Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin

State vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies are well positioned to assist youth aged 16 to 24 years with disabilities who are transitioning from school to work. Using Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)-911 records matched to Social Security Administration (SSA) administrative records, this article adds to the knowledge about state VR agency provision of services to youth with disabilities and differences in outcomes based on SSA benefit receipt status. Although agencies’ statistics varied widely, almost one in six SSA beneficiaries who sought VR services had at least 1 month of benefit suspension due to work within 48 months of their VR applications, and about one in 10 VR applicants without SSA benefits at the time of their VR application received SSA benefits within 48 months. SSA beneficiaries received services from VR agencies at the same level as non-SSA beneficiaries, but the levels at which they were employed when they closed from services were lower. The results have two main policy implications. First, the level of resources to which agencies have access may be important in influencing the outcomes we measured. Second, agency differences in the proportion of SSA beneficiaries who eventually had benefit suspension due to work point to the potential for additional gains by agencies in this area.

The purpose of this study was to validate the Vocational Rehabilitation Engagement Scale (VRES) in a sample of state vocational rehabilitation (VR) service consumers. A total of 277 individuals with disabilities were recruited from Alaska, Kentucky, Florida, Michigan, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin. The measurement structure of the VRES was evaluated using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Exploratory factor analysis results support a one-factor measurement structure of the VRES. Confirmatory factor analysis results also indicated a good model fit for the one-factor measurement model. Internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s α) for the scores on the VRES was computed to be .94. VR engagement was found to be associated with working alliance, vocational self-efficacy, internal motivation, and VR outcome expectancy in the expected direction. The VRES is a brief, reliable, and valid instrument for assessing VR engagement and contributes to the use of self-determination as a paradigm for improving motivation and engagement of people with disabilities receiving services from state VR agencies.

Negative employer attitudes have traditionally been considered one of the major barriers to employment faced by people who are blind or visually impaired. Recent research suggests this continues to be a problem, yet little research has directly measured employer attitudes toward this population. Data were collected from a large sample of hiring managers (N = 382) to provide evidence for the validity of a recently developed instrument, the Employer Attitudes Toward Blind Employees Scale. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the instrument, providing evidence for its reliability and validity. Social desirability bias was not found to be a significant problem with the instrument. Self-reported likelihood to hire a person who is blind or visually impaired in the future had a strong association with attitude scores, providing evidence for the scale’s predictive validity.

The construct of resilience is key to understanding adaptation to disability from a strengths-based perspective. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of factors identified in Kumpfer’s resilience model on quality of life (QOL) outcomes for adults with spinal cord injury (SCI), specifically taking into account injury characteristics, self-efficacy, resiliency characteristics, and social support using hierarchical regression analysis. Participants included 255 adults with SCI. Findings revealed that the overall model accounted for 75% of the variance in QOL outcomes. In particular, coexisting pain, participation self-efficacy, core self-evaluation, resiliency characteristics, cognitive strength, general health, and social support independently contributed to the variance in QOL scores. Implications of these findings for developing theory-driven, strengths-based approaches for improving rehabilitation outcomes for individuals with SCI are discussed.

Although the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) has been studied in the context of recovery from mental illness, peer-led services, effectiveness, and improving self-advocacy skills of clients, the relationship between employment success and WRAP has not yet been examined. The objective of the study was to explore the impact of WRAP on employment and how individuals with psychiatric disabilities utilized WRAP strategies for employment success. Ten working-age individuals who completed WRAP training and subsequently worked for at least 90 days engaged in semi-structured interviews about their experiences with WRAP and employment. Transcripts of the interviews were analyzed and three themes emerged from the study: (a) Then and Now, (b) Strategies for Wellness, and (c) Toward Employment Success. Findings showed that WRAP strategies facilitated success in employment and that employment was an important component of recovery from mental illness.