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Acting DDS commissioner outlines employment initiatives, new assessment tool and workforce-training push
Summary
Acting Department of Developmental Services Commissioner Sarah Peterson told the commission the agency has ended approvals for subminimum-wage waivers, will adopt the Supports Intensity Scale (SIS‑A) to replace ICAP, and is expanding employer partnerships and workforce training including a paid DSW‑to‑LPN program.
Acting Commissioner Sarah Peterson of the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) told the Permanent Commission on the Status of Persons with Disabilities that her department has moved to strengthen pathways to competitive, integrated employment and to shore up the workforce that supports those outcomes.
Peterson said DDS "closed the front door to approving applications for waivers of the minimum wage" in April and that "as of October 1st, there's no longer anyone in Massachusetts, in group and individual supported employment who earn a subminimum wage." She framed that step as consistent with the department's 2010 Employment First policy and welcomed a recent U.S. Department of Labor proposed rule that would phase out certificates allowing pay below the federal…
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