Comparing competitive integrated employment outcomes in the state-federal vocational rehabilitation program among individuals with cognitive,physical,and sensory functional impairments

Abstract

Background

State-Federal vocational rehabilitation (VR) services are available for eligible individuals with disabilities (IWD) who are interested in pursuing, obtaining, and maintaining gainful employment. Despite availability of VR services, employment outcomes of IWD compared to those without disabilities continue to be limited.

Objective

To examine effects of receipt of VR services on the employment outcomes of individuals with cognitive impairments (CI) compared to people with other impairments (i.e., physical and sensory impairments) while accounting for individual characteristics and patterns of VR service use.

Methods

Secondary data analysis using Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) 911 data covering cases in 2019. Hypothesized covariates and predictors of employment outcomes were divided into four groups: demographic variables, environmental/social variables, disability related variables, and receipt of VR services. The target outcome variables from the RSA 911 database were competitive integrated employment (CIE) employment outcome, hourly wage at case closure, and hours worked in a week at case closure. A hierarchical logistic regression analysis was performed using CIE as the criterion.

Results

Findings suggest that (a) the group including CI individuals was at a disadvantage in terms of CIE outcomes; (b) from the logistic regression, gender, education level, significance of disability, and receipt of some VR services were significantly associated with CIE outcomes (yes/no); and (c) when we examined the percentages of individuals receiving VR services, higher percentages of individuals with CI received varieties of VR services, but less assistive technology services.

Conclusions

Individuals with disabilities continue to experience disparate employment outcomes. The receipt of varieties of VR services facilitates IWDs to successfully obtain CIE. Receipt of VR services alone may not be the only factor that supports IWD in obtaining successful CIE. A critical investigation of the quality and type of these VR services, difference by impairment, and the economic impact of societal/environmental trends is warranted.

Keywords

vocational rehabilitation disabilities cognitive impairment functional impairment disparities employment vocational services

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ahonle

Z. J.

Barnes

Romero

Sorrells

A. M.

Brooks

G. I.

(2020). State-federal vocational rehabilitation in traumatic brain injury: What predictors are associated with employment outcomes? Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 63(3), 143–155. https://doi.org/10.1177/0034355219864684

Chiu

C. Y.

Chan

Bishop

Da Silva Cardoso

Neill

(2013). State vocational rehabilitation services and employment in multiple sclerosis. Multiple Sclerosis Journal, 19(12), 1655–1664.

Cinquin

Guittonb

Sauzeona

(2019). Online e-learning and cognitive disabilities: A systematic review. Computers & Education, 130, 152–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.12.004

Dowden

A. R.

Ethridge

Brooks

(2016). The impact criminal history has on the employability of African American and Latino populations with disabilities receiving state vocational rehabilitation services: Implications for adding a criminal history variable to the RSA-911 data. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 45(2), 213–224.

Dutta

Gervey

Chan

Chou

C.-C.

Ditchman

(2008). Vocational rehabilitation services and employment outcomes for people with disabilities: A United States study. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 18(4), 326–334. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-008-9154-z

Ethridge

Dowden

A. R.

Brooks

(2017). The impact of disability and type of crime on employment outcomes of African American and Latino offenders. Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, 48(4), 46–53.

Hergenrather

K. C.

Emmanuel

McGuire-Kuletz

Rhodes

S. D.

(2018). Employment as a social determinant of health: Exploring the relationship between neurocognitive function and employment status. Rehabilitation Research, Policy, and Education, 32(2), 101–122. https://doi.org/10.1891/2168-6653.32.2.101

Hergenrather

K. C.

Haase

Zeglin

J. R.

Rhodes

S. D.

(2013). Consumers with major depressive disorder: Factors influencing placement. Rehabilitation Research, Policy, and Education, 27(2), 108–123. https://doi.org/10.1891/2168-6653.27.2.108

Huang

I.-C.

Cheing

Rumrill

Bengtson

Chan

Telzlaff

Snitker

(2016). Characteristics of people with disabilities receiving assistive technology services in vocational rehabilitation: A logistic regression analysis. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 45(1), 63–72. https://doi.org/10.3233/jvr-160811

10.

Ipsen

(2012). Transportation: A barrier to successful employment outcomes among rural VR clients. Research Report. The University of Montana Rural Institute. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/ruralinst employment/15/

11.

Ipsen

Goe

Bliss

(2019). Vocational rehabilitation (VR) funding of job development and placement services: Implications for rural reach. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 51(3), 313–324. https://doi.org/10.3233/JVR-191048

12.

Kasl

S. V.

Rodriguez

Lasch

K. E.

(1998). The impact of unemployment on health and well-being. In Dohrenwend

B. P.

(Ed.), Adversity, stress, and psychopathology (pp. 111–131). Oxford University Press.

13.

Kaye

H. S.

Yeager

Reed

(2008). Disparities in usage of assistive technology among people with disabilities. Assistive Technology, 20(4), 194–203. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400435.2008.10131946 .

14.

Landon

Connor

McKnight-Lizotte

Pena

(2019). Rehabilitation counseling in rural settings: A phenomenological study on barriers and supports. Journal of Rehabilitation, 85(2), 47–57.

15.

Lewis

A. N.

Quamar

A. H.

McKeon

A. B.

Schein

M. L.

Schein

R. M.

Hartman

L. M.

(2017). Improving the evidence base of telerehabilitation: A future modality for delivering clinical services to people with disabilities. Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, 48(3), 29–34. https://doi.org/10.1891/0047-2220.48.3.29

16.

McLennan

Ludvik

(2021). Early vocational rehabilitation after serious injury or illness: A systematic review. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 64(4), 235–243. https://doi.org/10.1177/0034355220962218

17.

Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services [MDRS]. (2018). The value of vocational rehabilitation services: VR/VRB return on investment report. Retrieved on January 28, 2024 from: https://www.mdrs.ms.gov/sites/default/files/Files/VR-VRB-ROI-Report.pdf

18.

National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (2023). Disability impacts Mississippi: 2023 MS disability and health state profile. Retrieved on January 28, 2024, from: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilichtyandhealth/impacts/pdfs/Mississippi_Disability.pdf.

19.

Nord

Hewitt

Nye-Lengerman

(2013). Economic and programmatic indicators explain vocational rehabilitation employment rates of persons with cognitive disabilities. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 38(2), 149–156.

20.

O’Neill

Kaczetow

Pfaller

Verkuilen

(2017). Impairment, demographics and competitive employment in vocational rehabilitation. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 46(2), 149–158. https://doi.org/10.3233/jvr-160851

21.

Paul

Rafal

Houtenville

(2020). Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: 2020. Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire, Institute on Disability. Retrieved on October 1, 2021 from: https://disabilitycompendium.org/sites/default/files/user-uploads/Events/2021_release_year /Final%20Accessibility%20Compendium%202020%20PDF_2.1.2020reduced.pdf.

22.

Rigles

Ipsen

Arnold

Seekins

(2011). Experiences of rural vocational rehabilitation clients who leave the system prematurely: A qualitative exploration. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 54(3), 164–174. https://doi.org/10.1177/0034355210396948

23.

Rumrill

Wehman

Cimera

Kaya

Dillard

Chan

(2016). Vocational rehabilitation services and outcomes for transition-age youth with traumatic brain injuries. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 31(4), 288–295. https://doi.org/10.1097/HTR.0000000000000186

24.

Schur

Kruse

(2011). The effect of physical and cognitive impairment on earnings and income in the United States. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 21(1), 1–18.

25.

Strauser

D. R.

(2020). Introduction to the centrality of work for individuals with disabilities. In Career development, employment and disability in rehabilitation: From theory to practice, pp. 1–14). Springer Publishing Company, LLC.

26.

U.S. Census Bureau (2010). Disability among the working age population: 2008 and 2009. American Community Survey brief. Government Printing Office.

27.

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Rehabilitation Services Administration. (2019). Reporting manual for the case service report (RSA-911). https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/rsa/subregulatory/pd-19-03.pdf

28.

Vance

D. E.

Cody

S. L.

Yoo-Jeong

Jones, Gwendolyn “Lynn”

Nicholson

W. C.

(2015). The role of employment on neurocognitive reserve in adults with HIV: A review of the literature. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 26(4), 316–329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jana.2015.04.003

29.

van Velzen

J. M.

van Bennekom

C. A.

van Dormolen

Sluiter

J. K.

Frings-Dresen

M. H.

(2016). Evaluation of the implementation of the protocol of an early vocational rehabilitation intervention for people with acquired brain injury. Disability and Rehabilitation, 38(1), 62–70. https://doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2015.1017057

30.

Wang

Y. C.

Ethridge

(2022). Identifying factors that promote successful vocational rehabilitation case closure: Comparison of individual characteristics, VR experiences and state economic conditions. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 56(2), 139–147. https://doi.org/10.3233/jvr-221178

31.

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (2014). HR 803 (113th): Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. In Retrieved on January 2024 from: BILLS-113hr803enr.pdf (govinfo.gov).

32.

World Health Organization (WHO) (2001). ICF: International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. Author.