This is a descriptive study of Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification data related to ethical complaints and violations from 1993 to 2006. The authors reviewed complaints filed against certified rehabilitation counselors involving rules from the pre-2001 Code of Ethics and standards in the current code and analyzed the ensuing actions or sanctions. Of the 113 complaints received during this period, 71 were accepted by the commission's Ethics Committee for further review. Of these, violations were found in 36 cases-that is, only 31.9% of cases in which complaints were filed ultimately resulted in actions or sanctions being imposed. Beyond researching the complaints and violations, this study also considers the demographics of the counselors against whom complaints were filed and of the counselors who were found to be in violation of the code.

This study reports the results of an international qualitative study conducted to inform the process of revising the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification's Code of Professional Ethics for Rehabilitation Counselors. The online survey gathered information regarding ethical dilemmas from a sample of certified rehabilitation counselors and Canadian certified rehabilitation counselors. In sum, 240 participants responded to an open-ended survey regarding current or recent ethical dilemmas and anticipated ethical dilemmas in the near future. Because of the functional purpose of the data set, a qualitative content analysis was performed with open coding guided by the structure of the standards outlined in the 2001 Code. Implications for Code revision and ethics governance are discussed.

In the 2006 Job Analysis of Certified Rehabilitation Counselors, the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification asked counselors where they thought the profession would be in 5 years. A total of 529 counselors gave their opinions about the future of rehabilitation counseling within the context of the sociopolitical environment in which they practice, about general trends in the profession, and about how these might affect the sector in which they are employed. Perceptions included concerns about the aging workforce and client base, the role of assistive technology, counseling skill development to meet the needs of a more complex client population, funding resources, and licensure/certification issues. Implications of their answers within the emerging generational context were explored, as were ideas for future research.

For nearly 50 years, the specialty area of forensics has emerged as an established practice setting in rehabilitation counseling, and it is predicted to be the fastest-growing area of practice in the profession. Reflecting the increased number of practitioners in the specialty, the revised Code for Professional Ethics of Rehabilitation Counselors names Section F (Forensics and Indirect Services) as a guide to the ethical practice for rehabilitation counselors in this specialty. The section includes 17 standards specific to clients’ and evaluees’ rights, rehabilitation counselors’ forensic competency and conduct, forensic practices, and forensic business practices. Furthermore, the unique relationship of the forensic rehabilitation counselor with the person receiving services is clarified through the introduction of the definition of evaluee , a term that has gained unilateral agreement throughout the field of forensic rehabilitation.

Standards for technology ethics were first introduced into the Code of Professional Ethics for Rehabilitation Counselors in 2002. Since that time, the proliferation of technology has enhanced practice, changed the American vernacular, and become infused in the delivery of services to and teaching of individuals, families, and groups. The 2010 revision to the Code updates and reinforces standards involving behavior, accessibility, confidentiality, informed consent, security, assessment, records, legal issues, advertising, research and publication, counseling unavailability, disclosure, and distance counseling. However, it introduces new standards that are absent from the literature in the counseling and helping professions specific to technology ethics involving consultative and distance group counseling as well as in teaching, supervision, and training.

The purpose of this research was to benchmark the importance and use of labor market survey (LMS) among U.S. certified rehabilitation counselors (CRCs). A secondary post hoc analysis of data collected via the Rehabilitation Skills Inventory-Revised for the 2011 Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification job analysis resulted in importance and use ratings across 11 content items and 11 demographic variables. This research suggests that labor market analyses, of which LMS could be a component, were considered to be along a continuum of important or extremely important by CRCs and performed along a range of very infrequent to very frequent. Data suggest that those CRCs reporting the highest frequency of use of labor market analyses were older and male, possessed education in rehabilitation-orientated areas of study, had more than 20 years of post-CRC experience, were in the private/proprietary rehabilitation or private practice practitioner professional settings, and held the title of forensic/expert witness or rehabilitation consultant/specialist. For all survey items studied, employment setting and job title were found to be significant in the frequency of use of labor market analyses. Limitations, delimitations, and areas for further study were discussed.

Labor Market Survey (LMS) and labor market analysis knowledge and methodologies are minimum competencies expected of rehabilitation counselors through credentialing and accreditation boards. However, LMS knowledge and methodology is an example of a contemporary oral tradition that is universally recognized in rehabilitation and disability services but that the literature fails to document its use or to offer commonly accepted methodologies. This article proposes a definition of LMS as it is used in these services given the survey of small population censuses or samples as well as to apply the best practices accepted in survey research to offer a 12-step model to assist rehabilitation and disability practitioners to develop more valid and reliable LMSs for vocational exploration, plan development and support, job placement, or in determining employability, placeability, and earning capacity. The 12-step LMS model is the first comprehensive theoretical method offered in the rehabilitation counseling literature that introduces a dynamic and flexible framework of primary data collection of labor market information that could be utilized in clinical and forensic practice with highly heterogeneous population of individuals with disabilities in order to meet the minimum credentialing and accreditation competencies expected of those entering the field of rehabilitation counseling.

Older workers engaging in vocational rehabilitation services have received little attention in the vocational rehabilitation literature. However, older workers are the fastest growing sector of the United States labor market and they are predicted to become a greater proportion of vocational rehabilitation caseloads as they remain in the worliforce longer, or increasingly enter or re-enter the labor market. Research indicates that as people age, the probability of acquiring a disability increases dramatically. Regardless of when or how someone acquired a disability, understanding the elements particular to the rehabilitation counseling of older workers with disabilities is important. This paper explores the various demographics, issues, trends, and elements rehabilitation counselors could consider in working with older Americans with disabilities. Rehabilitation counselors need to become aware of these issues with older workers and retool in order to service this sector of the population more efficiently. Implications for the rehabilitation counseling practitioner and service delivery options are also presented.