Chapter 1: Introduction

This report focuses on the role of adapted work settings in the international framework provided by the UNCRPD; in particular, special attention has been given to Article 26 and 27, as they both deal with principles, measures and services offered by adapted work settings.
Adapted work settings, commonly known also as sheltered workshops, are not referred to in the UNCRPD. This requires clarifications for the thousands of people that benefit from their services and whose future looks therefore uncertain.
The analysis was carried out starting from three main subjects:
- what the Convention brought in general terms through its paradigm shift and the subsequent challenges for social services
- the analysis of the current text of Article 26 and 27 and the links to the role of sheltered workshop matters
- the history of the discussions around the inclusion of sheltered workshops in the UN CRPD.

Services like sheltered workshops may sometimes and very often fulfill more than one function for persons with disabilities, thus their compliance to the UN CRPD articles is particularly sensitive. In the framework of a holistic approach to persons with disabilities, where disability itself is not the focus of attention, but everything is about the individual and the enjoyment of his rights, it is of utter importance to keep a good balance between the multitude of skills, personal choices, possibilities of individual development and society’s response.    
The report provides a state of play of possible links existing between sheltered workshops and the UN CRPD in order to gain a view on future developments needed in the provision of work opportunities to persons with (intellectual) disabilities.

The full report is available here.

For more information on the report please contact Ms. Sabrina Ferraina at sabrina.ferraina@easpd.eu.

The background to and aim of the PASS IT ON project can be found in the Commission Disability Strategy. This strategy has aimed, since 2003, at making equal opportunities a reality for all persons with disabilities.

The EC Disability Action Plan 2008-2009 focuses on increasing accessibility to the open labour market for persons with disabilities. An analysis of the most recent data shows that these citizens are underrepresented in the labour market. In addition to this, a 2006 OECD report found that even less jobs now exist for persons with disabilities than did 10 years ago.

PASS IT ON aims to increase the number of persons with disabilities in open labour market employment, as well as to improve working conditions for them through the dissemination and the exploitation of training materials elaborated by two Leonardo projects (Conversion and Atlas) and two Grundtvig projects (Inclusive Education Model I Am 2003 and the Mo.bi.Le).

The aim of these projects – even if one was training-focused and the other coach-centered – was essentially the same: to facilitate the transition towards the open labour market for persons with disabilities, and to facilitate the process for those around them - their employers, family, friends, local authorities, transportation providers if any, etc. Eventually, the project Mo.bi.Le was considered as not enough relevant to be included in this document. Its main findings are to be found in Annex, but its content was not directly used.

The materials gathered by these projects were intended for continued use after completion. This is because internationally-approved guidelines and methods are effective tools for combating discrimination and strengthening equality. There is of course no one solution that is effective for all individuals and all circumstances, and PASS IT ON deals with an extremely complex issue: how to transfer persons with disabilities from sheltered environments to the open labour market. What our experience over the last ten years has shown us is that perspective can be gained from taking many different points of view into account, although no single approach provides a definitive solution for all.

PASS IT ON will therefore provide employers (local authority employers) with the necessary training materials for employing persons with disabilities. In that way they can act as mediators facilitating the integration of persons with disabilities in the open labour market. It may be useful to mention that chapter 5 of this document – which is specifically targeted to employers – offers a general overview of the document as a whole.

The target groups we aim at can be divided into several direct beneficiaries: professionals working in the field of service provision for persons with disability (service providers, managers, first line staff, mainstream vocational training agencies), employers, local authorities, and indirect beneficiaries: policy makers, mainstream vocational training agencies, employers’ federations, academic institutions, trade unions and persons.

The implementation of PASS IT ON will consist of making a compilation of the training materials gathered from the above-mentioned projects. This compilation will be translated into the five languages used in the project (English, Czech, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Romanian). In the five new EU members states represented within the partnership (Malta, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania) we will organise seminars, and create national helpdesks and portals.

The aim of the seminars will be to analyse the projects’ training materials through parallel working groups focusing on different needs at national level. To this end, the five new member states will invite at least 50 professionals (representatives of service provider organisations, managers and first line staff), three employers and five local authorities.

The national partner will:

• conduct a study, at national level, of both the shortcomings and challenges of the integration of persons with disabilities in the open labour market and their skills
• disseminate at national level the compiled material translated in the national language
• assist professionals (service providers, managers and front-line staff), employers and local authorities in achieving the ultimate objective, that of including persons with disabilites in the open labour market
• maintain a close relationship with experts in the field

As a result of this process, national helpdesks and portals will be set up and will:

• oversee the compilation of the training materials and their translation into the nationallanguages
• find ways for the helpdesk to support professionals (service providers, managers, trainers, first line staff), employers, local authorities, other stakeholders and persons with disabilities
• retain information in the national language on the disseminated projects and the materials compiled

To facilitate all this, twinning partnerships will be established between experts and the national helpdesk (The Netherlands and Romania; Ireland and Bulgaria; Austria and Malta; Belgium and Czech Republic; Ireland and Hungary).

Finally, the existing EASPD www.employmentforall.eu website will include the project material from the four projects, the compiled material in the five different languages, chat rooms for exchange of information among professionals, employers, authorities and all involved stakeholders, especially persons with disabilities.

It is necessary to point out at this stage that the material we refer to in Appendix 2-5 is taken from the material of the four projects. By doing this we think we have done justice to these projects,without altering their original meaning.

This introduction has provided a short overview of what the PASS IT ON project is about. The next chapter will focus on the project’s main aim: the employment of persons with disabilities in the open labour market, and the urgent need to increase numbers in the field.

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