In 2002, Vermont closed its last sheltered workshop for people with developmental disabilities at Champlain Community Services (CCS) in favor of community-based employment services.   Since then, CCS has excelled in community employment and services (with a current employment rate of 80%, four times the national average), and has been a great resource in consulting with other agencies.  Vermont’s success led to inquiries from other agencies and states regarding the sheltered workshop conversion process. As a result, the UVM Center on Disability & Community Inclusion (UVM-CDCI) in collaboration with Vermont APSE hosted the first Vermont Sheltered Workshop Conversion Institute in 2007 to outline our history and process of systems change.

The success of this conference led to an increased demand and resulted in seven conferences (2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019), attended by over 450 people from 39 states, Canada, Australia and Guam.  Nationally recognized speakers as well as local agency partners examined the issues of policy change, training, and culture-shift needed to foster the conversion of sheltered workshops to community-based employment services. As a result, participants have successfully implemented their own systems change to community employment in their respective agencies and states.