Employer Perspectives on Youth with Disabilities in the Workplace

This publication features the experiences of employers in their own words. Employers write about how they became involved in providing work experiences for youth with disabilities, what made it work, and what they recommend to individuals and organizations representing youth. These perspectives can provide guidance to those with an interest in ensuring that youth with disabilities obtain access to a range of work-based experiences

Quality Work-Based Learning and Postschool Employment Success

Many students with disabilities continue to struggle to successfully make the transition from school to employment. Despite advances in employment rates for students with disabilities who have exited school, their employment rates still lag significantly behind their nondisabled peers (Blackorby & Wagner, 1996). For decades, research has shown the strong relationship between work experience during secondary school and postschool employment for youth with disabilities (Benz, Yovanoff, & Doren, 1997; Colley & Jamison, 1998; Hasazi, Gordan, & Roe, 1985). However, as the continuing disappointing postschool employment rates for youth with disabilities suggest, there remains a critical need to expand work-based learning opportunities for these youth and to integrate these experiences into secondary education. This brief highlights the benefits of work-based learning, what constitutes quality work-based learning, and selected evidence-based models of work-based learning

Collaborating and Coordinating with Employers

A 2009 research brief produced for the NTAR Leadership Center, a consortium led by the John H. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Founded in 2007 under a grant/contract with the Office of Disability Employment Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor, the NTAR Leadership Center's mission is to build capacity and leadership at the federal, state, and local levels to enable change across workforce development and disability-specific systems that will increase employment and economic self-sufficiency for adults with disabilities. This brief examines the evolving relationship between disability employment initiatives and employers, and highlights the implications that these collaborations have for effectively formulating broad-scale promotion of disability workforce investment initiatives

Tapping Employment Opportunities for Youth with Disabilities by Engaging Effectively with Employers

Early exposure to the workplace can improve the employment outcomes for persons with disabilities by enabling youth to develop employment skills and identify a career direction. Studies show that work-based learning experience, especially paid work integrated into curriculum, leads to improved postschool employment outcomes for all youth with disabilities, regardless of primary disability label or required level of support (Benz, Yovanoff, & Doren, 1997). Despite the demonstrated value of work-based learning experiences for youth with disabilities, participation in these experiences remains low (Colley & Jamison, 1998). It is clear that attention needs to be focused not only on workplace preparation of youth, but also on the workplaces themselves. Work-based learning experiences are based on available and willing employers. Examining employer perceptions of hiring and accommodating individuals with disabilities is an important consideration in making work-based learning opportunities available to youth with disabilities. This information can be used to improve the processes of establishing work-based experiences, identifying necessary workplaces supports, and eventually securing successful adult employment

Addressing the Transition Needs of Youth with Disabilities through the WIA System

Interagency collaboration has been repeatedly cited as one of the most important strategies in helping youth with disabilities move successfully from school into employment and adult life. However, often the primary focus of the collaboration and planning between school personnel and community service providers has been on disability-specific services and not on other, more generically available programs and services.The passage of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 offers new options and opportunities for youth in transition. WIA has challenged communities to create opportunities for all youth that moved beyond traditional vocational rehabilitation and related services. WIA represents expanded opportunities to prepare youth with disabilities for the transition to employment by assuring both access to and participation in WIA-funded youth and adult services. These services may benefit youth with disabilities as they plan for and make the transition from school to work

Attitudes and Beliefs of Job Development Professionals Toward Employers

Job development and placement professionals assist people with disabilities to secure, maintain, and advance in employment and thus have an important role in achieving quality employment outcomes for job seekers they represent. This research, conducted in NJ and MD, describes findings related to the attitudes and beliefs of job development professionals toard employers and the employment process

Strategies Used by Employment Service Providers in the Job Development Process: Are they consistent with what employers want?

Historically, the role of job developers employed in the state/federal vocational rehabilitation program and the larger network of community-based rehabilitation programs has been to identify and secure paid employment for individuals with disabilities, particularly those with significant disabilities. This technical report describes the results of a study of job development/job placement professionals' strategies in the employment process, and compares these results to employer perceptions of the employment process from recent literature. The report also identifies implications for job development/placement practice based on this comparative analysis

Job Developer Types, Placement Practices and Outcomes Technical Report

Despite numerous employment initiatives, people with disabilities are significantly more likely to experience unemployment and consequently, reduced economic and social well-being and a dminished quality of life than their non disabled peers. In a recent national survey of employers, less than 14% of companies indicated that they actively recruit jobseekers with disabilities. Thus, the role of the job development professional is pivotal to helping job seekers with disabilities to find, secure and maintain employment. This research report examined the attitudes and beliefs of job development processionals articulated in a previous technical report by TransCen, Inc. and looked to further explore the relationship between the types, other personal characteristics and placement outcomes of the various job developer types

Pre-settlement Vegetation of Greene, Jersey and Macoupin Counties along the Prairie/Forest Border in Illinois

The US Federal Government established the Public Land Survey (PLS) to survey federal land before sale to settlers in the early 1800’s. We used a Geographic Information System (GIS) and the PLS to explore the relationship among forests, fire frequency, topography, and soils in Greene, Jersey and Macoupin Counties in Illinois. The PLS data was digitized from microfiche copies of the survey in the Lovejoy Library at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The floodplains along the Illinois River supported a fire-intolerant forest of Salix sp., Populus deltoides, Acer spp., and Fraxinus spp. The floodplain is bordered by a line of bluffs which forms a region of broken topography supporting moderately fire tolerant species on alfisols. To the East is a region of mixed prairie and forest. The prairie was on flat mollisols where it was intermixed with the forest on and hillier slopes and alfisols. The forest areas supported highly fire tolerant forest trees with large diameters at large distances from survey points. Non-Metric Multidimensional scaling reveals a close relationship among topography, vegetation and soils. Forests were on hilly land. Prairies were located on level uplands where there were no firebreaks. Floodplains are just as level as prairies. They are also located on mollisols adjacent to the river. They are protected from fire by sloughs, swamps and lakes. The results of our study support the conclusion that topography and moisture is an important control on the geographical distribution of vegetation in the study area. These factors likely operated by controlling fire frequency

Pre-settlement Vegetation of Greene, Jersey and Macoupin Counties along the Prairie/Forest Border in Illinois

The US Federal Government established the Public Land Survey (PLS) to survey federal land before sale to settlers in the early 1800’s. We used a Geographic Information System (GIS) and the PLS to explore the relationship among forests, fire frequency, topography, and soils in Greene, Jersey and Macoupin Counties in Illinois. The PLS data was digitized from microfiche copies of the survey in the Lovejoy Library at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The floodplains along the Illinois River supported a fire-intolerant forest of Salix sp., Populus deltoides, Acer spp., and Fraxinus spp. The floodplain is bordered by a line of bluffs which forms a region of broken topography supporting moderately fire tolerant species on alfisols. To the East is a region of mixed prairie and forest. The prairie was on flat mollisols where it was intermixed with the forest on and hillier slopes and alfisols. The forest areas supported highly fire tolerant forest trees with large diameters at large distances from survey points. Non-Metric Multidimensional scaling reveals a close relationship among topography, vegetation and soils. Forests were on hilly land. Prairies were located on level uplands where there were no firebreaks. Floodplains are just as level as prairies. They are also located on mollisols adjacent to the river. They are protected from fire by sloughs, swamps and lakes. The results of our study support the conclusion that topography and moisture is an important control on the geographical distribution of vegetation in the study area. These factors likely operated by controlling fire frequency