CHAPTER 74
FORMERLY
SENATE BILL NO. 205
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 19, DELAWARE CODE TO PROVIDE FOR EXTENDED WORKSHOP EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS FOR THE SEVERELY HANDICAPPED.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section 1. Amend Title 19 of the Delaware Code by adding a new Chapter 10 as follows:
"CHAPTER 10. SHELTERED EMPLOYMENT
§1001. Definitions
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this Chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this Section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
(I) 'Department' means the Department of Labor or its authorized representatives.
(2) 'Sheltered workshop' means an accredited occupationally oriented facility, including a work activities center, operated by a private non profit agency, which, except for its administrative and support staff, employs disabled persons certified under special provisions of federal minimum wage laws by the Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor.
(3) 'Accredited' means a program which has been surveyed and approved by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities for not less than a one-year period.
(4) 'Extended employee' means a severely disabled person who:
(I) shall have completed an accredited program of evaluation and work adjustment training, including a prescribed work services program.
(II) shall have been found, due to the nature and severity of a disability, to be incapable of competing in the open or customary labor market.
§1002. Eligibility and Standards
(a) The sheltered workshop shall certify the eligibility of individuals for participation in an Extended Employment Program under this Chapter immediately upon cessation of third- party sponsorship.
(b) Client progress will be monitored by the Department through the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation on an annual basis under guidelines established by the Department that can simultaneously eet the standards of CARP, U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Certificates for Sheltered and Work Activity Employees. U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and subsequent amendments, as well u the intent of this bill.
§1003. Financial Assistance in Extended Employment
(a) The Department shall have the authority to enter into a contract with sheltered workshops for the purpose of providing an Extended Employment Program.
(b) the Department shall approve a method for determining the maximum allotment for each eligible sheltered workshop.
§1004. Federal Grants
The Department is authorized to apply for whatever Federal Grants may become available from time to time in order to carry out the purposes of this Chapter.
§1005. Regulations
The Department shall have the power to make and revise and rescind such regulations u it may deem necessary or appropriate to administer and implement this Chapter. Such regulations shall, except u may be otherwise provided by the Department, take effect upon publication."Section 2. An amount equal to 5% of the appropriation to carry out the purposes of this Act shall be utilized by the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation for monitoring the provisions of this Act. Beginning in FY '87, the appropriation for the Extended Employment Program will be included in the Department budget u a separate appropriation and will not affect existing Department programs.
Approved July 2,1985.