Closing the Employment Gap

State Agencies and Service Providers Come Together to Help People With Disabilities Find Meaningful Employment

By Karen Grigsby
Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development

Blake Garrison has a passion for pets.

Garrison works two days a week as a caretaker at Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary in Mt. Juliet, where he helps socialize dogs.

“I like taking them walking and petting them,” he said.

Garrison, 29, landed his dream job at OFSDS thanks to the Supported Employment team at MillarRich, whose mission is to provide employment opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Garrison has Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare genetic condition whose symptoms can include physical, mental, and behavior problems, as well as hyperphagia, a craving for food all the time.

Before connecting with MillarRich, Garrison had a hard time controlling his emotions. He had a history of elopement, property destruction, and physical aggression. Through a combination of various supports — including an app that allows Garrison to report and better understand his feelings — he began to take more accountability for his actions and make better decisions. He’s now been at OFSDS for a year and a half and says he hopes to one day serve in a lead position there.

Garrison’s story is featured in the 11th annual Expect Employment report, which was released last month. The report, created by the Employment First Task Force, highlights the progress that Tennessee has made in connecting people with disabilities to meaningful employment.

The task force is led by the Tennessee Department of Disability and Aging and is made up of dozens of advocates, providers, and other stakeholders, as well as representatives from several state departments, including the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).

Gov. Bill Lee speaks during the presentation of the Expect Employment report December 5, 2024, at Lipscomb University. (Chris Cannon / Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development)

Progress in Closing the Gap

The Employment First Task Force was established in 2013 with a goal of closing the disability employment gap in Tennessee. Twelve years later, that goal remains.

According to the 2024 Expect Employment report, 40.2% of Tennesseans with disabilities are employed compared with 77% of those who don’t have a disability. That equates to an employment gap of 36.8%.

The task force met its initial goal of closing the gap by 5% between 2018 and 2022. It hopes to close the gap an additional 5% by 2028.

To do so, the task force is working to identify and eliminate barriers to employment, improve access to enabling technology, streamline services, and increase programs for transition-aged students.

The task force’s report was presented to Gov. Bill Lee and other state leaders, including TDLWD Commissioner Deniece Thomas, during an event last month at Lipscomb University.  

Now in its 10th year, the IDEAL program has several long-term internship partners, including the Tennessee Department of Disability and Aging, the Nashville Children’s Theatre, and Lipscomb Academy. The list of partners is continuously growing to meet students’ needs.

“We don’t have set rotations or set placements for off-campus internships because we do really individualize it to what students are interested in,” said Halle King, Director of the IDEAL program. “Every semester we have students interested in different things, so we have new partners every semester.”

For instance, one student recently expressed an interest in floral design. Another wanted experience working at a packaging store. Becky Sullivan, the Assistant Director of Employment for IDEAL, began cold calling businesses and advocating for students to find a florist and a UPS store willing to offer internships.

The IDEAL program provides training and onboarding for the students as well as the businesses. Students typically work three to four hours a week during their on-campus internships the first year of the program and then six to eight hours a week at businesses during their second year.

By the time they earn their certificate, they’ve been exposed to different work settings, developed key job skills, and built a resume that includes experience and references.

The program has proved to be a win-win for students and businesses.

“We get a lot of great feedback on how hard and dedicated our students are in their jobs,” King said.

Students, meanwhile, learn to make their own decisions and set their own goals. They feel valued when they can use their strengths to contribute to their business and community, King said.

After completing the two-year certificate, students can apply for the IDEAL Advanced Program, where they’ll expand their knowledge and pursue paid employment. Twenty-seven students are currently enrolled in IDEAL.

A Perfect Match

Like the IDEAL program, MillarRich Supported Employment works to identify their clients’ interests and skill sets and find opportunities that align with them.

MillarRich, which provides family-based residential services in addition to employment services for individuals with disabilities, also has an ever-growing list of business partners. Its database includes hundreds of employers from a wide range of industries that can be searched by location or field.

While an increasing number of businesses are familiar with Supported Employment, MillarRich staffers often must sell them on the benefits of hiring a person with a disability, said David Scott, the Director of Supported Employment and a member of the Employment First Task Force.

“We teach our folks to go into businesses with a business-centered approach, recognizing that they don’t have to hire your person. They don’t know you. It’s not their job to hire people with disabilities,” Scott said. “And so when we go in, we have to be curious about who they are, what they need so that we’re matching up our clients with those businesses.”

For Blake Garrison and Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary, it was a perfect match.

Garrison first began using MillarRich’s services in 2018. Unlike a staffing model, in which a provider agency offers around-the-clock care in the home of a person with a disability, MillarRich subscribes to the family lifestyle model. Under that model, contracted families open their homes to adults with a disability.

Garrison’s first family didn’t work out, Scott said. MillarRich then found Jonathan and Teresa Snow, who had experience in serving individuals with Prader-Willi. Garrison has been living with them for a little over four years now.

The Snows encouraged Garrison to spend more time out in the community, where he began bowling, working out at the gym, and meeting new people.

“They were really committed to not allowing his diagnosis and the fears related to that to limit his opportunities,” Scott said.

As his community involvement increased and his behavior incidents decreased, Garrison bought a chicken coop. He now has 20 chickens and sells eggs to three or four regular customers.

That success motivated him to seek a job working with animals. With the help of a job coach at MillarRich, Garrison toured and volunteered at several animal rescue groups, including an aviary and a farm, but it was OFSDS that proved to be the best fit. He volunteered there for a few months before being offered a staff position.

Jonathan Snow said there were days early on when Garrison didn’t want to go to work. His job coach worked with him to explain that a job is a commitment. He hasn’t balked at going to work since then.

“He enjoys going,” Snow said. “He looks forward to it.”