Impairment, demographics and competitive employment in vocational rehabilitation

BACKGROUND: There is a persistent gap in the employment rate of working-age people with disabilities and those without disabilities, with outcomes differing across impairment groups and by demographics. OBJECTIVE: Our goal is to identify differences in competitive employment outcomes across 17 impairment groups included in the RSA-911, including interaction effects with other individual characteristics, among them age, gender, race/ethnicity, and educational attainment. METHODS: We used logistic regression to examine differences in competitive versus other employment closures among vocational rehabilitation customers who were employed at closure. The relationship between demographic variables and type of employment was allowed to vary by impairment. RESULTS: Contrary to research that does not differentiate type of employment, we find the odds of competitive employment are lowest for VR clients who are blind or visually impaired. They are also lower for those with mobility, orthopedic, or mental impairments; women; older clients; and those with lower levels of educational attainment. Interaction effects revealed that the differences across demographic groups vary by type of impairment. CONCLUSION: Researchers and counselors should consider type of employment at closure, and differences by impairment and among demographic groups should be taken into consideration when designing employment service programs.