People with disabilities still waiting to go back to work 6 months later

Nearly 3,000 people with disabilities statewide, who were told to leave their jobs on March 17 as the coronavirus pandemic hit, are still waiting to go back to work, advocates said.

The workers, their families and advocates have urged the governor to reopen employment programs for people with disabilities as soon as possible. They have been shut in too long, and furthermore, not allowing them to return to work reeks of discrimination, they said. Many of the individuals affected live in group homes throughout the state.

Matthew Putts is CEO of Employment Horizons, a nonprofit that trains and places people with “significant disabilities” in jobs like refurbishing returned cable and internet equipment, mailing and collating, and light manufacturing assembly.

“We are regularly getting Facebook messages and calls from clients saying, ‘Am I ever coming back?’ ” he said.

Read more: https://www.dailyrecord.com/story/news/watchdog/2020/09/22/advocates-cry-discrimination-want-disability-job-programs-opened-now/5795091002/
(Parsippany Daily Record)