The Legislature finds and declares that many handicapped citizens enrolled in sheltered (extended) employment programs at sheltered workshops earn subminimum wages in a noncompetitive working environment and therefore require financial assistance so that they may meet their transportation costs.
The Legislature further finds and declares that the Department of Labor through its Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services, in conjunction with the Division of Developmental Disabilities in the Department of Human Services and the sheltered workshops of this State, should play a major role in defraying the costs of public transportation and paratransit expenses of handicapped citizens enrolled in sheltered (extended) employment programs at sheltered workshops.