Programs that provide opportunities for individuals with disabilities to learn and practice work skills in a separate and supported environment. Participants may be involved in the program on a transitional or ongoing basis, and are paid for their work, generally under a piecework arrangement. The nature of the work and the types of disabilities represented in the workforce vary widely by program and by the area in which the organization is located. Individuals participate in center-based employment for a variety of reasons including severity of disability, need for additional training or experience, need for a protected environment and/or lack of availability of community-based employment.

Programs that enable individuals with disabilities, people who abuse drugs or alcohol, or people who have emotional problems to obtain the training and employment experiences they need to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Services may include vocational evaluation, work adjustment, work experience, training in marketable skills and placement in competitive employment or a sheltered work environment.

A condition in which affected individuals are totally blind and cannot see or are legally blind and have central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with maximal correction, or a peripheral field of vision that is so contracted that its widest diameter subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees.

Employed individuals who have physical, sensory, developmental, cognitive, mental or emotional limitations.