2010 California Code
Welfare and Institutions Code
Chapter 14. Employment

4868.  (a) The State Council on Developmental Disabilities shall
form a standing Employment First Committee consisting of the
following members:
   (1) One designee of each of the members of the state council
specified in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), (F), and (H) of paragraph
(2) of subdivision (b) of Section 4521.
   (2) A member of the consumer advisory committee of the state
council.
   (b) In carrying out the requirements of this section, the
committee shall meet and consult, as appropriate, with other state
and local agencies and organizations, including, but not limited to,
the Employment Development Department, the Association of Regional
Center Agencies, one or more supported employment provider
organizations, an organized labor organization representing service
coordination staff, and one or more consumer family member
organizations.
   (c) The responsibilities of the committee shall include, but need
not be limited to, all of the following:
   (1) Identifying the respective roles and responsibilities of state
and local agencies in enhancing integrated and gainful employment
opportunities for people with developmental disabilities.
   (2) Identifying strategies, best practices, and incentives for
increasing integrated employment and gainful employment opportunities
for people with developmental disabilities, including, but not
limited to, ways to improve the transition planning process for
students 14 years of age or older, and to develop partnerships with,
and increase participation by, public and private employers and job
developers.
   (3) Identifying existing sources of employment data and
recommending goals for, and approaches to measuring progress in,
increasing integrated employment and gainful employment of people
with developmental disabilities.
   (4) Recommending legislative, regulatory, and policy changes for
increasing the number of individuals with developmental disabilities
in integrated employment, self-employment, and microenterprises, and
who earn wages at or above minimum wage, including, but not limited
to, recommendations for improving transition planning and services
for students with developmental disabilities who are 14 years of age
or older. This shall include, but shall not be limited to, the
development of an Employment First Policy, the intended outcome of
which is a significant increase in the number of individuals with
developmental disabilities who engage in integrated employment,
self-employment, and microenterprises, and in the number of
individuals who earn wages at or above minimum wage. This proposed
policy shall be in furtherance of the intent of this division that
services and supports be available to enable persons with
developmental disabilities to approximate the pattern of everyday
living available to people without disabilities of the same age and
that support their integration into the mainstream life of the
community, and that those services and supports result in more
independent, productive, and normal lives for the persons served. The
proposed Employment First Policy shall not limit service and support
options otherwise available to consumers, or the rights of
consumers, or, where appropriate, parents, legal guardians, or
conservators to make choices in their own lives.
   (d) For purposes of this chapter, "integrated employment" shall
have the same definition as "integrated work" as defined in
subdivision (o) of Section 4851.
   (e) The committee, by July 1, 2011, and annually thereafter, shall
provide a report to the appropriate policy committees of the
Legislature and to the Governor describing its work and
recommendations. The report due by July 1, 2011, shall include the
proposed Employment First Policy described in paragraph (4) of
subdivision (c).