Vocational Rehabilitation Needs of Individuals with Disabilities: Underserved Populations and Barriers

Background.  Almost 13% of the US population reports having a disability. Individuals with disabilities have higher unemployment rates, work fewer hours and receive lower pay than individuals who do not have a disability. Statewide vocational rehabilitation programs assists people who have physical or mental disabilities prepare for, find or keep employment. One area of concern for those providing vocation rehabilitation services are identifying populations that are unserved or underserved.  This study is a statewide needs assessment in Texas.  The research questions guiding the assessment were: 1) What populations of persons with disabilities are unserved or underserved in vocational rehabilitation services?; and 2) What barriers to obtaining and retaining employment are experienced by persons with disabilities?

Methods: Multiple data sources were used to obtain a comprehensive assessment of needs of individuals with disabilities.  First, data was utilized from national, state and department resources to examine the populations of individuals with disabilities being served in Texas.  Town hall meetings were conducted in nine locations across the state to obtain information from vocational rehabilitation consumers and stakeholders on services and needs (n=100). The town hall meetings were transcribed and coded using content analysis.  Information was also used from the agency’s consumer satisfaction surveys (n=approx. 8,500).  The consumer satisfaction surveys are conducted annually by phone and are analyzed using descriptive statistics. Finally, online surveys were administered to the state agency vocational rehabilitation staff (n=721) and stakeholders from the disability advocacy community (n=150). Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the survey data.

Findings: When viewed cohesively, these data sources provide rich information about the vocational rehabilitation needs of individuals with disabilities.  Specifically, there are common threads across data sources that highlight underserved populations, barriers and areas for improvement.  Two populations that consistently emerged as underserved include youth transitioning from public schools and individuals with a mental illness.  Participants in the town halls and stakeholders identified transitioning youth as an area in need of further attention particularly in relation to coordination of services with parents and schools as children age.  Mental health was consistently identified in surveys as an unmet need both by stakeholders and staff.  Individuals with mental illness were identified as a group that did not have their needs met.  Individuals who are undocumented were identified in the surveys as a group whose needs are not met.

Implications: Vocational rehabilitation services should focus their efforts on identifying youth who are transitioning from public school systems into higher education, vocational training or the workforce.  Intervention with youth needs to be a collaborative effort between rehabilitation specialists, schools, youth and parents.  Additionally, targeted research is needed to understand how individuals with mental illness can best be served by vocational rehabilitation services so that they can find and maintain stable employment.