This document surveys the rehabilitation and independent living community in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas for programs and practices that demonstrate especially effective service delivery and can serve as role models. Section 1, the introduction, identifies the background and purposes of the Regional Rehabilitation Exchange…

This paper describes transitional programs developed by Black Hills Special Services Cooperative (BHSSC) to meet the needs of disabled students in rural areas. In cooperation with other public and private agencies, BHSSC provides comprehensive vocational rehabilitation services and community living programs to help individuals with severe…

Ways that 17 Massachusetts schools and 16 adult agencies promoted natural supports in employment of people with severe disabilities are discussed, along with the barriers they experienced. Results indicate wide use of some practices and confusion about the concept of natural supports and the role of service providers in facilitating involvement.…

Although disabled students need the same comprehensive assistance in making the transition from school to work as their nondisabled counterparts, most disabled youth, and particulary those with severe disabilities, do not receive adequate assistance in this area. This situation can be remedied by approaching the transition to employment as a…

Sheltered workshops for severely disabled persons should be reformed to emphasize job placement, transition to more independent work environments, and retraining and replacement of workshop staff. A national policy on the employment of disabled persons focusing on supported employment, least restrictive work environments, and career development is…

Project MEAL (Model for Employment and Adult Living) provides a program for post-high-school preparation of unemployed learning-disabled young adults. Its strategies and interventions can be adopted for use with learning-disabled individuals still in school and with individuals having other handicapping conditions. The program's target population…

The Job Connection, which meets the requirements stipulated in the Family Support Act of 1988, is structured to ensure that needy families with children obtain the education, training, and employment needed to help them avoid long-term welfare dependence. The Job Connection program is administered through Connecticut's Department of Income…

Although the disappointing results of earlier ex-offender programs convinced many that "nothing works so let's just keep prisoners incarcerated longer," research in the 1980s and 1990s has shown that intensive pre-release employment training and post-release employment programs and support can cut the rate of recidivism. Current initiatives…

This report examines the disability community's efforts to help individuals who have significant disabilities access and maintain employment. It identifies how welfare agencies can learn from and build upon lessons from the disability community. Chapter 1 describes the hard-to-employ (HTE) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) population…

The Safer Foundation in Chicago, Illinois, is the largest community-based provider of employment services for ex-offenders in the United States. Established in 1972, Safer has a professional staff of nearly 200 in 6 locations. Safer runs a private school, called the PACE (Programmed Activities for Correctional Education) Institute, at the Cook…

Project QUEST (Quality Employment through Skills Training) was begun in 1992 to provide unemployed and working poor residents of San Antonio, Texas, with employment training and job placement services. The program provides tuition subsidies and ancillary support services to low-income San Antonio residents enrolled in two-year associate's degree…