National Disability Rights Network releases report on employment exploitation

There is a total failure of the disability service system to provide quality work for people with disabilities, according to a report released by the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN). The report focuses on the problems with segregated work, sheltered environments and low wages and highlights the breakdown between federal and state policies and their implementation and oversight.

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.

Ohio Legal Rights Service (LRS) is a member of NDRN, a nonprofit membership organization for the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems and Client Assistance Programs (CAP) of each state for people with disabilities. Collectively, the P&A/CAP network is the largest provider of legally based advocacy services to people with disabilities in the United States. LRS and other P&As provided the information for NDRN's report.

Read the press release and report: Report Finds Exploitation at Work