Thirty studies on supported employment for people with disabilities were evaluated using a proposed Social Validity Matrix. Results suggested further research should investigate alternative strategies for assessing social validity, develop systematic procedures for collecting and using social validity data, and establish functional variables…

The social/verbal interactions of six employees with moderate or severe mental retardation and six workers without mental retardation were observed in restaurant settings. Among findings was that interactions between workers with mental retardation and the job coach correlated negatively with the workers' initiation of interactions with co-workers…

This study first classified empirical measures that have been used to assess the social integration of employees with disabilities. It then aggregated findings describing social interaction patterns in employment. Ten categories of measures of social interaction were identified and occurrence of social interaction was found to vary by…

This exploratory resource allocation model for implementing community-based supported employment services for persons with mental retardation uses a multivariate linear regression approach to project the hours required to develop a job site based on the size of the community, the rate of unemployment, and the percent of service jobs. (Author/DB)

Monetary costs and benefits of supported employment to individuals with mental retardation (n=20), taxpayers, and society were assessed, as was the quality of life of supported employees. Supported employment was found to be cost-effective over a five-year period during which programs moved from sheltered to supported employment. (DB)

The paper describes the development and psyhometric validation of an instrument to measure co-worker involvement with employees with handicaps in supported employment settings. The Co-worker Involvement Instrument contains 10 items pertaining to physical integration, social integration, vocational integration, training, associating frequency,…

Questionnaire responses from 65 supervisors in human service agencies and interviews with 27 employers, supervisors, and vocational program administrators indicated that employees with moderate special needs (in this case specific learning disabilities and low intelligence) surpass others in several positive work habits. Supervisors valued…

This study explains the methodology of clique analysis and presents a study in which the use of clique analysis demonstrated that an employee with severe disabilities was perceived by co-workers as socially involved in the work setting at levels comparable to others in such areas as greetings and small talk, work-related conversation, and personal…

This paper describes the planning of a qualitative research methodology to develop strategies to improve and expand social interaction skills of deaf-blind students in supported employment settings. Characteristics of qualitative research are delineated and include: definition of the domain of the research; an evolving study design; behavior…

Because of their consistent presence in the work environment, co-workers have been identified as a potentially powerful resource available to provide support to employees with disabilities in supported employment programs. The "Co-worker Involvement Instrument" allows employment training specialists and job supervisors to estimate…

The performance of two adults, one with moderate and one with severe mental retardation, in a community employment site was compared. Results indicated that both participants learned to perform the target tasks equally well though the individual with severe mental retardation required substantially more training. (DB)

This policy research summary outlines the paradigms and processes used in recent research and evaluation studies conducted on supported employment and rehabilitation programs in Minnesota. First, the paper reviews evaluation strategies and models for assessing the individual and societal efficacy of supported employment. It identifies key…

This study, involving 85 workers with and without disabilities, found few differences in coworker relations and interactions. Of nine interaction categories, coworkers without disabilities interacted more among themselves in only one--befriending off the job. Individual workers with disabilities in light industry occupations experienced less…

This study assessed the effectiveness of clique analysis methodologies in detecting changes in integration levels for a worker with severe mental retardation in a supported employment setting. The analysis suggested that communication instruction resulted in the worker becoming more integrated during break or lunch times. (Author/DB)