Hope Haven helps people with developmental disabilities find jobs
Deneisha Lane enjoys her job at Athens’ Eaton Corporation cleaning parts for engine superchargers. Suffering from developmental disabilities, Lane said her job affords her a privilege many take for granted: working for a living.
Lane serves as a stigma-bashing example of what she and others like her can do when given a chance, say officials actively working to integrate people with development disabilities into society. On a recent day at work, Lane attended a brief meeting with co-workers to hear updates from the second shift manager. She then walked to her line and spoke to first shift employees about what happened earlier in the day.
The meeting and conversations are important, Lane said, because it helps her know if there were any machinery malfunctions that might interfere with her productivity. She then takes over placing hubs, bearings, plates, and front covers onto cafeteria-like trays that run through a washer on a conveyer belt.
It may not seem like much, but Lane’s job is important in the process of building a supercharger, plant human resources manager Doug Spencer said.
“If even the smallest amount of dirt is in a part when the supercharger is put together it could cause the part to lock up and start making a bunch of noise,” he explained. Cleaning parts at Eaton Corporation is not Lane’s first job, but is one she said she enjoys more than previous jobs.
“I’ve interviewed for jobs all over town,” said the 31-year-old. “There were some jobs I thought I got and then didn’t. They didn’t really tell me why.” Lane started working at Eaton about two years ago and is one of four employees placed there through Hope Haven of Northeast Georgia’s supported employment program.
Hope Haven also has placed clients in employment positions at the University of Georgia, Strickland’s Restaurant, Red Lobster, Cracker Barrel and other area restaurants.
“People with disabilities typically are not integrated into society as much as they should be,” said Mike Walker, executive director for Hope Haven. “Unemployment against people with disabilities runs between 85 and 95 percent in certain areas, so it’s an issue that needs to be addressed.”
The concept of people with developmental disabilities participating in traditional employment settings still is relatively new, Walker said. The change came after a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court case resulted in the Olmstead decision, which stated that those who were segregated in institutions were victims of disability discrimination and should be given the opportunity to live in community settings. The Supreme Court then required each state to close its institutions and integrate people with disabilities back into the community.
“The importance of Olmstead was that it said people with disabilities should not be in institutions, but should be living in and be a part of their community,” said Eric Jacobson, executive director for the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities. “It has resulted is the dramatic closure of public institutions throughout the country, making it the most important decision in the lives of people with disabilities ever made.”
Georgia was slow to change in the early years of Olmstead, but has made great strides in recent years, Jacobson said. But more reforms are needed. Earlier this year, an independent reviewer working in conjunction with the Justice Department reported significant issues in Georgia that arose during the transition of people with disabilities back into the community.
Problems included issues implementing Medicaid waiver amendments, the design and implementation of support services for medically fragile individuals and a lack of people properly trained to help and take care of people with disabilities. Following the review, it was suggested that the state of Georgia take more time to finalize its plans for the system of supports it would create to help people with developmental disabilities once they had moved out of an institution.
“The state of Georgia currently is not moving people out of state institutions right now,” Jacobson said. “We’ve found that it’s difficult to build the community while still funding institutions. At this time, the state is working to figure out how to close state institutions while also building community supports (like Hope Haven).”
The delay in Georgia’s progress is just a temporary one, he added. The state still is on schedule to have everyone moved out of institutions by the end of 2015.
In addition to making people with disabilities true members of the community, Walker said he hopes that helping people with disabilities find employment will break the stigma that people with developmental disabilities are incapable of contributing to society.
“A person with a disability’s biggest barrier is not their disability. It’s the people around them,” Walker said. “Part of the work we do to help people overcome those barriers is to make people familiar with the folks at Hope Haven and to help them understand that our clients are not different from anyone else. They just have different kinds of challenges.”
by April Burkhart
The original article appeared in The Athens Banner-Herald on December 17, 2014.
