Wisconsin advocates fear new state policy will cause disabled people to lose vocational programs

From the LaCrosse Tribune in Wisconsin:

Thousands of people with disabilities could lose their sheltered work program jobs due to a new state Department of Health Services policy, disability advocates said Nov. 3.

But a state official stressed that no one will be forced to leave a sheltered work environment.

The changes in the federal guidelines simply encourage that these workers find "integrated" employment in the community, said Stephanie Marqui, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health Services.

Still, there are worries the new policy will hurt those who work at Riverfront Inc. and other centers that support people with disabilities, Riverfront CEO Marcia Jagodzinske said.

The changes came when the state applied to the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid, which oversees money for long-term care, for a waiver to allow more individualization and innovation in programs.

Under the new waiver, employment in sheltered work environment programs "will be time-limited," Jagodzinske said. "No longer could you, if you had a disability, choose to work at a place like Riverfront."

Rehabilitation for Wisconsin, a Madison-based disability advocacy group, said in an Oct. 16 memo to state officials that the new policy "could limit the ability of disabled citizens to participate in pre-vocational employment."

Irene Kaarstad, 22, of La Crosse has worked at Riverfront for four years. She has multiple disabilities, she said, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and learning disabilities.

"People who work here are able to come to a place where they know they won't get made fun of because of their disabilities," she said.

Sally Berekvam of Holmen has a daughter at Riverfront's work center.

"If this proposal is passed, my daughter will be forced to leave the place she is familiar with. She needs great support because of her disability, and this simple fact alone leaves her less likely to obtain work at an individual site in the community."

State Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, called Monday for the state to reconsider the changes.

"In my district alone, thousands of disabled citizens have benefited from the work centers in Prairie du Chien and La Crosse," he said.

Marqui, however, said the changes will have far less effect than portrayed.

"What the federal government has said is that individuals can still go to a job center," she said. "But we need to be providing people the opportunity to work in an integrated community job."

Relying on the work centers alone would have the effect of segregating people with disabilities, which would be a civil rights issue, Marqui said.

"All the federal government has said is you need to be providing people the opportunity to work in a more integrated environment," Marqui said.