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Sheltered workshops are meant to employ disabled adults as they prepare to enter the regular workforce. In Missouri, these workers rarely graduate to higher-paying jobs.

Missouri鈥檚 first sheltered workshop shifted focus to support disabled employees in the traditional workforce. Five years later, here鈥檚 a look at the lasting effects.

In September, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights released a report supporting the phaseout of subminimum wage for people with disabilities. For St. Louisan Colleen Starkloff, co-founder of the Starkloff Disability Institute, it鈥檚 about time. While she鈥檚 quick to acknowledge the good intentions of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act exception when it was first created, she鈥檚 convinced that phasing it out is critical to human dignity and inclusive employment practices. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a way to do that, and sheltered workshops aren鈥檛 it,鈥� she said.

Lafayette Industries North Inc. has a unique employment role. The contract packaging company has about 380 developmentally disabled employees working鈥�

The St. Louis Board of Aldermen exempted sheltered workshops from its new minimum wage law.When the board passed legislation that is to gradually raise鈥�

The St. Louis Board of Aldermen is closer to exempting sheltered workshops from the city鈥檚 new minimum wage law.When the city raised its minimum wage to鈥�

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, June 9, 2010 - At a time when many 20-somethings are having trouble finding suitable work or any鈥�