43
Fed Rule Changes Jeopardize Fairhaven Adult Workshops
By Jordan Cohen
NILES
It is a typical morning at the Tony Tomaski Center on North Road, one of three adult sheltered workshops operated by Fairhaven Industries.
The Tomaski Center employs 110 developmentally disabled people, and on this day, most are focused on assembling strut clamps for Jet Stream International of Niles, a fittings manufacturer. Everyone seems happy to engage visitors as they go about their jobs.
“We’ve probably assembled 5 million pieces for Jet Stream over the years at our workshops,” said Wayne Wilkerson, a production supervisor.
The concept of the sheltered workshop, however, will change radically for most of the Fairhaven Industries adult employees in less than five years because of sweeping federal rule changes by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“The CMS wants more integration into the community [and] does not want the agency that offers the service plan to provide those services,” said Edward Stark, superintendent of the Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities. “If we don’t follow through with this mandate, the federal government [will] cut off the Medicaid Waiver altogether.”
Stark said that would mean the loss of nearly $8 million of Fairhaven’s $24 million budget. The adult sheltered workshop is considered a Medicaid Waiver program and is the only one of Fairhaven’s services impacted by the rule changes.
The workshops employ 325 people. Wilkerson said all are paid the “prevailing wage,” which in Trumbull County is $8.84 per hour.
The purpose of the rule is to phase out sheltered workshops funded by Medicaid Waiver and replace them with employee integration into the community.
“By 2020, we have to reduce the number of people we are serving by 70 percent and the remaining 30 percent by 2024,” Stark said. “That likely means job cuts.”
More than 80 Fairhaven employees have spent some time in the private workforce.
“We do a lot of community integration,” said Ken Bielecki, workshop director at the Tomaski Center. “We have various groups who go for volunteer experience and job exploration.”
The superintendent said a 12-member transition team has been formed to develop a plan to comply with the rule changes. Stark said Fairhaven has recruited two private providers and conducted a provider fair to help employees and their families or guardians learn about other options.
Bielecki said there are 11 private workshops in Trumbull County, all of which have to meet certification requirements.
“The biggest thing we want to do is ensure a safe and smooth transition to other workshops,” Bielecki said.
While Fairhaven’s workshops and staffs may be significantly reduced, they will not entirely disappear. Stark said the worksites will be available for those employees who do not want to leave Fairhaven Industries and for other segments in the community.
“There will be people who do not have Medicaid Waiver funding that we will provide service to such as the Amish population, which does not qualify for Medicaid,” Stark said.
“We can still provide services, but there just won’t be that many,” he told Niles City Council last month.
In the meantime, Bielecki and other staff members are coming to grips with the inevitability of change for the sheltered workshops and those whom they have served for nearly 50 years.
“We’re not thrilled with it, but we’ll do what we have to do,” he said.