Working is a form of societal participation highly valued in American culture. The state-federal vocational rehabilitation system helps people with disabilities obtain and maintain employment in their communities. Although some people with traumatic brain injury return to work with minor adjustments, high proportions do not return to former employment or find work after their injuries. Analyzing vocational rehabilitation services, and other variables that impact competitive employment outcomes for this population, is important. This study examined the association of types and degree of limitations to functional capacities, and competitive employment outcomes; and selected VR services, and competitive employment, after controlling for demographic variables. The sample for this study consisted of 340 consumers of Illinois state-federal VR system whose cases were closed in fiscal years 2006 and 2007. Eligible individuals with TBI who did not receive services were also described (N=120). The present study also provided information on the types and reasons for case closure, length of rehabilitation, case expenditure, types and number of services received, and weekly earnings at case closure. Contrary to expectations, the degree of limitation across all areas of functional capacity, used by VR counselors to determine severity of disability, and priority for services, were not found to be significantly related to competitive employment among customers with TBI. Results also found that, when relevant demographic characteristics are controlled, the odds of achieving competitive employment increased significantly for VR clients with TBI in Illinois who received job placement and on-the-job supports. For clients who were of minority background, received SSI/SSDI at application, or had lower socioeconomic status (based on income, education and pre-service work status), these odds significantly decreased. Service variables were stronger predictors of competitive employment than demographic variables. Implications, future directions, and limitations of this study are also discussed.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / It is the purpose of this study to determine the extent of the need for an organized training program on the graduate level for vocational rehabilitation counselors. Specifically, the study proposes to discover: l, The nature of professional training which a selected group of vocational rehabilitation counselors in the New England area would like to develop through further education. 2, The extent of their personal interest in securing such training through university study or extension courses.

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The problem with which this study is concerned is the separation of rehabilitation from production costs in vocational rehabilitation workshops. Within workshops there are those functions and tasks—testing, counseling, and the administration thereof—which clearly are rehabilitative. The costs of these activities, therefore, are solely rehabilitation costs. In the production area of workshop operations, however, where production and rehabilitation efforts are intertwined, two kinds of costs are incurred simultaneously: (l) rehabilitation or training costs and (2) production costs. As yet, no generally accepted procedures exist for separating these joint costs.

The debate on the quality of services has continued since the establishment of related legislation, and more recently, the implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA; Sect. 412, 2014). Prior studies revealed that rehabilitation counselors with a master’s degrees achieve significantly better outcomes than their counterparts with bachelor’s degrees and unrelated master’s degrees (Sherman, Eischens, Leierer, Meola, & Scroggs, 2017; Szymanski, 1991; Szymanski & Parker, 1989) and tend to have higher competitive closure rates for severe disabled consumers (Cook & Bolton, 1992; Szymanski & Danek, 1992; Van Houtte, 2013). Additionally, knowledge domains central to effective rehabilitation practices of professionals in state Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) agencies and cluster of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs (Chan et al., 2003; Saunders & Leahy, 2010) continue to be of interest. Empirical studies recognized the importance of data-driven research in all states and have suggested that future research in this area should include participants from each state VR (Beveridge, Leconte, Shain, Del Toro & Penrod, 2015; Froehlich & Linkowski, 2002). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between successful employment outcomes for Florida (a) significantly, (b) severe, and (c) non-severe disabled consumers. Furthermore, the rehabilitation counselors’ (VRC) perceived importance of rehabilitation knowledge as measured by the Knowledge Validation Inventory-Revised (KVI-R; CRCC, 2016), and the VRC’s educational level. Fifty-eight (N = 58) rehabilitation counselors employed within Florida DVR agencies volunteered to participate in this study. The diverse participants reported having earned a bachelor’s (n = 12, 20.7%), master’s (n = 44, 75.9%), and doctoral (n = 2, 3.4%) degrees. The majority of the counselors obtained their degree in rehabilitation counseling (n = 22, 37.9%), followed by degrees in psychology or other fields (n = 13, 22.4% each), social work (n = 5, 8.6%), education (n = 3, 5.2%), and sociology (n = 2, 3.4%). This was the first study in the state of Florida to explore the correlation between the VRC education and employment outcomes in DVR. Non-statistically significant correlations resulted between the criterion and predictor variables. The relationship between the VRCs education, client outcomes, and perceived importance of rehabilitation knowledge was measured using bivariate regression analysis. The implications of the findings, study limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The worth of rehabilitation programs should be measured in terms of their lasting impact on long-term employment. Vocational rehabilitation programs nationally and internationally appear to be falling short of their goal of long-term gainful employment. Competitive employment options for the injured worker appear to have leveled out, the pool of unemployed disabled workers appears to be rising, litigation and adversarial relationships are beginning to dominate the rehabilitation process, and costs of vocational rehabilitation are escalating. Increasingly, interest has focused on the long-term influence of vocational rehabilitation, particularly on the costly training programs, and on the employment and economic potential of program recipients. The present study focused on the current socioeconomic and employment status of those individuals who participated in Authorized Training Programs (ATPs) in 1985 and 1986. It was hypothesized that workers who successfully participated in authorized training programs would be able to maintain long-term gainful employment at or near their wage-at-injury in the field in which they had received ATP training.