The priorities for IV are changing...slowly.... I was looking at the new documentation that is being circulated ....it's focused more on forward thinking to try to build as many work and independence supports as possible.... YES - you need to talk to SVA very soon to check as the rules/requirements changed substantially in around 2022 and people are sitll very unaware. This also applies to anyone who has a 'young adult' or 'youth' living under their roof that they are financially responsible for....
Since 2022 there are also changes to subsidies and supports from SVA for parents who have a young adult at home - it's important to get up to date with that information as well. We discovered (after the fact) that our family income is below a threshhold to receive an additional payment towards our 'studying' children/s living costs. No one told is we could apply for that.... a few months later we started receiving documents from SVA to get this in process...but it will take time to work out the paperwork.
There are more supports coming in to try to help more young people to transition from home to living independently. This of course is very important to reduce the long-term cost and increase financial indepencence (living skills, mental health, adaptation to independent life).(as you have said, financial independence is a huge concern)....
'Sheltered workshops' are what we would call your daughter's programme if it was in Australia - a place where people who are unable to ever work independently are kept in some sort of occupation - but not paid like an adult worker. Yes, it can be exploitative. You can certainly read academic research and reports that highlight the problems - a quick skim of things to check includes:
- Is this a dead-end programme ? Is there any progression of people out of these places to something more resembling real employment, progression and real-life skills or is it more 'social' focused - giving them somewhere to be and people to spend time with and using them for repetitive manual labour ?
- Does the programme rely on the income being generated from the workers to fund their programme ? - on the surface this sounds like a 'good idea' but not if the institution retains capable workers who could actually be found (with the right support) a proper open-employment position and career progression....
- are the clients/staff/young people actually given freedom and working conditions that resemble modern safe work environments ? Or are they being treated basically like slave labour - fully dictated to and treated poorly? Sitting too long in a chair, paid per piece, with little or no freedom to make any independent choices.
- is the person free to choose to participate or not ? Are they punished if the have a bad day, will they lose support (financial, social, psychological, access to other services) if they decide that they do not want to do the work.
- Is the person being asked to 'work' in a way that replaced properly salaried jobs for the organisation. Usually the 'test' for this is whether a qualified and fully paid salaried person also works alongside the trainee, and whether the trainee's position is surplus to requirements. Eg. the organisation does not employ cleaners but expects the 'staff member' to handle all the cleaning and maintain it to a professional standard.
It's very difficult to decide whether this is the best option for your child....from their website it certainly sounds very interesting..... but I've worked with a client in this situation (in Australia) and worked alongside a group of young people who were placed into these sorts of 'sheltered workshops' and it was definitely a) exploitative b)inappropriate c)unsafe - so I'm fairly critical about it, but I can see how easily these places can be set up with the best of intentions, and also that the cost of running them is extremely expensive (perhaps also highly inefficient, but that is a discussion for another day). On the other hand, some people absolutely love being a part of these sorts of institutions and feel a real sense of belonging and purpose.
So yes, you do need to get up to date with IV, SVA and any other supports available for your daughter now that she has turned 18, and also with the arrangement for her current work/study programme. It will be very likely assumed that because she has always been in 'special school' there is no way that she can become an independent earner... and in my experience that is a huge barrier to overcome. And it's going to take a very individualised approach to find a way to build anything resembling financial independence.... which a 'sheltered workshop' type of organisation is not likely to be focused on.
And yes, we are still very much in a 'deficit' model - focusing on what you cannot do, not on what you can do - and the more you 'cannot' do, the greater the support, but then you are penalised (by having support removed) as you build skills....