Cornell University

ILR School

Employment and Disability Institute

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Demographics and Statistics

Abstract

Closures Are the Tip of the Iceberg: Exploring the Variation in State Vocational Rehabilitation Program Exits After Service Receipt

David Stapleton

Todd Honeycutt

Bruce Schechter

Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

For additional information about this report contact:

Susanne M. Bruyère

Employment and Disability Institute

201K Dolgen Hall

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY 14853

Ph: (607) 255-9536

Fax: (607) 255-2763

smb23@cornell.edu

This paper is being distributed by the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Demographics and Statistics at Cornell University.

This center is funded to Cornell University by the U.S. Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (No. H133B031111). The contents of this paper do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government (Edgar, 75.620 (b)).

The Project Director is:

Harry C. Katz – The Kenneth F. Kahn Dean and Jack Sheinkman Professor, ILR School, Extension Division, Cornell University

The Co-Principal Investigators are:

Susanne M. Bruyere -- Director, Employment and Disability Institute, ILR School, Extension Division, Cornell University

Richard V. Burkhauser -- Sarah Gibson Blanding Professor, Department of Policy Analysis and Management, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University

David C. Stapleton -- Director, Cornell University Institute for Policy Research, Washington DC.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge David Keer (U.S. Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research) and Joe Pepin and Yann-Yann Shieh (U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration [RSA]) for facilitating access to RSA administrative data, providing background information and input on the project’s analytical design, and reviewing an earlier draft.  We also thank Susanne Bruyére and her colleagues at Cornell University’s Employment and Disability Institute for their insightful comments, and Mathematica’s David Wittenburg, who offered instructive technical feedback, and Bonnie Hart, who assisted with programming. Amanda Bernhardt provided valuable editorial input, and Marjorie Mitchell offered excellent production support.

ABSTRACT

State vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies play an important role in promoting employment for people with disabilities. However, little information has been available about how many people with disabilities exit after VR service receipt and how exits vary with individual characteristics and across states compared to the general population with disabilities. We used RSA administrative data from fiscal year 2007 and public use files from the American Community Survey to calculate the ratio of the number of individuals completing VR services to the estimated number of working-age people with disabilities in 2007 at the national and state-levels and for demographic, educational, and disability subgroups. Overall, our results show that 1.3 of every 100 working-age adults with a disability living in the community exited a VR agency after receiving services, with state variation ranging from 0.6 percent in Washington and Puerto Rico to 4.0 percent in Vermont. We also found large differences in these numbers across sex, age, racial, ethnic, and educational groups—differences that are much larger in some states than in others. These observed disparities raise questions about why some groups are more likely to complete VR services than others and whether VR agencies should be systematically targeting more resources to certain groups. Further research and additional data collection strategies are needed to better understand how well people with disabilities complete VR agency services.

For more information about the Rehabilitation

Research and Training Center on Disability

Demographics and Statistics contact:

Susanne M. Bruyère

Employment and Disability Institute

201K Dolgen Hall

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY 14853

Tel 607.255.9536

Fax 607.255.2763

TTY 607.255.2891

Email smb23@cornell.edu

Web www.edi.cornell.edu