Area group planning another sheltered workshop for Cape County

A group seeking to provide additional services for people with developmental disabilities in Cape Girardeau County has begun planning a new sheltered workshop.

Kevin Smith, a Jackson resident who has a son with developmental disabilities, is one of four members of Blue Sky Inc., and gave a presentation outlining the group's objectives and views at the Cape County Board for Developmental Disabilities meeting July 12.

Other members of the group are Pam Deneke, a special education teacher in the Jackson School District; Bryan Noack, a former disabilities board member; and Traci Ritter, the mother of a developmentally disabled daughter who helped to write "Kaitlyn's Law," or Missouri House Bill 236, passed in 2009. The law, named after Ritter's daughter Kaitlyn Thompson, requires that students with disabilities be allowed to participate in graduation provided they have completed four years of high school and are making educational progress.

Smith said the group has been attending meetings of the Cape County Board for Developmental Disabilities for about a year and began working in the spring on a service plan for a new workshop. The group has applied for a not-for-profit status. The goal, he said, is to open a "progressive" sheltered workshop, where each developmentally disabled person is given a staff evaluation that will provide a basis for training, support and work plans. Another goal of the program would be to gain more community involvement and social interaction for employees.

"Our basic belief is that evaluation of individual needs and inclusion within the community are important for disabled individuals," Smith said. "We feel like persons with disabilities deserve to be included with their peers and that inclusion is where the opportunity for learning and advancement happens."

Both Smith and Ritter say that services they want to offer through a new sheltered workshop are not intended to replace the county-funded sheltered workshops offered by VIP Industries. They also say they do not wish to take people from the current VIP programs and that there are many developmentally disabled people who could benefit from more services.

Ritter said many developmentally disabled people in the county have benefited from VIP but that it's possible the families of some of them are looking for an alternative service that more closely fits certain needs, such as more community inclusion and opportunities for competitive employment.

"I want to see in a progressive workshop a number of stages within where you can try different things, and excel, and move up according to an ability level," Ritter said.

"People need to be informed about all of their choices, and self-advocacy is important. We want to share with disabled individuals and their families what else they could be doing."

She said the use programs like the Kiwanis Action Club and other programs from Young Life where there are participants with and without disabilities could be options for more community involvement for developmentally disabled people who would use a new sheltered workshop.

Smith said the members of the disabilities board seem to like the concepts the group has presented so far and will support plans for a new workshop.

Calls seeking comment from board members were not returned Saturday.

Ritter said the county is one potential source of funding the group is looking at but it will be pursuing many other sources as well.

Ritter said that aside from funding, the support of the community will be important in opening a new sheltered workshop. Unfortunately, she said, the current public view of operations involving the Cape County Board for Developmental Disabilities and recent controversies over resignations and a pending lawsuit filed against the board by VIP has emotions running high.

Smith said he feels confident when things are settled between the board and VIP, the two will go back to working together as usual. In the meantime, he said, the group will continue to attend board meetings and assess the need for additional services in the county, listen for public opinion of a plan for a new workshop and finish developing a service plan. He said there is no definite timeline for opening a new workshop.

The group is putting together several community advisory boards, and Smith said the group welcomes inquiries about availability of seats as a board of directors member.

For more information on the group, contact Smith at 314-323-0597 or email kev_smith@sbcglobal.net.

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