Supported Employment Research: Impacting the Work Outcomes of Individuals with Disabilities.

Major ongoing supported employment studies conducted at the Rehabilitation Research Training Center at Virginia Commonwealth University are profiled in this newsletter. The training center involves individuals with disabilities in the design, implementation, and interpretation of the research. The first research study examined the opinions of 110 individuals with disabilities who were working in supported employment. Results showed that 90 percent of these consumers liked their jobs and 96 percent were satisfied with supported employment and believed they would not be working without its assistance. The second research project was a vocational integration study of 390 consumers of supported employment services. Findings indicated a significant difference between the level of integration experienced by the consumers and the type of job they held. Consumers employed in clerical jobs were more integrated than in other job types. The third study was a national survey of 365 agencies which found that 98.9 percent of respondents reported that their agencies were continually converting facility-based resources to community-based employment. These participants were also asked questions on the use of Plans for Achieving Self-Support (PASS). Results showed that supported employment participants were major users of PASS plans. (CR)