Hello group members,
The following inforrnation comes from an article written by Shaun Heasley in the e-newsletter "disabilityscoop" at http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2014/04/08/justice-away-sheltered/19265/
Approximately 450,000 people with developmental disabilities in the U.S. are currently participating in sheltered workshops (also referred to as Work Activity Centers) and other segregated programs.
Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice investigated the state of Rhode Island and found systematic violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act in the state’s approach to transition and employment for individuals with developmental disabilities. It was common for students to exit K-12 into these sheltered workshops and stay for years in segregated environments earning an average of $2.21 per hour.
In a first-such settlement, the U.S. Department of Justice says that Rhode Island has committed to overhaul its system of sheltered workshops and day programs for people with developmental disabilities. The state has pledged to offer supported employment placements that pay at least minimum wage in addition to community-based educational, leisure or volunteer activities for individuals with disabilities when they are not working. Additionally, Rhode Island will offer transition services for students age 14 and older that include internships, visits to job sites and mentoring.
“Today’s agreement will make Rhode Island a national leader in the movement to bring people with disabilities out of segregated work settings and into typical jobs in the community at competitive pay,” said Jocelyn Samuels, acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department.
Personally, I worked with two 'sheltered workshop' programs many, many years ago. Our school district provided teachers so that our adult education students had a combination of workshop and classroom environments. Combined with the social aspect from both programs, it was a full and productive day.
Do any of our members work in a combined model such as this now? It may go by other names but the model will be the same.
Please share with us by commenting below. For anyone that needs help in responding for the first time, feel free to contact me directly.
Thank you.
Rochelle Kenyon, SME
Comments
Hi all,
The article mentioned by Rochelle has been discussed on many other sites in the disabilities arena. Several people on this site have commented on our observations of 'workshops'. The "trafficking" of persons into "workshops" when they clearly could, with better designed educational/employment training and support, be more integrated in communities was a direct result, of bad educational and political policies. Redesigning funding structures to increase support for "maxing" individual attainment as opposed to "sheltering" individuals will be helpful. In the cases mentioned by Rochelle, there have always been "sheltered" workshops and Adult Day Treatment programs that were appropriate for some and still offer a place for safe, personal and social interaction with peers and the community. New Medicaid programs that allow billing for vocational services hold some promise for honestly structuring programs to provide the types of longer term vocational supports and transition into Vocational Rehabilitation programs that adult education can not in it's current design.