Future of Sheltered Workshops Debated

Patrick Biscoe, a worker at the
sheltered workshop, sorts through
old x-rays that will be recycled.

ELWYN, Del. -- Nobody working in the sheltered workshop at Elwyn Delaware gets a cut in pay if their Paratransit bus is an hour late. Nobody raises an eyebrow if they wear a helmet to work or answer questions by pressing a button on an electronic voice device.
The passageways are wide enough on floor A and floor B for anyone in a power wheelchair to move easily. And those who walk without difficulty can scoot quickly between work tables to distribute supplies needed to keep the work line on schedule.
Some of the 154 employees at Elwyn have worked at its tables for 30 years. They are among about 500 Delaware residents with intellectual and physical disabilities who work in such jobs with state and federal support.