Expert Update: Advancing Employment to End Subminimum Wages

Tracy Rackensperger is faculty member of the University of Georgia (UGA) Institute on Human Development and Disability (IHDD). She serves as the resource and outreach manager for the Advancing Employment program, a technical assistance center for best practices in employment support, particularly concerning employees with disabilities. The program aims to transition workers out of subminimum wage jobs in sheltered workshops into competitive integrated employment (CIE). Through her work, Rackensperger addresses systemic issues, promotes legislative change, and empowers disabled workers in Georgia to achieve economic independence and meaningful careers.The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its Five Year Strategic Plan goals to improve services and supports for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD). The Council, charged with creating systems change for individuals with developmental disabilities and family members, will work through various advocacy and capacity building activities to build a more interdependent, self-sufficient, and integrated and included disability community across Georgia.This project was supported, in part by grant number 2001GASCDD-03, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.