Pursuant to § 2.2-203.2:3 of the Code of Virginia, each executive branch agency submits an annual plan to increase employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, and the Secretary of Administration, in collaboration with the Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM), reports annually on the Commonwealth's progress. The defining development of FY2026 is a change in how that progress is measured: the transition from agency self-reported data to system-validated measurement.

Since 2017, progress under the statute has been reported based on agency-submitted plans and self-reported figures for classified positions only. On that basis, classified representation rose steadily, from 0.51% in 2017 to approximately 6.1% in FY2026, and the five percent goal was reported as met. That progress is genuine and reflects sustained work on the recruitment side of the workforce lifecycle.

For the first time, this cycle validates reporting against the statewide workforce analytics dashboard: the Commonwealth's first independent, enterprise-level measurement source. Measured on the complete population the statute contemplates, all positions across all agencies, statewide employment of individuals with disabilities is 3.54% (4,909 of 138,708 employees), below the five percent goal in subsection B. Measured on the dashboard for classified positions, representation is 4.70% (2,675 of 56,943), also below five percent, and lower than the 6.1% the self-reported plan submissions indicated. These divergences are reported as a data-quality finding, not a regression: they reflect the introduction of a more comprehensive and accurate measurement source that captures the full statewide workforce. Because the dashboard includes employees and position types that were not fully represented in prior self-reported data, the differences indicate improved visibility into the workforce rather than an actual decrease in employment of individuals with disabilities.

Two milestones and one early signal frame the year. First, 104 of 106 required Executive Branch state agencies submitted plans (98.1%), the highest compliance in program history. Second, DHRM introduced an internal submission scorecard for this cycle; a new and distinct measure of plan quality, separate from the question of whether an agency submitted at all. Third, while recruitment indicators are strong, internal mobility appears to lag; this is a signal, not a finding, because the current dashboard cannot yet validate it.

Accordingly, this report's central recommendation is to instrument the dashboard to track internal mobility within each Executive Branch agency, expand system-validated measurement toward all positions and levels, require all types of position data in agency plans, and move to quarterly reviews so representation is monitored year-round rather than annually through a single annual pull.