The Oregon Department of Human Services will invest $6.75 million to transform organizations into integrated employee environments, where disabled employees work alongside non-disabled workers.
The Oregon Department of Human Services will invest $6.75 million to transform organizations into integrated employee environments, where disabled employees work alongside non-disabled workers.
According to Segregated and Exploited, a 2011 report released by the National Disability Rights Network, “In the best of situations, sheltered environments, segregated work, and the sub-minimum wage do not truly provide a meaningful experience for workers with disabilities. Workshop tasks are often menial and repetitive, the environments can be isolating, and the pay is often well below the federal minimum wage. In the worst situations, the segregated and sheltered nature of the lives of workers with disabilities leaves them vulnerable to severe abuse and neglect.”
Mike Maley, Statewide Coordinator of Employment First, the agency under DHS tasked with overseeing the shift away from sheltered workshops in Oregon, says the investment announced earlier this month is a “lynchpin piece of the strategy.”
Read more at Portland Tribune
