Sheltered Workshop Conversion Resources

A new effort to convert the few remaining sheltered workshops in Maine

 

In October 2007 a Maine team of agency representatives and advocates attended "Vermont's Conversion Institute" convened by Vermont APSE. A work group then began meeting in January to pick up on the information and energy that emerged from the Vermont Institute, and to help Maine develop and sustain services and supports that are as integrated as possible. Click here to meet the team, and to view notes taken at the Institute.

This page to intended to allow the sharing of a variety of resources that can inform and help this work in Maine, including the resources brough back from the Vermont Institute. We will update this page as new resources are identified, so please check back often for new additions. And please contact us if you have resources to share or ideas for new resources to share.


Resources on this page are organized in four areas
(click on each to go to that section):


Maine Materials


Employment/Sheltered Workshop Conversion Meeting Minutes
January 17, 2008 (doc)
A group of people interested in Employment/Sheltered Workshop Conversion met on January 17, 2008 in Augusta to hear from members of the team that attended th Vermont Conversion Institute, and to discuss ways to support continuted conversion efforts here in Maine. Notes from that meeting are here (doc).
Lessons Learned from Community Rehabilitation Programs: Facilitating Change "One Person at a Time"
by Jim Meehan (link)
Information article by Jim Meehan, Director of KFI, a provider in Millinocket, Maine. Part of the Technical Assistance resources made available by T-TAP (see listing under National Resources)
Maine DHHS/Developmental Services Supported Employment Definitions
(doc)
These definitions and guidelines have been adopted as guidance by The State of Maine, DHHS-Developmental Services for interpretation of Supported Employment. They are effective beginning January 1, 2008.
Maine DHHS Vocational Policy(pdf)
This is the Vocational Policy for the Office of Adults with Cognitive & Physical Disabilities, part of the DHSS Policy Manual (policy adopted October 18, 2000. A Word version of the Policy document is available here (doc).

Conversion Resources From Vermont


Shifting Resources Away from Sheltered Workshops in Vermont (link)
By Jennifer Sullivan Sulewski Originally published: 1/2007
Over six years, regulations in Vermont gradually restricted and eventually prohibited the use of state funds for sheltered workshops or enclaves. Concurrent with the change in funding regulations, the state worked with providers to convert the remaining sheltered workshops in Vermont.
Closing Sheltered Workshops in Vermont
One Page Fact Sheet (pdf)
Vermont State System Of Care Plan For Developmental Disability Services FY 2008 (link)
The Vermont State System of Care Plan for Developmental Disability Services, developed every three years and updated annually, determines criteria for individuals to obtain services and funding, including priorities to develop new, and continue current, services and programs.

National Resources


APSE’s Position Statement on Segregated Services: A Background Paper for Advocates (pdf)
The Association of Persons in Supported Employment (APSE) has issued this position statement on segregated services for people with disabilities. The statement calls for several actions, including a national review of outcomes produced by sheltered workshops and a freeze on the funding of segregated services.
Toward Integrated Employment for All: APSE's Position on Segregated Services for People with Disabilities (pdf)
Self-Advocacy: The Riot! Jobs Issue (pdf)
October 2007 "Jobs Issue" of the National E-Newsletter from the Self-Advocate Leadership Network @ HSRI
Supported Employment Implementation Resource Toolkit (link)
Materials that present Supported Employment as an evidence-based practice that is important to shaping mental health services toward recovery. Most of the tools and principles can be easily adapted for use in supported employment services for individuals with other types of disabilities. From the US DHHS Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). A good place to start with this site is the User's Guide.
T-TAP - Training and Technical Assistance For Providers (link)
Includes Online Seminars, lessons learned, media presentations and other products to order, Customized Employment Fact Sheets, and other information for service providers interested in supported employment and conversion. Lessons learned include a feature by Maine's own Jim Meehan, cited under the Funded by Office of Disability Employment Policy, US Department of Labor.

Research/Outcomes On Sheletered Workshop Conversion


People's Situations and Perspectives Eight Years After Workshop Conversion (pdf)
Stephen T. Murphy, Patricia M. Rogan, Mary Handley, Charles Kincaid and Joanna Royce-Davis. 2002: . Mental Retardation: Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 30-40.
Achieving Community Membership Through Community Rehabilitation Provider Services: Are We There Yet? (link)
Deborah S. Metzel, Heike Boeltzig, John Butterworth, Jennifer Sullivan Sulewski and Dana Scott Gilmore. 2007: Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 149-160
Pushing the Employment Agenda: Case Study Research of High Performing States in Integrated Employment. (link)
Allison Cohen Hall, John Butterworth, Jean Winsor, Dana Gilmore and Deborah Metzel. 2007: Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 182-198.