This data note describes the integrated employment timeframe from application to closure for people with developmental disabilities (i.e., mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and autism) whose cases were closed by VR in 2006 (N = 27,579). VR typically closes cases when applicants have been in employment for at least 90 days.
It is well-documented that people with disabilities have a significantly lower rate of employment than people without disabilities (36% versus 74% according to the 2006 American Community Survey (ACS). Less is known about the types of work they do. Using the occupational classification system within the ACS, researchers explored the prevalence of people with disabilities within occupational groupings and discuss its relationship to occupational growth1. Future analysis will address variation across disability groups.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federally funded program that provides cash assistance for basic needs. Individuals with a low-income who are over the age of 65, blind, or have a disability are eligible for assistance. SSI beneficiaries typically also receive health insurance coverage through Medicaid. Losing Medicaid benefits can be of concern for SSI recipients with disabilities who desire to work, or are currently working. Section 1619b of the Social Security Act allows individuals to work and continue to receive Medicaid assistance when their earnings are too high to qualify for SSI cash payments as long as they meet other eligibility requirements for the SSI program and continue to need Medicaid in order to work.
The data represented here describe the core elements of ICI's National Survey of Day and Employment Services. Integrated employment includes both individual employment and group supported employment and facility-based settings include both facility-based work services and facility-based non-work services. Reported participation in community-based non-work services, defined as non job-related supports focusing on community involvement and typically identified as community integration or community participation services, has steadily increased since this service was added to the survey in 1996, growing from 14.5% in 1999 to 21% in 2004.
Of the over 48,000 persons nationwide with mental retardation or other developmental disabilities (MR/DD) who closed out of the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) system after receiving employment services in FY2005, more than half were successful closures, yielding a rehabilitation rate of 56.9%. The rehabilitation rate is calculated by dividing the number of successful closures, which is employment in any setting with the exception of sheltered workshops, by the total number of closures who received employment services.
Data show that people with disabilities are consistently less likely to be working than their non-disabled counterparts. In this data note, we compare the employment rate for working-age people with and without disabilities.
This Data Note examines how wages for VR customers in supported employment compare to those earned by other customers.
Researchers explored state unemployment rates to determine whether a state's MR/DD agency employment outcomes were related to the state's economy. Data set: MR/DD.
Analysis shows that employment outcomes for MR/DD consumers in integrated employment and working SSI recipients may be related within states. Data set: SSA.
The U.S. Department of Labor tracks several performance measures for people served in the One-Stop system. This Data Note focuses on people with disabilities in two funding categories. Data set: WIA.