Nancy Arnold

Self-Employment for People With Disabilities: Enhancing Services Through Interagency Linkages

In 2001, an exploratory survey was distributed to more than half of all Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) across the United States to identify how SBDCs and Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies interact to provide self-employment services to people with disabilities and to evaluate how these agencies might further this collaborative relationship. Despite a low percentage of SBDCs that have formal interagency agreements with state VR agencies (8%), the majority of respondents (93%) felt that it was “very important” to have VR assistance for disability issues. SBDC respondents who had formal state interagency agreements or an informal local agreement with the VR agency reported higher rates of referrals between the two agencies, more experience serving people with disabilities in self-employment, and more preparedness to meet the needs of clients with disabilities. Data from this study indicate that SBDCs may be willing partners in the development of cross-agency support for people with disabilities who desire self-employment.

Self-Employment as a Vocational Rehabilitation Closure An Examination of State Policies

The operation and funding of federal and state offices of vocational rehabilitation (VR) are governed by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Under the Rehabilitation Act, an individual can work toward the goal of attaining one of a range of employment options, including self-employment. While federal law appears not to favor one type of employment situation over another, self employment as a VR closure is not used as often as might be expected. Although self-employment is not an often used VR option, it may be an important one for people living in rural locations where employers and jobs are scarce, wages are low, and the jobs that are available often require physical effort. This article describes an analysis of state policies governing the use of self-employment as a VR option. Results show a wide range of policies and suggest a framework for a comprehensive policy and procedures for governing the use of self-employment as a VR closure.

Assessing the Geographic Distribution of Centers for Independent Living Across Urban and Rural Areas Toward a Policy of Universal Access

Centers for Independent Living (CILs) have emerged as a significant source of services, supports, and advocacy for people with disabilities in the United States. Since 1978, the federal government has funded an increasing number of CILs around the nation to provide services to and advocate for people with disabilities. Others have been created with state and local funding. No data have been collected to assess the extent of CIL expansion, however. We identified 336 CILs and estimated that these centers operate 253 subordinate sites. We conducted a survey of a random sample of 62 CILs to assess the geographic areas they served and the extent of their service. Results suggested that CIL services are provided to more than 212,000 individuals living in 60% of the nations 3,141 counties. Data show, however, that residents of nonmetropolitan (rural) counties are far less likely to receive direct services from a CIL than their urban counterparts. CILs reported a median annual budget of

Developing Methods for Grading the Accessibility of a Communality’s Infrastructure

327,691; they allocated 54% of their resources to direct services and 27% to community advocacy. We estimate that an additional

Experiences of Rural Vocational Rehabilitation Clients Who Leave the System Prematurely: A Qualitative Exploration.

71.5 million will be needed to achieve universal access to CIL services. Results are discussed in terms of the rural population of people with disabilities as representing a traditionally underserved group, and the need to expand CIL services to provide more equitable access for currently unserved and underserved U.S. populations.

Working well with a disability: health promotion as a means to employment.

AbstractFor people with disabilities, accessibility is a critical aspect of infrastructure that influences their health, quality of life, and ability to participate in community life. Currently, no standard methods exist for assessing a community’s accessibility or for accumulating such data across communities. ASCE’s report card on the status of America’s infrastructure offers a framework for collecting and aggregating data on accessibility, and for using it to advocate for community improvement. In the present study, an assessment for estimating a community’s accessibility was developed and pilot tested. The feasibility of the assessment method was tested by observing 297 randomly selected businesses in a city. Aggregated across nine access categories, the city scored 3.32 on a four-point scale, the equivalent of a grade of “B” on ASCE’s scale. However, 28 (10%) businesses met “access failure” criteria—having at least one barrier that precluded access to a person using a wheelchair. On average, infrastr...

The Use of Telecommunication to Deliver Services to Rural and Urban Vocational Rehabilitation Clients

Vocational rehabilitation (VR) clients who leave the system prematurely experience worse employment outcomes than clients who stay in services. The authors conducted this study to learn about factors leading to premature exit by rural VR clients. Results will inform survey development for a large longitudinal study on this topic. The authors content coded 27 qualitative telephone interviews with former rural VR clients who exited the system prematurely. Reported reasons for premature exit included (a) discrepancies between services provided and services desired, (b) unmet counselor expectations, (c) counselor—client relationship problems, (d) health issues, (e) limited job opportunities, (f) work disincentives, and (g) slow service speed. VR might reduce premature exits by helping clients better understand the VR process, including the types of VR services offered and associated counselor expectations.

Examining an Alternate Assessment: What Are We Testing?

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to test the utility of the Working Well with a Disability health-promotion program with vocational rehabilitation (VR) clients. Health-promotion interventions have been shown to reduce limitation from secondary conditions, which can be a significant barrier to labor force participation among people with disabilities. The state and federal VR system represents a potential access point for delivery of health-promotion activities. RESEARCH METHOD/DESIGN A total of 297 VR clients participated in a randomized trial of the Working Well health promotion program. Control and intervention participants provided baseline and four waves of quarterly follow-up data. Data were analyzed with repeated-measures ANOVA. RESULTS Intervention-group participants who attended over half of the Working Well sessions reported significantly lower rates of limitation from secondary conditions over the 1-year study span, F(1, 124) = 4.11, p = .004. Control-group participants also experienced significantly lower rates of limitation, but pre- to postdifferences were less dramatic, F(1, 308) = 4.19, p = .006. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS Overall, health data indicated that the Working Well program may be particularly helpful to VR clients with higher rates of secondary health conditions and may represent one strategy for overcoming barriers to employment.

Self-Employment for People with Disabilities in the United States: A Recommended Process for Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies.

Telecommunication offers a cost-saving alternative to face-to-face vocational rehabilitation (VR) service delivery, yet little is known about the current use. This article describes findings from an exploratory survey of 1,187 counselors, representing 13 VR agencies across the United States. The online survey explored agency, counselor, and client facilitators and barriers to telecommunication use during the VR process. Staff with training in telecommunication strategies reported significantly higher rates of email telecommunication (p < .01). Counselors with a higher rural caseload mix engaged in significantly less email telecommunication during the VR process, and rural clients as compared with urban clients were characterized as having less personal access to a computer with Internet. Although counselors use and rely on simple telecommunication methods such as phone and email to serve their clients, strategies to address barriers are needed to expand telecommunication use during the VR process.

A prospective study to examine the influence of secondary health conditions on vocational rehabilitation client employment outcomes

This study reviewed the alternate assessment results (N = 1,404) from 1 state that uses a portfolio system. It addressed 3 main questions: (a) the extent to which assessment content was linked to the states general curricular standards, (b) the types of tasks that operationalized the general curricular standards, and (c) the correlation of the completeness of the portfolio with student performance. Although we found connections to the general curriculum on paper, the actual tasks used to represent the standards raised concerns about the strength of those connections. Additionally, we noted serious concerns with construct underrepresentation. Finally, practical issues with portfolio assembly may be contributing to poor student performance. We present implications for practice in the context of federal regulations such as No Child Left Behind and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, as well as existing research on alternate assessment practices.