State; 22 (iii) a description of activities related 23 to the development and promotion of 24 ABLE accounts; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S533.IS S533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 533 IS (iv) a description of the medical as- 1 sistance provided by the State through a 2 Medicaid buy-in eligibility pathway under 3 subclause (XV) or (XVI) of section 4 1902(a)(10)(A)(ii) of the Social Security 5 Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)(A)(ii)), in- 6 cluding any premiums or other cost shar- 7 ing imposed on individuals who enroll in 8 the State Medicaid program through such 9 a pathway; 10 (C) a description of activities to be funded 11 under the grant, and the goals of such activi- 12 ties, including— 13 (i) the process to be used to identify 14 each employer in the State that will trans- 15 form its business and program models 16 from employing people with disabilities 17 using special certificates to employing peo- 18 ple with disabilities in competitive inte- 19 grated employment settings or settings in- 20 volving a combination of competitive inte- 21 grated employment and integrated services; 22 (ii) the number of such employers in 23 the State that will carry out a trans- 24 formation described in clause (i); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S533.IS S533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 533 IS (iii) the service delivery infrastructure 1 that will be implemented in the State to 2 support people with disabilities who have 3 been employed under special certificates 4 through such a transformation, including 5 providing enhanced integrated services to 6 support people with the most significant 7 disabilities; 8 (iv) a description of the process to re- 9 cruit and engage Federal, State, and local 10 governments and nonprofit and private em- 11 ployers to hire people with disabilities into 12 competitive integrated employment who 13 have been employed under special certifi- 14 cates; 15 (v) the competitive integrated employ- 16 ment and integrated services that will be 17 implemented in the State to support such 18 people; 19 (vi) a timeline for assisting employers 20 that operate in the State in phasing out 21 employment using special certificates, 22 which shall not extend past the date on 23 which the legal effect of such certificates 24 expires under section 14(c)(7) of the Fair 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S533.IS S533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 533 IS Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 1 214(c)(7)), as added by title II; 2 (vii) a timeline for the expansion of 3 employers that will provide competitive in- 4 tegrated employment, or a combination of 5 competitive integrated employment and in- 6 tegrated services, to people with disabilities 7 who have been employed by such employers 8 under special certificates; 9 (viii) a description of the expanded 10 competitive integrated employment and in- 11 tegrated services to be provided to such 12 people as a result of transformations de- 13 scribed in clause (i); and 14 (ix) a description of the process to be 15 used to engage stakeholders in such trans- 16 formations; 17 (D) a description of how the activities 18 under the grant will coordinate and align Fed- 19 eral, State, and local programs, agencies, and 20 funding in the transformations described in 21 subparagraph (C)(i); 22 (E) a description of the State’s evaluation 23 plan to determine the social and economic im- 24 pact of the grant, including the impact (as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S533.IS S533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 533 IS measured throughout the transformation and 1 the 2-year period after the State has assisted 2 employers in phasing out employment using 3 special certificates) on— 4 (i) the employment status of people 5 with disabilities in the State, including the 6 number of hours worked, average wages, 7 and job satisfaction, of such people; and 8 (ii) changes in provider capacity to 9 support competitive integrated employment 10 and integrated services; 11 (F) assurances that— 12 (i) the activities carried out under the 13 grant will result in each employer in the 14 State that provides employment using spe- 15 cial certificates on the date of enactment of 16 this Act transforming as described in sub- 17 paragraph (C)(i); 18 (ii) people with the most significant 19 disabilities, including intellectual and de- 20 velopmental disabilities, who will be af- 21 fected by such a transformation will be 22 given priority in receiving the necessary 23 competitive integrated employment sup- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S533.IS S533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 533 IS ports and integrated services to succeed 1 during and after such a transformation; 2 (iii) each individual in the State who 3 is employed under a special certificate will, 4 as a result of such a transformation, be 5 given an opportunity to be employed in 6 competitive integrated employment; 7 (iv) at a minimum, the State agencies 8 responsible for developmental disability 9 services, Medicaid, education, vocational 10 rehabilitation, mental health services, 11 transportation, and workforce development 12 agree to be partners in the goals of the 13 grant; 14 (v) until the date that is 2 years after 15 the legal effect of special certificates ex- 16 pires under section 14(c)(7) of the Fair 17 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 18 214(c)(7)), as added by title II, the State 19 will comply with requirements of the Sec- 20 retary with respect to the collection of 21 data, and will require employers providing 22 employment under special certificates in 23 the State to comply with such require- 24 ments; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S533.IS S533 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 533 IS (vi) the State will cooperate with the 1 evaluation under t [Text truncated for display. 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