Last week, I hosted a plant tour at Confer Plastics
for a half dozen clients of an agency that serves the mentally or physically
handicapped by providing to them jobs and a variety of life services. This was
the fourth such tour for the disabled in the past six months.
These agencies have been coming to our factory so
we can help their counselors and team leaders educate their clients on the
variety of jobs that are available across Western New York in regard to
manufacturing, light assembly, warehousing and food processing. We expose them
to the tasks involved, show them typical machinery and tools, and discuss the
hard and soft skills needed in the workplace.
2017 has seen an increase in the number of these
tours – and the need for them – because the disabled and their families have
been placed in a difficult, if not dire, situation. Sheltered workshops, where
disabled workers could secure consistent and productive employment under the
guidance of trained and dedicated caretakers, are being phased out across the
country.
Back in 1999, the US Supreme Court ruled that
sheltered workshops segregate people, and in turn, violate the Americans with
Disabilities Act. For the decade that followed the decision, there was little
movement on it. But, since 2009, the US Department of Justice has been playing
hardball with the states about this.
In response to the ruling and its enforcement, from
2012 to 2014 the Cuomo Administration developed a multi-pronged plan to bring
about the demise of such worksites in the Empire State: The workshops had to
incorporate those without disabilities into their employment (to the tune of 25
percent of the workforce) and become businesses instead of service agencies; existing
disabled workers were grandfathered while new admissions into standard
sheltered workshops weren’t allowed; and state funding of the workplaces was
curtailed and ultimately fully cut.
Now, disabled workers are scrambling to find career
paths and employers that are a fit for them and vice versa.
It’s not a good time for these individuals. The men
and women who have toured the plant are unsure of their future and are scared
of leaving the people and places that they’ve known for so long and have grown
so comfortable with and loving of.
Questions abound.
Will some of the disabled be able to handle the
rigors of paced, competitive work and full shifts?
Will their new employers be as kind and
understanding as those they’ll be leaving?
Do most businesses have the skill sets or personnel
to manage those who need attention, help and encouragement?
Will the number crunchers in larger corporations be
able to accept lower productivity and special accommodations?
Will there be a network of public and private
services in play that will get the disabled the transportation, support and
training they need while entering the general workforce?
Many of their parents and providers are as
uncomfortable as the workers and have had called for the Cuomo Administration to
suspend the closure of workshops for fear that many of the disabled would not
be able to find gainful employment and support in corporate America. They
believe that the handicapped would then become unemployed for the long term and
require day services while not having the chance to hold a sense of purpose and
be productive to the economy and world as everyone aspires to.
I’ve seen the worried faces of and had
heart-to-heart conversations with the workers and families who will be deeply
affected by this change in the world as they know it. It breaks my heart.
While there may have been altruistic goals in
shutting down sheltered workplaces (everyone should be able to work in a
mainstream environment regardless of race, creed, or disability), the hard
reality of the matter is that they are needed.
In an attempt to do good the government is only
doing harm to the disabled. Those with special needs value their ability to
have a job, to make and assemble things, to have an impact on society. But now,
all of that will be taken away from far too many of them.
From the 18
September 2017 Greater Niagara Newspapers
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