Star Tribune: 'How Minnesota is failing the disabled'
This week, the Star Tribune is running a five-part series on how the state of Minnesota serves — or fails to serve — those with disabilities.
The series examines the state programs and policies that are isolating and marginalizing thousands of adults across the state.
Chris Serres, a Star Tribune reporter, and Glenn Howatt, an editor at the paper, joined MPR News' Tom Weber to discuss the series and their research.
Serres and Howatt began working on the project last spring, when, Serres noted, a federal judge criticized Minnesota "for not doing enough to desegregate care for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities."
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"In one of the reports, we were shocked to see that there were more than 40,000 people with disabilities in the state that were living and working in segregated settings," Serres said. "By 'segregated,' I mean they were living or working only with those with disabilities."
The first part of the series focused on sheltered workshops — facilities that employ adults with disabilities for menial tasks. These workshops have exemptions that allow them to pay based on work completed, rather than adhere to a minimum wage.
In some cases, Serres found, this means individuals at the workshops are paid as little as 50 cents an hour.
In the second part, Serres and Howatt examined housing policies for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
"In hundreds of cases every year, people are being sent hundreds of miles from their own homes, their own communities, away from their families and support networks, to distant group homes that are very isolating, to live with complete strangers," Serres said. "[This] exacerbates any mental disorders they may already have. It can often be a recipe for disaster."
Part three examined the long waiting list for aid, despite the fact that millions earmarked for these issues have gone unspent. Part four explored the way another state — Vermont — has managed to address many of the issues Minnesota is struggling with. The final part, which will be published tomorrow, addresses the obstacles disabled adults face in forming healthy relationships.
For the complete series, visit the Star Tribune.