Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation

There are differences between and within states in the delivery of Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) for students with significant disabilities early in their career planning process. This complicates the delivery of services for these youth with disabilities (YWD) and leaves gaps in communication between families, educators, and vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors.

To identify facilitators and barriers in the implementation of Pre-ETS to students with significant disabilities ages 14–16. Additionally, to gather data from rural, urban, and suburban areas spanning across two states to analyze the similarities and differences between these states.

Researchers from Virginia and Kentucky conducted semi-structured interviews with 56 participants representing VR counselors providing Pre-ETS, educators, and families.

A majority of respondents stated that starting Pre-ETS with 14–16 year-olds provided numerous benefits. In both Virginia and Kentucky, educators and VR counselors expressed the need for more resources, particularly ongoing training for providing Pre-ETS to younger students in the transition process. Families recommended making activities meaningful and engaging by increasing job exploration and workplace readiness experiences.

The results of the study provide insight on the implementation of Pre-ETS activities in local communities across two states. Implications are discussed for providing Pre-ETS to students with significant disabilities early in their career planning process.

Proposed frameworks of college and career readiness include aspects of school climate perceptions and behavioral engagement. School climate initiatives emphasize the importance of healthy learning environments; while behavioral indicators tend to be used to identify students at-risk for disengagement, established early warning systems include few, if any, behavioral indicators. A promising and useful screening mechanism that combines behavioral indicators along with school climate perceptions may enhance identification of adolescents at risk for disengagement, academic failure, and dropout, and may ultimately improve college and career readiness.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between self-reported adolescent perceptions of school climate and extant high school academic and behavioral data to create an index score which could be used as an early warning system for student disengagement.

To accomplish the stated objective, we employed structural equation modeling to estimate a multiple indicators multiple causes model using a sample of high school students (n = 5039) with and without disabilities. Extant school data included grade point average, attendance, tardies, and office discipline referrals, while school climate was measured using the Georgia Brief School Climate survey.

Findings show evidence of a robust Adolescent Behavioral Index when controlled for disability status as those with disabilities are expected to have lower index scores indicating greater risk for school disengagement.

Implications for research and practice are focused on the Adolescent Behavioral Index as a mechanism for systematic data collection that may underlie early warning systems in high schools specifically when designing college and career readiness interventions for adolescents and when identifying students who may be at risk for disengagement.

Workers with learning disabilities (LD) report many barriers to employment, including discrimination on the part of employers.

To compare the workplace discrimination experiences of workers with LD to those of people with other disabilities.

The comparison of the two groups, people with LD and people with other disabilities, concerned three factors: Characteristics of Charging Parties, prominent issues involving the nature of the discrimination allegation, and the outcomes of EEOC investigations at the time of case closure. An ex post facto, causal-comparative quantitative design was used to examine allegations closed following the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAA).

Results revealed statistically significant differences in characteristics of the Charging Parties in the two groups. The LD group was significantly younger, more Caucasian, and more male than general population disabilities (GENDIS). The LD group was less African American, Latina/o, or Asian than GENDIS. Regarding the nature of allegations, the substance of allegations made by the LD group was more likely to involve matters of disability harassment, discipline, hiring, constructive discharge, training, and promotion. The LD group was less likely to file allegations involving reasonable accommodation, assignment, and layoff.

Workers with learning disabilities experience high rates of employment discrimination, and the types of discrimination they experience are different than those experienced by people with other disabilities.

Autistic transition-age youth are employed at rates far lower than their non-disabled peers as well as youth with other disabilities. Meanwhile, very few studies have evaluated the implementation of job interviewing practices within pre-employment transition services.

We conducted an initial implementation evaluation as part of a Hybrid Type 1 randomized controlled effectiveness-implementation trial where we trained teachers to deliver Virtual Interview Training for Transition-Age Youth (VIT-TAY) within five pre-employment transition services programs.

We used mixed methods to evaluate leader (n = 5), teacher (n = 15) and autistic transition age youth (n = 48) perceptions of VIT-TAY. We used descriptive statistics and thematic network analysis to evaluate survey data. Mixed methods integration was then performed to make comparisons between quantitative and qualitative results.

Quantitative survey data revealed that leaders and teachers found VIT-TAY to be highly acceptable and appropriate for pre-employment transition services; findings which were confirmed via thematic network analysis of qualitative interview data. Autistic students reported via quantitative surveys that VIT-TAY was acceptable and usable, which was confirmed via thematic network analysis of open-ended survey data.

This initial implementation evaluation can be used to inform a larger scale implementation evaluation of VIT-TAY in schools.

There is an urgent need for services that support a successful transition to postsecondary education and employment for young adults with neurodevelopmental and cognitive disabilities (e.g. autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, traumatic brain injury).

The purpose of this expository article is to describe the Cognitive Skills Enhancement Program (CSEP), a comprehensive clinical program designed for young adults with neurodevelopmental and cognitive disabilities transitioning to postsecondary education.

CSEP was developed through a community-academic partnership between a university and a state vocational rehabilitation program. Young adult participants complete programming that addresses four primary clinical targets: (1) emotion regulation, (2) social skills, (3) work readiness, and (4) community participation with the overall goal to increase awareness and promote successful employment outcomes while they transition to post-secondary education.

To date, CSEP has supported 18 years of sustained programming and clinical services to 621 young adults with neurodevelopmental and cognitive disabilities.

This partnership model allows for flexible responses to participant needs, implementation barriers, and advances in evidence-based practices. CSEP meets the needs of diverse stakeholders (e.g. state vocational rehabilitation, post-secondary training facilities, participants, universities) while providing high-quality and sustainable programming. Future directions include examining the clinical efficacy of current CSEP programming.

Helping young adults with specific learning disabilities (SLD) attend college increases their chances of joining the workforce, which helps protect them from the negative effects of unemployment.

This study examined whether receiving vocational rehabilitation (VR) services of four-year college or university training would lead to improved employment outcomes for young adults with SLD.

Using the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)-911 database, a propensity score matching technique was employed to create a comparison group of young adults with SLD who did not receive college or university training for a treatment group of those who did. The quasi-experimental design investigated differences in the employment outcomes between the two groups.

Findings revealed that the group who received college or university training was more likely to obtain competitive employment upon exit from the VR program than the matched comparison group who did not receive the training; youth with SLD who received college or university training and had secured competitive employment at the time of exit also had significantly higher hourly wages and weekly working hours than their counterparts in the comparison group.

College and university training is positively related to employment outcomes for young people with SLD. Implications for state VR counselors are also discussed.

Increased federal attention to advancing racial equity and support for underserved communities suggests the need for data on racial and ethnic differences in evidence-based employment services for people with serious mental illness. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an evidence-based model of supported employment for this population.

The objective was to identify differences based on race and ethnicity in IPS services.

This narrative review examined the empirical literature on IPS services in the U.S., assessing evidence of differences in access, retention, and effectiveness for Black and Hispanic IPS clients, relative to non-Hispanic Whites.

We identified 12 studies examining racial and ethnic differences in access (4 studies), retention (3 studies), and effectiveness (6 studies). The findings for access to IPS were mixed, with two studies showing no differences, one finding less access for Blacks, and another finding greater access for Blacks but less access for Hispanics. Three studies found better retention rates for clients enrolled in IPS regardless of race or ethnicity. Compared to clients receiving usual vocational services, all studies found better employment outcomes for IPS clients regardless of race or ethnicity.

Unlike for most of health care, few racial and ethnic differences have been found for IPS employment services in the U.S. Access to IPS is inadequate for all groups, with conflicting evidence whether Blacks and Hispanics have even less access. Based on the available evidence, Black and Hispanic clients have comparable retention and employment outcomes in IPS as non-Hispanic White clients. State and local mental health leaders responsible for monitoring IPS outcomes should routinely report statistics on race and ethnicity. They should also give active attention to client needs and equity. Research designs should answer multifaceted questions regarding disparities for historically underserved populations.

Although the majority of childhood cancer survivors make successful transitions to adulthood, research suggests that a significant group experiences ongoing medical concerns, such as psychological distress, that significantly impact the achievement of crucial social roles including employment.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between career decision making, core self-evaluations, and perceived internal and external barriers to employment in a sample of young adult central nervous system tumor survivors.

A sample of 110 young adult survivors of pediatric central nervous system tumors was surveyed. Mediation analysis with structural equational modeling was used to correlate a number of different measures (Career Decision Making [CTI], Perceived Employment Barriers [PEB], and Core-Self Evaluations [CSE]).

The presence of both significant direct and indirect effects of career decision making on perceived employment barriers implied that there was a partial mediating effect of core self-evaluations on the association between career readiness and employment barriers.

Career decision-making is a robust construct that can be applied to young adult central nervous system tumor survivors in effort to gain more insight into the vocational psychological factors that impact career development and employment in this group. Core self-evaluations was found to be a mediator between career decision making and perceived career barriers.

The study of job interview training is an emerging area among transition-age autistic youth who face significant challenges when navigating job interviews. The autism field has limited measures that have undergone rigorous psychometric evaluation.

We sought to evaluate the psychometric properties of adapted self-report measures assessing job interview skills and job interview anxiety.

As part of two parent randomized controlled trials, eighty-five transition-age autistic youth completed measures related to the strength of their job interview skills and their level of job interview anxiety. We conducted classical test theory analyses, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and Rasch model analytic and calibration analyses. Pearson correlations were used to establish concurrent, divergent, and criterion validity by correlating these scales with measures of social challenges, depressive symptoms, behaviors, neuropsychological functioning, and work history.

Our analyses yielded two brief and reliable scales: Measure of Job Interview Skills (MOJO-iSkills) and Measure of Job Interview Anxiety (MOJO-iAnxiety), which demonstrated initial concurrent, divergent, and criterion validities when correlated with measures of depressive symptoms, social challenges, internalizing and externalizing behavior, and work history.

This study presents initial evidence that MOJO-iSkills and MOJO-iAnxiety have acceptable psychometric properties supporting they can be used to reliably and validly assess job interview skills and interview anxiety.

Owing to steadily increasing rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among children, youth, and adults, it is certain that growing numbers of these individuals will need transition and vocational rehabilitation (VR) services for many years to come. ASD research has focused on identifying employment barriers rather than on effective interventions to remove or reduce those barriers. Even so, some evidence has demonstrated support for the effectiveness of specific transition-related interventions.

The purpose of this article is to review the existing literature regarding transition and employment for youth with ASD.

We begin with an overview of the clinical characteristics of ASD and its incidence and prevalence in the U.S. Then, we examine vocational issues facing individuals with ASD.

The remainder of the article focuses on transition and VR implications with specific emphases on (a) interdisciplinary transition planning, (b) postsecondary educational supports and services, and (c) employment interventions.

ASD is a high-incidence disability that presents significant service delivery and advocacy needs for young people with ASD and their families. Evidence-based employment interventions are available to help young people with ASD make smooth transitions to adulthood in the settings of their choice.