Vocational Counselors Outlook on Job Readiness
Introduction
It’s been more than 25 years since the Rehabilitation Services Administration, a federal agency, commissioned a study of the effectiveness of the state federal Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) system; a national system which assists individuals with disabilities to obtain and help maintain employment (Martz, E. & Xu, Y.J, 2010). In previous times, there has been a significant struggle within the employment market for those who are disabled. As in the past, placing individuals with disabilities continues to be a considerable problem for this community and has psychological, economic, and social implications. (Hernandez et al., 2006) Several federal initiatives have been implemented to
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As well, unemployed individuals with disabilities are left out of opportunities to build professional and social relationships. Approximately 2.7 billion dollars in federal grants are paid annually to state-governed Vocational Rehabilitation programs and funding these programs has been designated to help people with disabilities secure employment. These programs help with the assessment and evaluation of vocational training, employment counseling and job placement (Hernandez et al., …show more content…
CRPs served 171 individuals in employment and non-work services, and the majority (over 70%) of individuals with disabilities served by CRPs are individuals with IDD (Metzel et al., 2007).
For consumers who are blind or visually impaired, findings highlight the importance of understanding how management control over areas such policy and procedures have the potential to influence service delivery and subsequent employment outcomes (Steinman et al., 2013). Legislative changes influenced the placement of vocational rehabilitation agencies within state organization structures were implemented as a result of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act amendments of 1954; these amendments allowed states to establish independent agencies dedicated to the administration of vocational rehabilitation programs (Metzel et al., 2007). The wisdom of the structured organization spawned by the Barden LaFollette Act is supported by research in dictating somewhat better outcomes for factors such as: competitive placement rates and weekly earnings