Recent national and state-level policy changes have created an imperative for service providers to transform from sheltered work to competitive integrated employment. The current study sought to understand the impact of participation in a 1-year, comprehensive technical assistance pilot designed to support service providers to transform away from…

Multifaceted interventions are interventions which target two or more individual or environmental characteristics in different domains. For example, many factors affect the outcome of integrated, competitive employment in the community for people with disabilities. Among those factors, there are points of intervention related to the individual…

A narrative literature review was conducted with the intention of providing practitioners with foundational knowledge regarding the career development trajectory of persons with disabilities (PWD). The author selected scholarship from various disciplines including rehabilitation, psychology, and special education. In the article, the author…

This dissertation consists of four individual, but related chapters. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to competitive employment for people with disabilities who have individualized support needs and the Family Employment Awareness Training ("FEAT"). This chapter also provides a general overview of the other chapters in this…

In this article, we examine supported employment and its impact on the level of employment, disposable income, and sum of allowances, targeting a group of individuals with disabilities. We have particularly focused on individuals with psychiatric disabilities. Supported employment is a vocational rehabilitation service with an empowerment approach…

Recently, consensus among researchers and professionals has emerged about factors that contribute to postschool success of youth with disabilities. Prominent among these factors are targeted academic preparation, family involvement, youth empowerment, and service collaboration and linkages. Work experience and paid employment have been identified…

The Social Security Administration is funding a random assignment evaluation of six demonstration projects to improve employment and other outcomes for youth ages 14 to 25 who are either receiving disability benefits or are at high risk of receiving them in the future. This report reviews the Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) projects, located…

The importance of employment in society is unmistakable, but for many people sustained employment remains elusive. The unemployment rate for individuals with disabilities is staggering, and the consequences of being unemployed affects those individuals, their families, and society. The effects of performance feedback delivered via covert audio…

This report focuses on the seven original Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) projects selected for funding in 2003. Three of the original seven projects were selected for a national random assignment evaluation in 2005; however, this report only focuses on program operations prior to joining the random assignment evaluation for the three…

Evaluated impact of Rehabilitation Services Administration supported-employment system-change grant to Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation on supported employment outcomes. Compared differences between supported employment closures in system-change and non-system-change counties that could be attributed to system-change grant. Found…

Examined job terminations of individuals (N=51) with severe disabilities who had received job training and follow-up services using the supported employment model. Results indicated that, although there was no relationship between reasons given for leaving job and length of time on job, participants lost their jobs most often within the first year…

Summarizes the major achievements of the supported employment initiative for individuals with mental retardation and other significant disabilities from 1986 through 1993. Focus is on the number of program participants, consumer characteristics, reduced dependence on Social Security income maintenance, participant earnings, and program…

A benefit-cost analysis of the first year of a statewide supported employment initiative involving 394 Illinois individuals with handicaps found that society received a $.75 return for every $1.00 invested, taxpayers received a return of $.66, and supported employees earned an average of 37 percent more in supported employment than in alternative…

This study examined the benefits and costs of supported employment programs in Illinois during the first 2 years of operation. Benefits and costs were considered for 394 individuals enrolled in 1987 and 519 individuals enrolled in 1988, from three revenue perspectives: that of society as a whole; that of the supported employees; and that of the…

Summarizes the present status of supported employment for people with disabilities, discusses major accomplishments of the initiative (such as positive results in benefit-cost analyses) and identifies challenges, including continuing high numbers of individuals in segregated programs, lack of supported employment services for individuals with…