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State of the Science Conference
September 15-16, 2005
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Workplace Personal Assistance Services (PAS)
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- Workplace Personal Assistance Services (PAS)
- Center for Personal Assistance Services?
- Center for PAS
- Research Project 4: Workplace PAS
- Personal Assistance Services Defined
- Developing knowledge about workplace PAS
- Examples of workplace personal assistance services
-
Not workplace PAS
- How many workers with disabilities receive workplace PAS? (NHIS-D)
- Those most likely to receive accommodations
- Tracking changes in workplace PAS policy
- ADA
-
ADA
- TWIIAA definition of WPPAS
- Medicaid Infrastructure Grants (MIG): Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999
Workplace Personal Assistance Services (PAS)
Center for Personal Assistance Services (PAS) at the University of California,
San Francisco (UCSF)
Center for Personal Assistance Services?
Center for Personal Assistance Services
Center for PAS was established at the University of California, San Francisco
in 2003, funded by a 5 year program grant from the National Institute on Disability
and Rehabilitation Research (NIDDR).
Mission: to provide research, training, dissemination and technical assistance
on issues of personal assistance services (PAS) in the United States.
Center for PAS
The Center provides research, training, dissemination & technical assistance
on four main issues:
- Project 1: Formal & Informal PAS
- Project 2: PAS in the Home & Community
- Project 3: PAS Workforce
- Project 4: Workplace PAS *
Research Project 4: Workplace PAS
Study Workplace PAS and evaluate models to eliminate barriers and establish
best practices
Interviews with consumers, employers, employment organizations (60 total in
Year 1)
Tracking state and federal policies encouraging Workplace PAS
Conducted by InfoUse and JAN
Personal Assistance Services Defined
Workplace Personal Assistance Services (Workplace PAS) include task-related
assistance at work, such as readers, interpreters, help with lifting or reaching,
re-assignment of non-essential duties to co-workers, and other help related
to performing work tasks and personal care-related assistance such as helping
someone with toileting, eating, or drinking while at work.
From the Center for Personal Assistance Services at University of California,
San Francisco.
Developing knowledge about workplace PAS
PAS is part of the accommodation spectrum, and there is currently
a growing awareness of the needs for PAS at work.”
Source: Center on an Aging Society, Issue Brief: Workers Affected by Chronic
Conditions: How can workplace policies and programs help? Georgetown University
www.aging-society.org
We don’t know as much about the need and use of workplace PAS as we know
about AT as an accommodation
Examples of workplace personal assistance services
- Readers, interpreters
- A family member coming into the workplace to assist an employee with
lunch
- A co-worker filing forms for the employee
- A co-worker reading daily memos to the employee
- A person paid by the employer to travel with the employee on a business
trip
- Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART) during employee
training
Not workplace PAS
Help getting dressed and ready for work
A volunteer providing transportation to and from work
How many workers with disabilities receive workplace PAS? (NHIS-D)
Need Accommodation Receive Accommodation
| |
Need Accommodation |
Receive Accommodation |
|
Overall
|
15.6% |
12.2% |
| PA for job tasks |
1.1% |
0.7% |
| Reader or interpreter |
0.2% |
0.1% |
| Job coach |
0.6% |
0.6% |
Source: Zwerling et.al.(2003), Workplace Accommodations for People with Disabilities:
NHIS-D 1994-1995,JOEM, V. 45, Number 5, May 2003
Those most likely to receive accommodations:
- College grads
- Older workers
- Full-time workers
- Self-employed workers
Tracking changes in workplace PAS policy
An Accommodation Under the Americans with Disabilities Act
State Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) and Waiver Funding
State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency Direct Funding
ADA
Covers employers with 15 or more employees
Covers applicants and employees if they meet the ADA definition of disability
and they are qualified for the position
ADA specifically excludes personal care PAS from the employer responsibility
Source: Silverstein, R. (2003). Policy Brief: The Applicability of the ADA
to Personal Assistance in the Workplace. Boston, MA: The Institute for Community
Inclusion.
ADA
While the ADA specifically addresses task related assistance on the job some
people need both task and personal assistance to succeed in the workplace.
TWIIAA definition of WPPAS
Broader than the ADA language:
“a range of services provided by one or more persons designed to assist
an individual with a disability to perform daily living activities on or off
the job that the individual would typically perform if the individual did not
have a disability. Such services shall be designed to increase the individual’s
control in life and ability to perform everyday activities on or off the job.”
Medicaid Infrastructure Grants (MIG): Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement
Act of 1999
Encourages states to adopt the option of allowing individuals with disabilities
to purchase Medicaid coverage that is necessary to enable such individuals to
maintain employment. (“Buy-in”)
For instance, California has changed the rules for using InHome Support Services
hours, to allow use of hours at work.
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