§ 1004-b. Integrated employment opportunities for individuals with
severe disabilities. 1. The department shall have the responsibility to
stimulate the development of programs intended to furnish opportunities
for integrated employment including but not limited to, supported
employment and paid competitive work, to individuals with severe
disabilities, and to coordinate with state agencies responsible for
furnishing necessary services to individuals with severe disabilities
related to such opportunities.

2. State integrated employment implementation plan. a. The
commissioner, in consultation with and with the agreement of the
commissioners of mental health, the office for people with developmental
disabilities and social services shall develop a state interagency plan
for the implementation of integrated employment opportunities for
individuals with severe disabilities, including supported employment.
Such plan shall be designed so as to ensure that the state's integrated
employment efforts, including the supported employment program, are
planned, developed and implemented comprehensively, with roles and
responsibilities of the respective agencies well-defined. Such plan
shall reflect the department's primary responsibility for the
development of integrated employment opportunities for individuals with
severe disabilities, including short-term and intensive supported
employment services, as well as appropriate responsibilities for long
term extended support services. Such plan shall specify the role and
responsibilities of each such agency in assuring that:

(i) services are provided fully and equitably;

(ii) an array of services is established and appropriate procedures
are developed to allow persons with severe disabilities timely access to
appropriate support services;

(iii) compatible definitions, program evaluation and accounting
standards and reporting documents are implemented;

(iv) services and eligibility requirements are integrated and
coordinated between agencies, including the manner in which appropriate
responsibilities for funding and administering both short-term intensive
and long-term extended support services for supported employment are to
be implemented;

(v) funding sources are clearly defined and amounts are adequate to
support persons with short-term intensive and long-term extended support
needs;

(vi) all necessary steps are taken to maximize the success and cost
effectiveness of such programs and the potential of persons served by
such programs;

(vii) continuity of support services is not broken for individuals
placed in an integrated employment setting in the event such placement
is interrupted; and

(viii) eligibility standards are consistent regarding the placement of
individuals in integrated work settings, including supported employment
and other competitive work placements.

b. In addition, the plan shall address the manner in which continued
support for current programs will be maintained; and establishment
grants will be provided. Such establishment grants shall include, but
not be limited to, special projects which enhance the provision of
supported employment and new integrated employment program initiatives
which would target individuals who have severe disabilities who have
aged-out or have otherwise exited the school system. In addition, such
grants may be used to provide additional resources to existing programs
for the purposes of increasing the numbers of persons served who have
been determined by the commissioner to have been unserved or
underserved. Such grants may also be used for new programs for these
populations.

c. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioners of the
office of mental health, the office for people with developmental
disabilities and the department of social services, shall develop an
audit protocol to verify the actual costs of providing such programs.

3. Reporting. a. It shall be the primary responsibility of the
commissioner to provide annual reports on the progress of achieving the
components of the implementation plan as contained in subdivision two of
this section. In addition, such reports shall include:

(i) a current description of individuals served, and services and
technical assistance provided;

(ii) employment status of persons transitioned from sheltered
workshops, special education programs, day treatment centers, and day
services programs into integrated employment programs, including
supported employment programs and other competitive work placements;

(iii) incidence of persons in reverse transition between integrated
employment programs, including supported employment programs and paid
competitive work, and sheltered workshops, day treatment programs and
day services programs; and

(iv) number of persons for whom employment in an integrated work
setting has been requested and who are waiting for placement.

The commissioners of the office of mental health, the office for
people with developmental disabilities, and the department of social
services shall provide any information required to assist the
commissioner in making such report.

b. The implementation plan shall be transmitted to the state's board
of regents, the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the
speaker of the assembly and the senate committee on finance, the
assembly committee on ways and means, the senate committee on education
and the assembly committee on education on or before October first,
nineteen hundred ninety-three with a report on the status of the
implementation plan transmitted on or before October first of each
succeeding year.