Article: “Things ‘sliding backwards’ for two men after closure of their sheltered workshops”

Article posted on Blue Mass Group.

Read full article here – http://bluemassgroup.com/2017/09/things-sliding-backwards-for-two-men-after-closure-of-their-sheltered-workshops-an-update/

“…All sheltered workshop programs were closed in Massachusetts as of last summer as a result of requirements by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that developmentally disabled people work in “integrated employment” settings in which a majority of the workers are not disabled.

But while sheltered workshops have been deemed “segregated” settings because they are offered solely to groups of developmentally disabled persons, many clients and their families and guardians have argued that the programs provide fulfilling, skill-building activities and do not preclude community integration. Moreover, it is not clear that the CMS has necessarily required the shutdown of all sheltered workshops.”