Thomas P. Golden

Critical Program Elements in Transition to Adulthood: Comparative Analysis of New York State and the NLTS2

Access to effective and comprehensive transition programming is pivotal to transition of youth with disabilities to work and independent living. Successful programs often blend key ingredients, including individualized educational planning, career development, work experiences in secondary school, and interagency partnerships/collaborations. Through a comparative analysis of the New York State transition program data, and the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2) data, this study empirically demonstrated the simultaneous contributions of various transition program elements to student postsecondary outcomes using mediation models. In addition, the technique of using propensity score analysis for balancing the two comparison cohorts, applied in this study, contributes to the arsenal of analytical techniques for evaluating the impact of transition to adulthood programs.

New Approaches to Disability in Social Policy: The Case of the United States

The United States, like many other countries, is still struggling with how best to coordinate policies and programs to support people with disabilities in achieving employment outcomes commensurate with their non-disabled peers. Significant disparities in employment rates persist, and are in part the result of past policies that insisted on considering disability and employment as two separate and marginally-related issues. Disability standards and definitions frequently operate in contradiction to employment—the severity of the disability often negating the possibility of work. In addition, many programs were created in the past to deal with different populations, and rather than seamlessly intermeshing, often work at cross purposes, producing unintended consequences. The U.S. is at a crossroads with regard to this fragmented approach to policy development and implementation. This chapter provides a historical overview of the development of disability policy in the U.S. with a goal towards illuminating the policy disconnects today vis-a-vis employment promotion for people with disabilities.