Journal Article Details
Citation:
Honeycutt, T. Luhr, M.; Harrison, E.; & Sevak, P. (2024). Pre-employment transition and vocational rehabilitation services: Experiences in response to Vermont’s work-based learning program.
Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 60
(1),
39-52.
Title:
Pre-employment transition and vocational rehabilitation services: Experiences in response to Vermont’s work-based learning program
Authors:
Honeycutt, T. Luhr, M.; Harrison, E.; & Sevak, P.
Year:
2024
Journal/Publication:
Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation
Publisher:
IOS Press
DOI:
Full text:
Peer-reviewed?
Yes
NIDILRR-funded?
No
Structured abstract:
Background:
State vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies offer pre-employment transition services (pre-ETS) and other VR services to high school students, but the literature has not documented differences in pre-ETS use by individual characteristics or across individual services.
Purpose:
We describe variation in how high school students used services from the Vermont VR agency and how a demonstration program emphasizing work-based learning experiences affected that use.
Data collection & analysis:
The study uses a descriptive approach to explore patterns in youth’s pre-ETS and VR services and outcomes two years after enrolling in a demonstration program. It compares youth with access to demonstration services (the treatment group) to those using usual services (the control group).
Findings:
Among all control group youth, more than half only used pre-ETS during a 24-month period, while about one-quarter used VR services and the remainder used no services from the VR agency. In contrast, nearly all treatment group youth used some VR services, with a majority (59 percent) using both VR services and pre-ETS. Control group youth who used pre-ETS and VR services differed from those who did not use these services by gender, disability type, employment, and service receipt characteristics; treatment group youth had fewer such differences. Earnings outcomes did not vary in consistent or interpretable ways.
Conclusions:
The findings demonstrate how an intervention designed to promote work-based learning experiences increased pre-ETS and VR use and decreased subgroup differences in service utilization. VR administrators might consider collecting information on potentially eligible students to increase access to and use of services.
Interventions:
Vocational rehabilitation