VCU RRTC

Join us for an informal session discussing the past, present, and future of employment and the disability industrial complex. We will highlight the creation of “the minimum, subminimum wage” in 1986; the scathing testimonies and hearings; the millions spent to fight the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act in 2012; and other milestones related to subminimum wages. From this foundational platform, we will discuss and analyze HR 2373, the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act. Finally, we will spend time thinking about the ethics of evidence-based practices in disability and employment. 

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to identify the historical milestones related to FLSA and 14 (c ).
• Participants will understand the disability rights advancements in the U.S. related to employment.
• Participants will be able to discern the role lobbying and trade groups have played in the practice of subminimum wages.
• Participants will understand the current bill in Congress (HR 2373) related to subminimum wages.

Bio:

Doug Crandell has managed, staffed and directed community mental health and disability programs at the provider level for 25 years. He has been the Project Director for a number of demonstration grants funded through the U.S. Dept. of Labor, the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Social Security Administration. He directed Georgia's Medicaid Infrastructure funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

He is a Senior Consultant with Griffin-Hammis Associates and on the faculty of the Institute on Human Development and Disability at the University of Georgia. For the last four years, Doug has provided training and technical assistance to Georgia's supported providers through a joint effort with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government. He is a Subject Matter Expert (SME) with the Office of Disability Employment Policy in D.C. and is currently working with several states to restructure their employment supports to include evidence-based supported employment, customized employment, and self-employment.

Doug works in collaboration with New Mexico's UCEDD to deliver training and technical assistance under the state's Partners for Employment Initiative. Georgia was recently awarded a Disability Employment Initiative grant, which Doug will collaborate on with the Georgia Dept. of Economic Development as well as the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, Georgia Tech, and others. As an author, Doug has published 7 books and is a regular contributor to the venerable SUN Magazine, where he publishes essays on labor, health, and disability.