This chapter reviews how the practice of Vocational rehabilitation (VR) counseling has facilitated or encouraged employment of people with disabilities since the establishment of a national policy on employment of people with disabilities. It examines the intent and the impact of Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999. The chapter presents an overview of key legislation with implications for employment to provide a cursory understanding of the purpose and significance of these laws for people with disabilities. It presents basic information on the Ticket and amendments to its regulations and program components. The chapter provides a labor force characteristics of people with disabilities. It presents a discussion of policy and practices of one state VR agency and reviews the impact of the Ticket and implications. The chapter discusses the recommendations for future directions.

The vocational rehabilitation profession in the United States has existed for a century. In that time, the focus on improving vocational functioning toward employment for Persons with disabilities (PwD) has consistently been a priority in the quest to maximize independence. This chapter offers essential knowledge needed to successfully improve employment among ethnic minority populations of PwD. It discusses the importance of conducting race- and ethnicity-related research and describes the working-age population of ethnic minorities with disabilities. The chapter explains the triple threat phenomena of race, poverty, and disability along with the concept of intersectionality. It discusses the differences in employment outcomes of persons with disabilities based on ethnicity and describes the role of ethnicity in employment discrimination due to disability. The chapter helps the reader identify several strategies that vocational professionals can use to work effectively with ethnic minority populations of individuals with disabilities seeking employment.

Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) is designed to promote an integrative understanding of career behavior. This chapter briefly describes SCCT’s interest and choice models and reviews research that has applied the theory, or some of its constructs, to the career behavior of people with disabilities. It focuses on the interest and choice models both because of space limitations and because these two models, which are interwoven, have so far drawn the most attention in SCCT-related research on the career development of people with disabilities. The findings of a number of studies suggest that self-efficacy beliefs are related to the interests, goals, and employment experiences of persons with a variety of disabilities, both in the United States and abroad. Additional directions for future research and practice can be drawn both from within the literature on disability and from the larger literature on SCCT, including its applications to other forms of diversity.

The nature and needs of the American disability community have changed dramatically over the past 30 years, and people with emerging disabilities are a growing yet underserved clientele for vocational rehabilitation (VR) professionals. This chapter describes the nature and needs of Americans with emerging disabilities and examines the unique effects that emerging disabilities have on employment and career development. It suggests strategies that rehabilitation professionals can use to improve VR services for this underserved clientele. The chapter provides an illustrative case study of a person with an emerging disability, and emphasizes established best practices in VR services for people with emerging disabilities. Each of the sequential phases of the VR process (i.e., outreach, eligibility determination, assessment, case planning, service delivery, accommodation planning, and follow-up) requires careful examination of the medical, psychosocial, career development, and community living issues that inhere in the emerging disability experience.

The topic of work analysis is frequently given very limited coverage in textbooks related to occupational development, vocational behavior, rehabilitation counseling, and other rehabilitation healthcare fields; this is truly unfortunate. A comprehensive understanding of the requirements of work is essential to the career development and employment of individuals with disabilities; work analysis provides the foundation for building organizational processes that are effective, inclusive, and legally defensible. This chapter provides the reader with a thorough understanding of work analysis through coverage of its definition, history, methodological considerations, and applications. The workplace of today is a very different entity from what existed just a decade ago. Work analysis is a systematic process used to understand the nature of work. Although there are many methodological considerations to be contemplated and numerous existing work analysis tools available to the practitioner, the methods chosen must be appropriate for the purposes at hand.

Vocational evaluation is best done through a focus on the strengths of the individual with a disability. This chapter helps the reader understand the role of vocational evaluation in the vocational rehabilitation process. It explains the theoretical frameworks for vocational evaluation and the different levels of vocational evaluation. The chapter discusses the basic approaches utilized in vocational evaluation. It outlines the importance of vocational evaluation, especially utilizing the vocational counseling approach with a focus on establishing a strong working alliance and assessing values, interests, interpersonal skills, and personality traits. The chapter provides a theoretical framework that can be used to guide the information and analysis of information obtained during the evaluation process. It presents a basic overview of the three levels of evaluation as they relate to vocational evaluation and rehabilitation. Finally, the chapter provides a brief overview of the techniques and procedures used in vocational evaluation.

This chapter presents some of the opportunities and challenges faced by people with physical disabilities in obtaining employment consistent with their career aspirations, interests, and capabilities. It helps the reader recognize employment issues related to people with physical disabilities. The chapter discusses the human capital theory and the dualistic theory of labor markets. It describes how education affects lifetime earnings and employability. The chapter explains the impact of the great recession and be familiar with successful employment strategies for people with physical disabilities. Although there has been significant amount of research conducted over the past 50 years in rehabilitation counseling and job placement, most of this has been descriptive in nature, with many of these efforts attempting to determine relationships among existing data rather than a purposeful approach to define what types of intervention or services appear to work best with what specific populations, under what specific conditions.

Employment is central to one’s identity, sense of achievement, and the overall quality of life. This chapter explains how and why employment is central to an individual’s life. It defines career counseling and explains the role of the rehabilitation counselor in the career counseling process. The chapter describes the stages of change and interventions that are commonly used in the career-counseling process. The role of the rehabilitation counselor in the career-counseling process is critical in assisting individuals with disabilities as they navigate through their journey in the pursuit of competitive employment. Rehabilitation counselors who embrace an active role in addressing these concerns, which are often perceived as barriers by the individual with a disability, will have a greater chance of increasing their likelihood of successful outcomes and growth. Strategies to facilitate change as well as frameworks that are more conducive to the diverse needs of individuals with disabilities are introduced.

The state–federal Vocational rehabilitation (VR) system addresses employment disparities faced by people with disabilities by offering services to target individuals’ employment needs and promote consumer choice and empowerment. Vocational rehabilitation can play an important role in enhancing the psychosocial and vocational outcomes of people with disabilities. This chapter provides an overview of the state–federal VR program and the rehabilitation process and services associated with the public rehabilitation system. It reviews the best practices and outcomes of VR within the context of evidence-based practice. The chapter discusses the role and qualifications of VR professionals. There is empirical evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of state VR services in returning people with disabilities to competitive employment. Central to the effective delivery of VR services is the rehabilitation counselor, with support found for counselors with graduate training in rehabilitation counseling being more effective than counselors without degrees in rehabilitation counseling.

Disability is experienced by Americans in every corner of America. This chapter provides and discusses national statistics on the educational, employment, and financial experiences of people with disabilities in the United States (U.S). The statistics presented are calculated from the American Community Survey (ACS), a large, annual, nationally representative dataset collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. The chapter provides a description of the ACS, including how it measures disability and employment. It presents the findings on heterogeneity in disability prevalence, heterogeneity in employment rates, heterogeneity in broader socioeconomic outcomes, and occupational and industrial composition of workers with disabilities. The chapter examines overall differences between individuals with and without disabilities. It concludes with a discussion of the implications that the ACS data have for the state/federal vocational rehabilitation program as well as an overview of the ACS data products that are available to provide national and local statistics.