In October 2021, CPR and its partners at Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with State officials from the Department of Human Services that would close admissions to sheltered workshops by July 1, 2022, close all workshops by 2026, and dramatically expand opportunities for persons with IDD to obtain Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE). Shortly after the Settlement Agreement was publicly announced, leading members of the North Carolina General Assembly informed the State agency that the deadline in the Agreement for ending all new admissions to sheltered workshops had to be delayed.
With the assistance of a mediator, the parties signed a new Implementation Agreement in November that set out a series of service development tasks, outcomes, and deadlines that must be met in order to comply with the Settlement Agreement. An Amendment to the Implementation Agreement was signed in October 2023 to specify additional actions the State must take to transform its employment service system, including benchmarks for the number of individuals who will achieve CIE.