Hiring more people with developmental disabilities pitched as Georgia’s labor shortage fix

People living with intellectual and developmental disabilities say one solution to Georgia’s workforce shortage is to hire them.

In a 2020-2021 report, National Core Indicators found that 54% of Georgians living with a disability want a paid community job, but cannot get one. That’s true even though 30% of them take classes or train to better their chances of gaining employment.

But efforts to form a commission focused on how best to expand resources for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities failed to pass by Monday’s Crossover Day, a deadline for bills to chart a smooth path to the governor’s desk.