This report discusses the findings of a project that conducted a series of six focus groups to gather information from different employee groups about their perceptions of issues pertaining to the employment of individuals with disabilities. Focus groups were convened with human resource managers, supervisors, and coworkers of employees with…

A 1992 conference on strategies to secure and maintain employment for person with long-term mental illness brought together providers, consumers, family members, researches, and others to develop as complete an overview as possible of the current state of knowledge in the field. This booklet summarizes findings from the conference. There were many…

This handbook is designed for school personnel, youth with disabilities, parents, Individualized Education Program/transition team members, service providers, and others who are involved in student-focused transition planning. It provides detailed examples illustrating the process of applying for Social Security Income (SSI) work incentives and…

During five years of operation, the Montana Projects with Industry program assisted 65 people with severe disabilities to obtain and maintain community employment. Strategies that contribute to positive employment opportunities are described, and continuing challenges in enhancing and expanding supported employment services in rural areas are…

This commentary on "Natural Supports in the Workplace: The Jury Is Still Out" (Test and Wood), discusses existing research on the effectiveness of natural supports. Describes job development and training approaches that facilitate natural supports and how supports can be responsive to the changing needs of supported employees and…

This article describes amendments of the 1992 Rehabilitation Act Amendments which address choice and self-determination for people with disabilities. It also considers barriers within the vocational rehabilitation service system that prevent many individuals with severe disabilities from choosing integrated employment. (Author/DB)

A 20-state survey of supported employment personnel (131 direct training staff and 79 supervisory staff) serving people with mental retardation identified the importance of training in such areas as "matching the job to the applicant,""gathering information on job prospects,""understanding transition from school to…

A survey of 341 human resources executives from large U.S. businesses found most executives favorable to employment of persons with disabilities. Almost two-thirds of the corporations have a policy regarding hiring persons with disabilities; over one-half have hired such persons within the past three years; and over one-third have supported work…

This article argues that the trend toward supported employment and transition services still rests on a dependency model of disability. It proposes a model of education for the empowerment of full citizenship in which persons with disabilities are seen as one of many groups disadvantaged by current social prejudice and exclusion. (DB)

This report presents case studies of 4 adults with autism who enrolled in a work-training program utilizing a behavioral social interaction approach, and were subsequently competitively employed for 6 to 30 months. Success was associated with such factors as appropriate communication and interpersonal skills, gradual fading of supervision, and…

This article reviews five self-management strategies used to help people with severe and profound developmental disabilities acquire and maintain constructive occupation: picture cues presented on sets of cards, picture cues stored in computer-aided systems, object cues attached to cards, verbal cues stored in audio recording devices, and…

This paper addresses the question: How does implementation influence the effectiveness of mandatory welfare-to-work programs? Data from three large-scale, multi-site random assignment experiments were pooled; quantitative measures of program implementation were constructed; and multilevel statistical modeling was used to examine the relationship…

Designed for professionals in the field of mental illness and staff involved in providing on-the-job support for persons with mental illness, this book provides an overview of employment issues relevant to such workers. The 23 chapters of the book are organized in 5 sections. The first two sections provide background information about the clients…

This manual provides rehabilitation service provider organizations with necessary information and instructions for completing an Information Request Form (IRF), the first step in the process of applying for recognition by the Regional Rehabilitation Exchange (RRX) Project as an exemplary program model in the area of supported employment. The RRX…

This consensus report on supported employment for people with severe mental retardation was a product of a conference which brought together the expertise of consumers, practitioners, researchers, family members, and analysts. Determinants of success in supported employment for this population are identified along with critical issues for…