The Commonwealth has achieved a significant milestone in inclusive employment by fulfilling the legislative mandate established in Code of Virginia § 2.2-203.2:3 to increase disability employment by five percentage points from the 2017 baseline. Virginia's achievement of 5.53% representation reflects not merely compliance with state law, but a fundamental transformation in how the Commonwealth approaches talent acquisition, workplace culture, and organizational excellence.

With the 2017 enactment of this legislative mandate, Virginia became one of the first states to establish comprehensive statutory goals for disability employment, distinguishing our approach from states relying solely on executive orders or voluntary commitments. Combined with Virginia's innovative Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM)-Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) partnership model and comprehensive infrastructure development, this approach has demonstrated how systematic, sustained effort yields transformational results.

Key Achievement Metrics:

• 5.53% representation achieved, exceeding the 5.51 % legislative target
• 806% increase in absolute numbers, from 321 employees (2017) to 2,911 employees (FY25)
• 5.02 percentage point increase from the 2017 baseline of0.51 %
• 54 successful Alternative Hiring Process hires in FY25 (116% increase from FY24)
• 14 career advancement conversions (367% increase from FY24)
• 350 veterans with disabilities employed, demonstrating comprehensive inclusion

This achievement reflects the collaborative commitment of agency leadership, HR professionals, and employees across the Commonwealth. Virginia's success was enabled by systematic infrastructure development during FY22-FY24, including establishment of the DARS liaison position, implementation of voluntary disclosure systems, development of the Alternative Hiring Process, and comprehensive cultural transformation initiatives.