Community Barriers to Employment Facing Youth with Disabilities

Background/ Purpose:With increased federal attention on youth with disabilities due to the 2014 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), there is amplified awareness for improving employment opportunities for youth with disabilities as they transition from school to employment. In addition, a recent statewide needs assessment identified that youth with disabilities were an underserved population. The needs assessment also found a need to improve community services and resources for people with disabilities. In order to address these findings, the aim of this study was to better understand the specific community barriers that youth with disabilities face as they transition from school to employment.

Methods: Our research team partnered with the statewide assistive and rehabilitative services agency to conduct a mixed methods study. Study participants included state agency staff, educators, professionals from community organizations, advocates, youth with disabilities, and parents. Stakeholder interviews (n=13) informed the creation of focus group guides and survey. Focus groups (n=97) occurred in six cities across the state, representing diverse rural, suburban and urban perspectives. Online surveys (n=1096) were also administered too all participant groups using convenience sampling and snowball methodology. Quantitative data were analyzed to produce descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. The research team worked in pairs to code transcripts and establish intercoder reliability. Then the team reviewed  all transcripts to verify codes and develop emerging themes.

Results:Three major community barriers to successful school to employment transition were identified. First, a critical barrier to employment is lack of appropriate jobs and job training programs. More than half of study participants reported there were not enough job opportunities for youth with disabilities in their communities. This was particularly true in rural areas, where parents, youth, and agency staff reported inadequate job availability at higher rates than participants in urban areas. Another major barrier to employment was lack of available, reliable and safe transportation to jobs, particularly in suburban and rural communities. Finally, stigma against individuals with disabilities was identified as a major barrier as well. Study participants reported that employers are unaware of the capacity of individuals to work due to a disability, therefore further limiting the availability of potential placements.. 

Conclusions/Implications: The responsibility for supporting youth with disabilities to succeed in employment does not fall solely on any one community entity. However, strong collaborative community resources are needed to assist youth with disabilities in obtaining and maintaining employment. Findings from this study have important implications for improving school to employment transition for youth with disabilities. Employers who do not understand the capabilities of youth with disabilities are unlikely to hire them. There is work that needs to be done to address this stigma through targeted public information campaigns. Additionally, more creative solutions for transportation are needed, as well as an increase in job training programs for available and appropriate jobs for youth with disabilities.