Employment in general workforce and economic self-sufficiency continue to be the exceptions for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), rather than the norm. Research, policy, and practice can and should play a coordinated role in solving this problem. This article summarizes the methods used and the consensus-based national goals identified to guide the direction of the field that were developed by experts in the field. A discussion of the implications of the findings is also provided, including the need for advocacy to advance the goals.
To begin to understand retirement, we examined age-related differences in (a) employment rates, employment hours, and rates of individual-plan employment goals; and (b) participation rates in unpaid formal day programs. We report weighted analyses of 2014-15 National Core Indicators data from 32 states. Unlike younger age groups, a similar proportion of workers with intellectual and developmental disabilities continued working beyond age 65 as for the general community. We found that most workers with intellectual and developmental disabilities retire in older age and that their retirement appears to be sudden, rather than a gradual reduction in work hours. Facility-based day programs were the only program with an increased participation rate in older age groups, revealing an even greater reliance on facility-based services for older participants.
This national study investigated state economic health and state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services for persons with cognitive disabilities. Using 2004 to 2010 extant data from the Rehabilitation Services Administration(RSA) and the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the U.S. Census Bureau, this study explains variability in state VR services employment outcomes based on state economic performance and state-level VR factors. The results show state economic performance explains a significant amount of the variation in state VR employment rates for persons with cognitive disabilities. An additional significant amount of variation was explained after accounting for VR programmatic factors. These findings have broad economic and programmatic implications that should be considered to improve the employment rate of persons with cognitive disabilities.
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