[Ct-nfb] Good News from Rhode Island

Sun Mar 16 12:13:19 UTC 2014

I'm not upset.  Thanks for your concern.  There is good and bad in
everything.  What I'm saying is that there is a need for a continuum of
services.  Sorry your friend had such a difficult experience.  Yes many
good people deserve a lot more.  That is why folks advocate for change.

Blessings,
Sue H.

On Sun, Mar 16, 2014 at 6:51 AM, Richard McGaffin <rmcgaffin at snet.net>wrote:

> Good morning all;
>
> Look Sue I'm not trying to upset you, I understand your situation and I
> have a certain compassion for those who aren't able to compete with the
> rest of the world. Itoo worked in a sheltered workshop for about 6 months
> in 1996, that's how I met my friend Leonard. However when they wanted to
> remove me from being a staff worker for $6.00 an hour and have me work on a
> bench for half day because they needed another client to fill their list of
> clients, so they could put another man on as a staff member. I decided it
> was time for me to quit. That dishonest practice is basically the way
> B.E.S.B. industries in West Haven was run.  Fortunately the manager
> welcomed me back to the Orange S&S which is now closed. Since my leaving
> Stop & Shop in 1999 I have discovered the computer, and have developed
> quite a nack for it. I worked in several telemarketing, and customer
> service place since them. Yes it's true I'm currently unemployed as I
> stated before, but I'd rather be unemployed than work for less than minimum
> Wage.
>
> As far as my friend Leonard is concerned I think it's terrible that he was
> even placed in one of these places to begin with. Here a veteran of our own
> military how dare the Connecticut state services place him in such a
> situation. Again I say shut these sweat shops and stop funding them
> with Federal & State funds.
>
> Rich
>
>   *From:* Susan Harper <sueharpernp at gmail.com>
> *To:* Richard McGaffin <rmcgaffin at snet.net>; NFB of Connecticut Mailing
> List <ct-nfb at nfbnet.org>
> *Sent:* Saturday, March 15, 2014 4:09 PM
>
> *Subject:* Re: [Ct-nfb] Good News from Rhode Island
>
>  Richard, I love your thoughtful reply.
>
> I just know that for a lot of folks, those things just aren't options for
> a lot of reasons.  Not all sheltered workshops are equal.  I agree there
> are many other ways to do the social piece.  But not everyone can access
> those options.  We need a continuum of services so that no one gets left
> out.  I've always advocated Independence for all my children of varying
> degrees of abilities.  I'm not disabled, at least I don't think I am.
>  Don't tell me if I am.  I like laboring under the illusion of who I am.  I
> am the legal parent to 14 children and fostered many more.  I believe in
>  the worth of all my children and have worked diligently to get them into
> the adult world with as many skills as they can muster.  I love these kinds
> of conversations, that may be hard.  However, they are necessary to get the
> many points of view and educate each other as to our collective needs.
>
> Blessings,
> Sue H.
>
>
> On Sat, Mar 15, 2014 at 3:47 PM, Richard McGaffin <rmcgaffin at snet.net>wrote:
>
>  Good afternoon all;
> Sue you bring up some interesting views on this subject, however those
> individuals whe are or were employed at sheltered workshops are there for
> one reason and that is to earn a living. If indeed they're earning a
> competitive wage, and manage to make some social contacts this is a good
> thing. I have met a number of individuals the several different work
> places. In fact I met my wife at Stop & Shop while I was employed there.
> However a place of business is just that, and there are a lot of other
> places such as church, and other so called social settings. I don't believe
> that either the state of federal government should fund a place just for
> people to go and hang around and be soically excepted. If indeed they're
> looking for social hangouts than let's call them social hangouts and forget
> exploiting the disabled by paying them less than minamum wage. I am afraid
> I will have to side with Justin (which by the way is a rarity for both us)
> on this one. Let me also add that I am currently unemployed and have been
> for over 2 years, this is partially due to the fact that I was hospitalized
> for 2 months of last year, and it has taken me pretty much a whole year to
> recover.
>
> Rich McGaffin
>
>   *From:* Susan Harper <sueharpernp at gmail.com>
> *To:* NFB of Connecticut Mailing List <ct-nfb at nfbnet.org>
> *Sent:* Saturday, March 15, 2014 9:05 AM
> *Subject:* Re: [Ct-nfb] Good News from Rhode Island
>
>  I disagree that this is a good idea.  Sheltered workshops do a lot more
> than provide employment.  Generally they provide a host of services as well
> as a social atmosphere of acceptance and a peer group.  It is already
> difficult to connect with others and find support and important information
> regarding many issues and rights.  I think this will be a way to further
> isolate and separate those with the most need for services.  Folks will be
> less able to advocate for their needs and languish in communities where
> there are already to few services.  Be careful what you wish for!  There
> are pros and cons to everything.  I strongly agree that there should be
> real pay for real work.  There still needs to be a stepping stone and a
> continuum of services, a bridge if you will to get there.
>
> Blessings,
> Sue H.
>
>
> On Sat, Mar 15, 2014 at 8:10 AM, Len Schlenk <lfs40 at optonline.net> wrote:
>
>  The closing of all workshops in Ct will take its effect on me the end of
> June. They will either find me another job or I will be unemployed.
>
> Len Schlenk ---- Original Message -----
>
> *From:* Justin Salisbury <PRESIDENT at alumni.ecu.edu>
> *To:* nfbwnews at nfbwis.org ; ct-nfb at nfbnet.org
>  *Sent:* Saturday, March 15, 2014 12:43 AM
> *Subject:* [Ct-nfb] Good News from Rhode Island
>
>  Stenning's goal: Close all 'sheltered workshops' for adults with
> disabilities within three years
>
>   January 16, 2014 11:20 PM
>  CRANSTON -- The head of the state agency that serves adults with
> disabilities has set a goal of closing all "sheltered" workshops in Rhode
> Island within the next three years.
> Craig S. Stenning, director of the state Department of Behavioral
> Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH), on Thursday
> outlined an aggressive effort under way to move disabled adults out of what
> federal civil-rights officials say are segregated work settings and day
> programs and into jobs and activities in the community.
> The effort, he said, represents a "major transformation of the system"
> akin to the movement to deinstitutionalize the disabled in residential
> settings with the closing of The Ladd School in the mid- 1980s.
> The U.S. Department of Justice earlier this month released the findings of
> an investigation launched a year ago by its civil-rights division that
> charges the state with operating segregated employment, vocational and day
> programs for about 3,600 adults with intellectual and developmental
> disabilities.
> The report describes the problem of segregation as beginning when disabled
> students leave school and continuing throughout their lives. (The state
> Department of Education and the state Office of Rehabilitative Services
> also were named in the report.)
> In an interview Thursday at his Cranston office, joined by five other
> staff members, Stenning spoke about some of the challenges his department
> has had in integrating disabled adults into the wider community, including
> a lackluster job market and the fear of change among some of the programs'
> clients and their families.
> The department's (BHDDH's) budget for "services to the developmentally
> disabled" has declined by about $29 million, or 11 percent, since 2009,
> when Stenning took over as director, state budget figures show.
> But budget cuts, he said, have not been a major impediment to change. "At
> one time the budget for the State of Rhode Island for developmental
> disability services came to $109,000 per person per year -- that was the
> highest in the country," Stenning said. "So I don't think the argument that
> budget cuts are the reason why it [integrated employment] didn't happen is
> a valid argument."
> Stenning said that he and other department staff have begun reaching out
> to mayors in Cranston, Pawtucket and Warwick as part of the department's
> new "Employment First" program aimed at ensuring equal employment
> opportunities for adults with disabilities.
> The BHDDH also has sought bids for proposals to create a "center for
> excellence and advocacy" that would include providing job assistance and
> outreach to disabled adults and their families.
> The department also is reaching out to private businesses, he said. Some
> companies, such as CVS and Automated Business Solutions, recently hired
> several adults with disabilities who were formerly in sheltered workshops.
> The department has so far placed 40 adults with disabilities who formerly
> worked at a sheltered workshop run by Training Thru Placement in jobs in
> the community since the state signed an "interim settlement agreement" with
> the Justice Department last June. The agreement was to settle violations
> Justice Department officials found at the sheltered workshop and a
> vocational program at The Birch School in Providence.
> To meet the goals of that interim settlement agreement -- which covers
> about 200 adults at TTP and The Birch School -- will take eight years,
> Stenning said Justice officials told him.
> Now, the task has expanded to include thousands of adults with
> disabilities in 24 day programs, including six sheltered workshops. "My
> goal is much shorter ... closing [sheltered] workshops in three years,"
> Stenning said, adding, "I'd love if we could fulfill our goal in five."
> Even as he stressed his commitment to the goal of moving more adults with
> disabilities into jobs in the community, he defended the agencies that
> operate the sheltered workshops, saying they were "state of the art" at the
> time they were created.
> Except for Training Thru Placement, which federal labor officials cited
> for wage hour violations, he said, the six other sheltered workshops have
> been operating in accordance with the state labor rules. Justice officials
> said in their report that many of the adults with disabilities
> participating in these sheltered workshops have the ability and desire to
> work in the community for jobs that pay at least minimum wage.
> "The Department of Justice's definition [of segregation]," Stenning said,
> "is different from the Department of Labor's definition."
> He said that many of the recommendations made by Justice officials are
> "totally complementary" with efforts the department has had in the works
> for the last five years, such as improving how the department assess the
> needs and abilities of disabled adults and improving communication with
> their families.
> Stenning, who joined the BHDDH in 2000, was appointed director in 2008 by
> former Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and reappointed by Governor Chafee in 2011.
>     Mr. Anil Lewis, M.P.A.
> Deputy Executive Director
> (410) 659-9314 ext. 2374
> Twitter: @AnilLife
>
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