In defence of sheltered workshops
Re Are sheltered workshops a blessing, or slave
labour? Nov. 2 There are many messages in this article. Foremost among them is that the potential of those working in these sheltered workshops cannot be realized if we assume they are incapable of more.
Another is that parents of children with challenges are understandably divided as to whether such workshops are a blessing or a curse. They are a blessing if they do not believe their children have more potential than workshops encourage, and a curse if they condemn their children to a lifetime of community exclusion and dependency.
There is also the message that if the work done has economic value, payment for it is not commensurate with that value. Since most of the non-profit groups running these workshops are government funded, why are companies allowed to profiteer from cheap labour? While still paying less than minimum wage, they could pay much more than pennies per hour and still realize a substantial profit margin.
The Catch-22 haunting cheap labour in these workshops is that if workers were to receive fairer wages, they would be soon be garnished by the Ontario Disability Supports Program (ODSP), which deducts 50 cents on the dollar (after the first $200 a month) from those on the program, thus guaranteeing a lifetime of poverty as well as dependency.
The ultimate message in all this is that persons with disabilities lose at every turn. They are dealt a lifelong disability. Then they are systemically exploited for it. Adding insult to injury, they are then penalized for working as productive individuals. This is how we look after our most disadvantaged and vulnerable citizens in Ontario. Salvatore (Sal) Amenta, Stouffville, Ont. I’m on the side of people who think segregated or sheltered employment options are a blessing.
My daughter works part-time at Common Ground Co-operative, one of those employment programs so-called critics say is “disguised” as a sheltered workshop. She works part-time as a baker, creating products for the co-op’s four coffee shops, which also employ people with disabilities. The workplace is “sheltered” by job coaches who teach skills and organize the catering business that partly sustains the program.
Wages are a complicated issue for disabled people. My daughter earns a share of the profits. But if she earned more, she would start to lose her ODSP allowance — not in itself a living wage. And yes, her goal is to get off ODSP by finding competitive employment.
She is well-trained as a prep cook and has been actively looking for restaurant work with a job coach for four months. But very few employers support employees with disabilities.
Socially, my daughter does not feel “segregated.” Rather, she looks forward to working alongside peers who are true friends, not just co-workers who are polite to her. Her life is enriched by the “congregated” and “supported” employment opportunity of her co-op job. Too bad it’s only part-time. Valerie McDonald, Toronto The words “slave labour” is offensive in this article. “Slave” implies no choice. Adults working in the sheltered programs are paid an honorarium over and above their disability pension, something integrated workers cannot receive.
Sheltered workshops are ideal for some individuals with complex behavioural and social needs. They provide social support and stability for many and preemployment training for some who can move on if they choose full employment.
Thank goodness Ontario’s system provides choices to meet the range of needs that are presented. I know many parents who need and want these programs, just as others are happily pursuing a more integrated approach. Jim Jackson, Oshawa The issues around sheltered workshops are highly charged as families struggle to support their adult child with a disability within the context of their own lives as they become ever more senior. Parents deeply fear what will happen to their child once they pass on and tend to look for a single answer, more easily found in a regulated workshop than in community employment.
Government needs to shift funding from the agencies that provide only congregate care options to those agencies that support people with disabilities and families to find valued and active lives in their community, however that works for them. More importantly, government needs to support families to develop their own path with the same dedicated, consistent funding that is currently only available to agencies. Dawn Roper, Whitby I hope to see future articles on this important topic where perhaps the public can be helped to support a broader understanding of the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and to understand that the wants and needs they have in common are much more than the differences they see reinforced in systemic environments like these. Keenan Wellar, Co-leader & director of communications, LiveWorkPlay.ca, Ottawa