Employment Guides for People with Disabilities

This guide was designed for people who want to improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities including Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) employees, contracted case managers and service coordinators, service providers, and people who receive HHSC services and their families.

View the HHSC Employment Guide for People with Disabilities (PDF).

While some parts of the guide focus on employment services programs, the rest applies to all HHSC program participants. As such, all stakeholders are encouraged to use it.

Highlights include:

• Recommended roles and responsibilities at each stage of a job search
• Strategies for overcoming the transportation obstacle
• Tools and guidance for coordinating services with the Texas Workforce Solutions - Vocational Rehabilitation Services
• Index of HHSC rules related to employment supports
• Information about Medicaid Buy-In, and other ways to maintain needed services while working
• Description of Social Security Administration work incentives

Family Focus Employment Guides

In 2022, HHSC hosted roundtable discussions with focus groups made up of people with disabilities, family members, advocates, guardians, and other stakeholders to identify barriers to employment for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The Family Focus Employment Guides were developed to address the barriers identified in those discussions.

Who should use these guides:

• Job Seekers: People with IDD seeking employment; and
• Family, friends, and advocates of people with IDD seeking employment.

Highlights include:

• Employment assistance (EA)
• Supported employment (SE)
• Contacting Texas Workforce Commission (TWC)
• Contacting the Social Security Administration (SSA)
• Ticket to Work

Family Focus Employment Guide: Job Seekers (PDF)
Family Focus Employment Guide: Family, Friends, and Advocates (PDF)

Transition to Competitive Integrated Employment Toolkit

The Transition to Competitive Integrated Employment Toolkit will assist service providers in transitioning from a heavy focus on day habilitation and sheltered workshop services to employment services leading to competitive, integrated employment in the community as required by the HCBS Settings Rule.

The expected benefit is that service providers will have a guide to assist them in helping the people they serve, who are interested in working in a community setting, achieve the goal of competitive, integrated employment. This will support the purpose of increasing competitive integrated employment rates within the IDD population.

Highlights include:

• The Texas HHS Employment First Discovery Tool
• Referrals to Texas Workforce Solutions – Vocational Rehabilitation Services and school districts
• Application and Eligibility
• Waiver employment services

Transition to Competitive Integrated Employment Toolkit (PDF)