Understanding Vocational Rehabilitation

Young Adults in Transition: Vocational Rehabilitation Services is a guide for advocates working with students, families and guardians to facilitate the involvement of state Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies in the process of special education transition. The Guide is composed of a glossary of terms and six related parts that summarize vocational rehabilitation services, their intersection with special education transition, the rights and responsibilities of stakeholders, and advocacy tips.

When state agencies and other groups work together with college programs for students with intellectual/developmental disabilities, everyone benefits. Working together helps everyone involved so agencies and other groups can learn about each other while they help students. Instead of working on their own, agencies and groups that start working together find new ways to help students with intellectual/developmental disabilities that go to college. This session explained how Vocational Rehabilitation, Workforce Innovation Boards, and others are working together for students.

Having the right team in place to support college students with ID to access and succeed in employment is critical—and complicated. Students may be eligible for employment services from various state and federal entities (e.g., ED, DD, VR, HCBS waiver) and coordinating these with existing program services is critical. So where do you start when trying to optimize the resources available and support the best outcomes? Our presenters will tackle this topic, highlighting the need for individualized planning of employment services and supports for college students with ID.

For youth with intellectual disability (ID), there is a significant disparity in education and employment outcomes as compared to those without ID. Youth with ID are less likely to have postsecondary education or competitive employment goals in their transition plans and have lower rates of employment and postsecondary education participation than youth with other disabilities. Only 30% of youth with ID go on to any type of postsecondary education after high school, and 81% of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are served in segregated non-work settings.

Over the past decade, the field of inclusive higher education has expanded considerably, offering a growing number of options for students with intellectual disabilities and/or autism (ID/A) to access college experiences that include career development and employment. This focus on employment spurs many of these programs to partner with state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies. However, these partnerships require staff from both entities to develop an understanding about each partner’s role to work together effectively.

This poster, presented at the NIDILRR 40th Anniversary Celebration (https://acl.gov/NIDILRR40), reports findings from a mixed-methods study by Think College staff on the role of vocational rehabilitation (VR) in promoting postsecondary education for students with intellectual disability and/or autism. The study included secondary analysis of data collected from TPSID model demonstration sites and intensive case studies of four effective VR/higher education partnerships.

This webinar reviewed the what, where, and how of good collaboration between VR and institutions of higher education serving students with intellectual disability (ID), with regard to accessing pre-employment transition services (Pre-ETS). Staff from Think College and the Achieve program at Highline College share practical resources, strategies, and examples of how pre-ETS services can be offered via a college program, and how these services can help students with ID explore, and ultimately obtain, competitive integrated employment.

This RRTC Fast Fact shares what roles vocational rehabilitation (VR) played in Transition and Postsecondary Education Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID). Forty of the 52 TPSIDs in 2010-2015 partnered with VR. Providing direct services to students with ID was the most common role played by VR partners (68%), followed by paying student tuition (45%) and participating in the project advisory committees (43%).

The present study aims to extend the current knowledge base regarding PSE programs’ and vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies’ collaborative roles and activities. The present study examines state VR involvement with PSE programs as perceived by PSE administrators, specifically, the extent to which PSE and VR are collaborating, and the roles and activities rehabilitation counselors perform during this collaboration. Findings indicate that PSE administrators report variability in both the levels of collaboration with state VR agencies and the understanding of VR roles.