To repeal sections 178.900, 178.910, 178.920 and 178.930, RSMo 1994, relating to sheltered workshops, and to enact in lieu thereof four new sections relating to the same subject.

AS FOLLOWS:

Section A. Sections 178.900, 178.910, 178.920 and 178.930, RSMo 1994, are repealed and four new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 178.900, 178.910, 178.920 and 178.930, to read as follows:

178.900. For the purposes of sections 178.900 to 178.970 the following words mean:

(1) "Department", the department of elementary and secondary education;

[(2) "Handicapped persons", a lower range educable or upper range trainable mentally retarded or other handicapped person sixteen years of age or over who has had school training and has a productive work capacity in a sheltered environment adapted to the abilities of the mentally retarded but whose limited capabilities make him nonemployable in competitive business and industry and unsuited for vocational rehabilitation training;

(3) "Sheltered workshop", an occupation-oriented facility operated by a not for profit corporation, which, except for its staff, employs only handicapped persons and has a minimum enrollment of at least fifteen employable handicapped persons;

(4) "Staff", employees of a sheltered workshop engaged in management, work procurement, purchasing, supervision, sales, bookkeeping, and secretarial and clerical functions.]

(2) "Employee with a disability", any person with mental retardation, mental illness, head injury, or other disability, who is formally certified for employment in an extended employment sheltered workshop by the Missouri division of vocational rehabilitation, the Missouri rehabilitation services for the blind, or another certifying agency or professional as approved by the department;

(3) "Sheltered workshop", a long-term employment provider operated by a nonprofit corporation which has a board membership satisfying state requirements governing sheltered workshops and which has the primary purpose of providing employment for persons with disabilities;

(4) "Supervisor", an employee of a sheltered workshop engaged in management, work procurement, production work, assisting an employee with a disability, purchasing, supervision, sales, bookkeeping, secretarial and clerical functions and shall not include volunteers, senior citizens and employees who are participants in employment programs established pursuant to chapter 208, RSMo.

178.910. 1. A sheltered workshop shall provide work experiences at a facility for employees with a disability, and such work experiences may include subcontract work and production work at a facility.

2. A sheltered workshop may also provide integrated employment in the community and other habilitative and rehabilitative services as determined by the corporation.

3. A sheltered workshop may hire, pursuant to this section, nondisabled employees to facilitate and maintain employment of persons with disabilities in integrated work settings, and shall assure to the department that employees with disabilities account for not less than seventy-five percent of the work hours of direct labor required to furnish goods and services. Priority shall be given to hiring qualified persons with disabilities. No otherwise qualified employee with a disability shall be displaced by a nondisabled individual.

4. In any case where the contract or contracts of the sheltered workshop require employment of nondisabled employees, priority of employment shall be given in the following order: 1) volunteers; 2) senior citizens; 3) participants in employment programs established pursuant to chapter 208, RSMo; and 4) allowing supervisors to perform production work. The board of directors and the administrator of the sheltered workshop shall ensure that employees with disabilities are not subjected to mental or verbal abuse by nondisabled employees. Testing for drug use and background checks shall be performed for all supervisors who perform production work and for all employees who are participating in employment programs established pursuant to chapter 208, RSMo, and no such person shall be employed by the sheltered workshop who has been convicted of a felony criminal offense.

5. In any case where the presence of nondisabled employees adversely affects the attendance of employees with disabilities, the board of directors and the administrator of the sheltered workshop shall determine the cause of the reduction in attendance and, if it is determined that the reduction in attendance is caused by a nondisabled employee, the nondisabled employee shall be dismissed from employment or volunteer participation at the sheltered workshop. Upon receipt of a complaint from a parent or guardian of an employee with a disability concerning a nondisabled employee, the board of directors and the administrator shall investigate the complaint and, if the board of directors determines that the complaint is valid, the nondisabled employee shall be dismissed from employment or volunteer participation.

6. The department shall approve overall program requests for employment of persons without disabilities, considering the complexity of jobs available, production requirements and the improvement in the individual skills and abilities of employees with a disability due to the integration of nondisabled employees.

7. A sheltered workshop may coordinate and integrate its services with other community agencies for the benefit of its employees and make use of the services available from these agencies.

8. Reasonable accommodations shall be made in accordance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act to facilitate the employment of persons with disabilities.

[178.910. 1. A sheltered workshop shall provide a controlled work environment and a program designed toward enabling the handicapped person enrolled to progress toward normal living and to develop, as far as possible, his capacity, performance and relationship with other persons.

2. A sheltered workshop shall, so far as possible, provide work experience sufficiently diverse to accommodate the needs of each of the handicapped persons enrolled.

3. A sheltered workshop shall coordinate and integrate its services with all community agencies for the benefit of its employees, and whenever practicable make use of the services available from these agencies.]

178.920. 1. Any group of persons desiring to establish a sheltered workshop which will be eligible for state aid shall [request] apply for a certificate of [approval] authority from the department. The [request] application shall be in writing on forms provided by the department, and shall contain such information as the department may reasonably require.

2. Within sixty days after receipt of the [request] application, the department shall hold a hearing to determine [suitability of the proposed sheltered workshop to provide appropriate supervised employment and rehabilitation for handicapped persons] the feasibility and need for the proposed sheltered workshop and its ability to fulfill the purposes of sheltered workshops as provided in section 178.910 and the rules promulgated by the department.

3. [If, after hearing, the department determines that the proposed sheltered workshop will be a proper agent of the state for the purpose of employment and rehabilitation of handicapped persons, it shall notify the persons requesting the certificate that they will be issued a certificate of approval upon filing with the department the applicant's certificate of incorporation as a not for profit corporation and a copy of its charter and bylaws.] Within sixty days after the hearing, the department will determine whether the proposed sheltered workshop can fulfill the purposes of sheltered workshops as provided in section 178.910 and rules promulgated by the department, and has demonstrated the feasibility of and need for a new sheltered workshop. The department may extend the sixty-day period for just cause shown as provided by rule. The department shall issue a certificate of authority when all requirements have been met and the eligibility of the applicant is established. No provision of the charter or bylaws shall conflict with the rules and regulations of the department.

4. The department may refuse to issue a certificate of authority if it finds that a proposed sheltered workshop [will not be a proper agency of the state for the purpose of employment and rehabilitation of handicapped persons] cannot fulfill the purposes stated in section 178.910 and regulations promulgated by the department or cannot demonstrate feasibility and need for a sheltered workshop, and it may, after notice and hearing, revoke the certificate of authority of any sheltered workshop which is no longer qualified because the need for the sheltered workshop no longer exists or for violation of any rule or regulation of the department.

5. The department shall promulgate rules relating to the establishment and operation of a sheltered workshop. The department may establish criteria for various levels of sheltered workshop certification and procedures for satisfying those criteria.

178.930. 1. [Until June 30, 1994, the department of elementary and secondary education shall pay monthly, out of the funds appropriated to it for that purpose, to each sheltered workshop a sum equal to seven dollars multiplied by the number of six-hour or longer days worked by handicapped workers during the preceding calendar month. For each handicapped worker employed by a sheltered workshop for less than a six-hour day, the workshop shall receive a percentage of the seven dollars based on the percentage of the six-hour day worked by the handicapped employee.

2. Beginning July 1, 1994, until June 30, 1995, the department of elementary and secondary education shall pay monthly, out of the funds appropriated to it for that purpose, to each sheltered workshop a sum equal to eight dollars multiplied by the number of six-hour or longer days worked by handicapped workers during the preceding calendar month. For each handicapped worker employed by a sheltered workshop for less than a six-hour day, the workshop shall receive a percentage of the eight dollars based on the percentage of the six-hour day worked by the handicapped employee.

3.] Beginning July 1, 1995, and thereafter, the department of elementary and secondary education shall pay monthly, out of the funds appropriated to it for that purpose, to each sheltered workshop a sum equal to nine dollars multiplied by the number of six-hour or longer days worked by handicapped workers during the preceding calendar month. For each [handicapped worker] employee with a disability employed by a sheltered workshop for less than a six-hour day, the workshop shall receive a percentage of the nine dollars based on the percentage of the six-hour day worked by the [handicapped] employee with a disability.

[4.] 2. The department shall accept, as prima facie proof of payment due to a sheltered workshop, a statement signed by [the president and secretary] an officer of the corporation, designated by the board, and the manager of the sheltered workshop, setting forth the dates worked and the number of hours worked each day by each [handicapped person] employee with a disability employed by that sheltered workshop during the preceding calendar month, together with any other information required by the rules or regulations of the department. The department may establish, by rule, procedures for electronic filing of monthly reimbursement requests. Signature sheets shall satisfy the requirements for monthly statements required under this subsection.