Alliance for Full Participation Summit 2.0 “Real Jobs It’s Everybody’s Business”

1. Civil Rights and the Tools for Change:  Advocating for and Creating a Positive Shift Toward Employment. Alliance for Full Participation Summit 2.0 “Real Jobs It’s Everybody’s Business” National Harbor, November, 2011 Bob Lawhead, rlawhead@emplink.org

2. The right to integrated employment: Established by Title II of the ADA & Supreme Court’s Olmstead Ruling Each person utilizing services through state and local government has the right to be employed in the “most integrated setting.”

3. What do people want? “We must have opportunities to work in jobs as part of the general work force, among people who do not have disabilities.” “Opportunities for earning wages and benefits should be the same as everyone else.” “CMS funding should be used for supported employment and not be used for sheltered workshops or settings paying sub-minimum wage for people with disabilities.” Summit White Paper by SABE and others in 2011

4. What is really happening for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities? • About 109,000 people are in segregated sheltered workshops and work activity centers • About 326,000 people are in segregated day programs • Only 117,000 are using supported employment (Braddock, et al. 2011)

5. What does the 2011 NDRN report, “Segregated and Exploited” say? • “Today, across the United States of America, hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities are being isolated and financially exploited by their employers.” • “Many are segregated away from traditional work and kept out of sight.” • “Most are paid only a fraction of the minimum wage while many company owners make six -figure salaries.” • “Simply put, sheltered workshops are just another institution segregating people with disabilities away…”

6. What does the 2011 NDRN report, “Segregated and Exploited” say? • “Sheltered workshops are not what they promise to be, and sometimes serve as an unsettling example of how good intentions can lead to terrible outcomes.” • “The truth is that people with disabilities can, and do, work in all areas of the American workforce. They thrive when they fully participate in their communities, and in turn, the nation thrives.” • “This call to action is long over-due. It is time to end segregated work, sheltered employment and sub-minimum wage. Now.” (NDRN, 2011)

7. Some NDRN recommendations • Forbid the use of state and federal funding for segregated or sub-minimum wage work environments • Provide increased funding for person-centered planning, supported employment, customized employment, and self employment • DOJ enforcement of ADA Title II in states that fund more segregated sheltered work than integrated work options

8. What can I do to help? • Support Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered (please go to www.sabeusa.org ) • Learn why SABE decided to cease their membership with the Alliance for Full Participation • Assist with your local self-advocacy movement! • Encourage your congressional members to read the National Disability Rights Network report Segregated and Exploited (www.ndrn.org )