Sheltered workshop

I dislike the words sheltered workshop immensely. It conjures up images of the early 20th century when people were worked to death for low wages in horrible conditions, similar to the modern day sweatshops in Mexico and China. The problem I have with the term is that it was used in the 1980s and 1990s to describe day service programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Some people still use this term to describe the location where services are provided. That particular service model has not been used since the 1990s, but there are those in Washington D.C., who believe that sheltered workshops still exist and that all day service programs should be shut down because of that fact.

The 1980s was the period that witnessed the development of community service providers and since providing services was something new to everyone, no one was sure what to do. Sheltered workshops were created to provide work opportunities to persons who had never had the opportunity to work before and their sole function was to bring the sub-contract work in house. The persons receiving services would complete the work and then it would be shipped back to the business. It was truly a "sheltered workshop" with no interaction with the outside world.

The days of the sheltered workshop are long gone though, today we have the Service Center, where choice and opportunities prevail. Today we have supported employment, where persons work in the community for wages and benefits. Today we have enclaves, where small groups of persons served work in the community for wages with the assistance of a job coach. Today, we have Life Enrichment, where persons maintain or acquire new skills. Today we have computer labs, art therapy, community activities, horticultural therapy and many other educational activities. People with disabilities work on community service projects, attend sporting events, shop in the community, etc. "Sheltered" is not a word used in our vocabulary anymore, in fact, some of the people we serve are busier than I am and I stay fairly busy.

The idea to shut down service centers is nothing new, but has been heightened in recent years by events in Iowa and Texas, where people with disabilities were used as slave labor on farms, in terrible conditions, which I find appalling. But does that mean that everyone is guilty of providing slave labor type services? The answer is an emphatic no.

Part of the argument for closing service centers is that there is also a belief that everyone should be employed in the community and I couldn't agree more, but there are only 20.3 percent of persons with disabilities in the workforce. There has been an emphasis on employment since the mid-1990s, but outside of the Vocational Rehabilitation program, the onus has been on community service providers to develop employment opportunities, provide training and follow-up. Until a few years ago, we were not even paid for the service we provided. Unfunded or under-funded mandates are nothing new to government entities, but they appear to be as popular as ever as the education system can bear witness to. In the end, until the economy improves even more, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities will remain high.

Will everyone with a disability be able to find competitive employment once the economy improves, again the answer is no. We have individuals who would do anything to be employed in the community, but opportunities are not available. We also have individuals who, due to their disability, will never be able to work in the community. This could be due to medical or behavioral issues. When all is said and done, there will always be a need for service centers. Their mission and scope may change, but the need will always be there.

Editor's Note: Tim Cunningham is the executive director of Tri-Valley Developmental Services, which serves developmentally disabled people in Allen, Bourbon, Neosho and Woodson counties.