Employment First dashboards guidebook

The Department of Human Services uses the Employment First dashboards to track employment outcomes in Minnesota’s disability services system in support of Minnesota’s Employment First policy. This policy raises the expectation that all working age Minnesotans with disabilities:

Can work
Want to work
Can achieve competitive, integrated employment
Will be offered the opportunity to work and earn a competitive wage before being offered other supports and services.

The dashboards show changes in the past three years in income and competitive employment throughout the state. We will track the data to look for continued progress in employment outcomes for people with disabilities. We may also use the dashboards to compare outcomes across counties, providers, age groups, waiver programs and employer types over time.

Data structure
Data points
More information

Data structure

Data source

The Employment First dashboards used data from claims to identify people who use employment services offered through HCBS waivers. The dashboards also use financial eligibility information stored to help determine peoples’ income. This information is stored in the DHS data warehouse.

Population parameters

Who is included?

The county and provider employment data dashboards include data from people across Minnesota who:
- Are between 16 and 64 years old
- Have a paid claim for the given fiscal year in one or more of the following programs and services:
  - Home and community-based services (HCBS) disability waivers or mental health targeted case management services
  - Adult mental health rehabilitative services
  - Assertive community treatment
  - Medical Assistance for Employed Persons with Disabilities (MA-EPD)
Who is not included?
- People younger than 16 or older than 64
- People who did not receive services through one or more of the programs mentioned above but might receive employment services through other programs.
Level of detail

In the county tab, the data may be filtered by county, by program area and by age group. In the provider tab, the data may be filtered by provider, by program area and by age group. We have totaled earned income for each group throughout the year and categorized it into income “bins” for the given fiscal year. Employment outcomes are displayed by fiscal year and by employer type.

Data points

Demographic information

Data point	Explanation
Provider	Name of recipient’s most recent HCBS day and employment services provider. These services include day training and habilitation (DT&H), supported employment services (SES) and prevocational services (PVS).
County	Name of county of financial responsibility
FY	State fiscal year; State fiscal year is from July 1 to June 30 (e.g., Aug. 1, 2016, is in FY2017)
Program area	Indicates the number of people who participate in a particular program in the given fiscal year: All programs = All accessed programs in the given fiscal year All waiver programs = All accessed waiver programs in the given fiscal year CAC = Community Alternative Care Waiver CADI = Community Access for Disability Inclusion Waiver BI = Brain Injury Waiver DD = Developmental Disabilities Waiver CDCS = Consumer-directed community supports MA-EPD = Medical Assistance for Employed Persons with Disabilities Mental health services = Includes assertive community treatment (ACT), adult rehabilitative mental health services (ARMHS) and mental health targeted case management (MHTCM)
Age groups	Indicates the number of people in a particular age group. Age groups are sorted by all ages, 16-17 years, 18-22 years, 23-24 years, 25-34 years, 35-44 years, 45-54 years and 55-64 years.
Total population	Indicates the total number of people in the selected population for the fiscal year

Employment information

Data point	Explanation
# No income	Indicates the number of people who earned no income in the fiscal year
# Earned income	Indicates the number of people who earned income in the fiscal year
# Earning $1-$599 / month	Indicates the number of people who earned between $1 and $599 per month for the fiscal year. We calculate this by dividing a person’s total income for the fiscal year by the number of months worked. The average months worked is 10.
# Earning $600+ / month	Indicates the number of people who earned $600 or more per month for the fiscal year

Employer type information

Data point	Explanation
Employer type / Employer category	Categorizes the most recent employer name as either a competitive employer or a service provider. We generate this information using the following assumptions: Competitive employers include: Community businesses Religious organizations Public institutions, such as a municipality, county or university Mental health service providers Public or private schools Self-employed people, including those who list only a person’s name as the employer Staffing agencies Elder care/nursing home or PCA agencies without SES or DT&H Service providers include: HCBS day service providers Entries that contain a HCBS day service provider as any part of the employer name Unidentifiable employer
# People working	Indicates the number of people with earned income in the selected population for the fiscal year
Average monthly income	Indicates the average monthly income for working people in the selected population. We calculate average monthly income by dividing a person’s total income for the fiscal year by the number of months worked. Average months worked is 10.
% Total people working	Indicates percentage of the selected population employed under each employer type

More information

If you have questions about the dashboards or need more information or data, email the Employment First team.