Employment First is the vision of making employment the first and prefered outcome of people with disabilities.
Employment in the general workforce is the first and preferred outcome in the provision of publicly funded services for all working age citizens with disabilities, regardless of level of disability.
There are four guiding values of Employment First:
The Minnesota Employment First Coalition is a group of professionals, families, and advocates who are committed to making the vision of Employment First a reality in Minnesota. Since 2006, the Minnesota Employment First Coalition has tirelessly worked to provide education, support, technical assistance, and adovacy around the promotion of policies and practices that embraces the values of Employment First.
The Minnesota Employment First Coaltion hosted a number of Employment First Summits targeting community members, families, businesses, educators, and advocates to provide up to date and current best practices, as well as faciliate discussion around what it will take to make employment a reality for all Minnesotans with disabilties.
Click on the buttons to the right to read more about each Minnesota Employment First Summit. Summit reports are available in PDF form.
Summit I: A concensus report
Summit II: The scorecard
Summer III: A new hope
Summit IV: Summit of champions
Summit V: Special educators summit
