In rural areas, transition planning for young adults with disabilities presents considerable challenges, including linkage to employment upon completion of special education services. Two assessment programs, described in this article, work in concert to assist transition teachers and youth with disabilities in rural areas and include: (a)…

This article examines the role of the vocational counselor in the job-seeking process for learning-disabled adults. It covers assessment of clients' interests and abilities and matching with job opportunities; teaching of job-seeking skills; use of volunteer jobs to assess clients' work habits; job-hunting procedures; and dealing with work…

This guide discusses the processes involved in helping students with cognitive disabilities such as mental retardation find and keep a job. Following an introduction, the guide discusses the types of employment available for these youth and young adults in competitive and supported employment settings. The following section looks at the roles of…

The Career Assessment and Placement Center is a school-to-adult-life transition program which provides vocational and independent living services to individuals with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities. A set of five manuals was prepared to assist in developing services similar to those provided by the Center. The "Operations"…

Secondary special education programs should include employment or postsecondary education placement outcomes in the curricula for mainstreamed mildly handicapped students. Program elements that support these goals are: individualized transition plans; paid work experience; job-seeking skills curriculum; flexible staffing patterns; active…

A prerelease program was developed to provide job training to persons who were within 90 to 120 days of their scheduled release date from a Washington State prison. The Geiger program was sponsored and operated jointly by Spokane County and State agencies. Because it was determined that the 84-bed unit would handle approximately 30 arrivals and 30…

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…

This document, which was developed through a decade of research and field testing involving more than 700 people, offers step-by-step strategies that educators, employment specialists, occupational therapists, and other professionals can use to help youths and adults with mild, moderate, or severe disabilities make their own employment choices.…

Washington Works is a nonprofit organization founded in Seattle, Washington, in 1992 to help low-income women improve their lives and the lives of their children by teaching them to think differently about themselves. The program offered courses in personal effectiveness training, basic skills training, office skills development, and job search…