Harbor Regional Center opposes segregated employment and
sub-minimum wage for people with intellectual and other
developmental disabilities; we seek to promote public
policy:
- That restricts the expenditure of public funds to businesses
who segregate employees with disabilities from the general
workforce;
- That ends the ability of employers to pay employees with
disabilities a sub-minimum wage;
- That discontinues programs that emphasize moving young adults
from the classroom to a segregated or sub-minimum wage employment
environment.
Harbor Regional Center seeks to promote and facilitate
integrated and comparable wage employment alternatives:
- That strengthen existing and create new government tax
incentives for employers to hire employees with disabilities into
integrated environments at comparable wages.
- That assist employees with disabilities to find employment in
the general workforce in jobs that they choose.
Harbor Regional Center believes the essential ingredients needed
to advance competitive integrated employment for people with
developmental disabilities are:
- A fierce commitment to make this happen;
- A secondary school education which focuses on the development
of functional employability skills, early work experiences,
mobility training and a competitive employment goal;
- Frequent and strong collaboration between the regional
center, the local education agencies, the department of
rehabilitation, clients and families;
- Internship opportunities such as those provided through
Project SEARCH as well as paid internships to create
opportunities for real world skill development for students as
they transition out of school into the world of work;
- Post-secondary programs that provide support for students in
certificate and degree programs fully integrated with typical
students;
- Flexibility that supports a combination of paid work,
volunteering and integrated non-work day activity options to
accommodate client choice while promoting paid work options;
- Organized support from the business community;
- Public relations activities designed to showcase
successful partnerships with the business community; and
- Supporting families early to foster and build high
expectations for their children.
Transparency