DOJ Says “No” to Segregated Work Settings:  The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently made clear that it interprets the integration mandate of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), established in the Olmstead case, to apply to the unnecessary placement of people with disabilities in segregated, sheltered workshops.  The integration regulation, DOJ points out, provides that "a public entity shall administer services, programs, and activities in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities."  The most integrated setting, in turn, means one that "enables individuals with disabilities to interact with nondisabled persons to the fullest extent possible..." According to DOJ, the department "enacted these regulations to implement the ADA's broad mandate to end the pervasive segregation of persons with disabilities in all facets of life, including employment, public accommodations, and services, programs and activities of state and local governments." Therefore, DOJ argues, the integration regulation applies to all "services, programs and activities" of a "public entity, including segregated, non-residential employment and vocational programs such as sheltered workshops."  In an interpretive statement issued on June 22, 2011, DOJ wrote that a "comprehensive, effectively working plan," written pursuant to Olmstead, must "include commitments for each group of persons who are unnecessarily segregated," including "individuals spending their days in sheltered workshops or segregated day programs."
Beyond Segregated and Exploited is a follow up to a report released last year by the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) of which Disability Rights NC (DRNC), NCCDD's sister agency, is a member (NCCDD has previously reported on DRNC’s work in the area of employment).  NDRN examined the issue of segregating working people with disabilities in sheltered workshops and the use of the subminimum wage to exploit their disability for the financial gain of employers.  The new report is an update on progress to end those practices and move toward a system that encourages integrated employment options that pay competitive wages.  The report calls for:
· Ending segregated employment and the subminimum wage by restricting all federal and state money that is spent on employers who segregate employees with disabilities from the general workforce.
· Strengthening current and create new tax incentives for employers to hire people with disabilities in integrated workplaces at comparable wages.
· Increasing labor protections and enforcement of existing law.
The NDRN report is available at www.ndrn.org/images/Documents/ <http://www.ndrn.org/images/Documents/>  Resources/Publications/Reports/ Beyond_Segregated_and_ Exploited.pdf.