Element 5.

Integrated Settings
Old vs. new paradigm

• Old belief: that people with

disabilities were “defective” and
should be kept segregated from
“normal” people
• Current Federal policy/law: that
people with disabilities should
receive services in "the most
integrated setting appropriate to
the needs" of those people
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5.4: Most Integrated Setting
• One-Stop programs/partners must:
 Administer programs and activities in
the most integrated setting possible
 Not provide segregated aid, benefits,
services, or training to people with
disabilities unless necessary to
provide services as effective as those
provided to others; and
 Let qualified people with disabilities
participate in integrated programs or
activities, even if lawful “special”
programs / activities exist
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What is segregation?
• Are you (or is your Center)
excluding, or providing different or
separate services for/to:
 all people with disabilities?
 all members of a particular class of
people with disabilities?
 specific individuals with disabilities?
• If yes, it’s segregation – you must
determine whether it’s lawful

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Is the segregation lawful?
• Can you / your Center prove:
 that the segregation is necessary?
(see next slide)
 that you provide alternate services
that are actually as effective as
services for people without
disabilities?
 that you perform an individualized
assessment before referring a
particular customer with a disability to
the segregated program or activity?
 that the ultimate decision whether to
participate in the segregated program
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or activity is left up to the customer?
When is segregation
“necessary”?
• Reg language: “in order to provide
customers with disabilities with
programs or activities that are as
effective as those provided to customers
without disabilities”
• It’s not “necessary” simply because:
 your facilities aren’t accessible
 serving/employing people with disabilities
in an integrated setting is expensive or
inconvenient

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Examples of
unlawful segregation
• When you refer all customers with
disabilities (or all customers with a
specific disability) to:
 a particular program, such as
Vocational Rehabilitation
 a separate, “special” service provider
• When you permit individual staff
members to make such across-the-
board referrals

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More examples of
unlawful segregation

• When you serve customers with

disabilities, or require employees
with disabilities to work, in locations
that are physically isolated
 “disabled computer” in separate room
away from others

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More examples of
unlawful segregation
(cont’d)
• When you automatically place
customers with particular disabilities in,
or refer them to, employment in
sheltered workshops rather than
competitive, integrated work
environments
• When you exclude all students who
will receive “special disability
diplomas”

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Group Exercise: Is this a lawful
instance of segregation?
Purpose:
 To determine whether a
particular instance of segregation
satisfies the requirements.
Tasks:
 Your EO monitoring team has
discovered several instances in which a
particular recipient is separating
customers with disabilities from other
customers. Your team’s job is to
determine whether each of these
instances is lawful.
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Group Exercise: Is this a lawful
instance of segregation? (cont’d)
Tasks (cont’d):
 Divide into small groups, read the case
that has been assigned to your team,
and discuss whether this instance of
segregation is justified under the
regulations.
 If you need additional information
before making a decision, determine
what information is missing and why it
is needed.
 Have the designated team member
briefly describe the case, and explain
your team’s conclusions and reasoning
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about the case, to the class.