A national benchmark investigation of return-to-work outcome rates between African American, Native American or Alaskan Native, Latino, Asian American or Pacific Islander, and Non-Latino White veterans served by state vocational rehabilitation agencies: Application of bootstrap data expansion

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Research examining the provision of effective state vocational rehabilitation agency (SVRA) sponsored services is pertinent to improving successful return-to-work outcomes among veterans of color (i.e., African Americans, Native Americans or Alaska Natives, Latinos, and Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders versus non-Latino Whites). To date, however, scant attention has been paid to examining these target groups’ outcome patterns. OBJECTIVE: This study employed a stratified bootstrap data expansion approach to assess the relationship between race/ethnicity, gender, level of educational attainment at closure and return-to-work among veterans with a signed individualized plan for employment (IPE). METHODS: National fiscal year (FY) 2013 Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)-911 case records (N= 11,603) were extracted and re-sampled across multiple trials using bootstrap procedures to increase logistic regression model accuracy. RESULTS: The findings indicated that African American and female veterans were statistically significantly less likely to return-to-work compared to non-Latino White and female veterans, respectively. Return-to-work probabilities were ‘poorest’ for African American veterans followed by Native Americans or Alaska Natives, Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders, Latinos, and then non-Latino Whites. ∗Address for correspondence: Corey L. Moore, Principal Investigator and Research Director and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Distinguished Professor Endowed Chair, Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Research and Capacity Building for Minority Entities, Langston University, 4205 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73105, USA. Tel.: +1 405 530 7530; Fax: +1 405 962 1638; E-mail: clmoore@langston.edu. 1052-2263/16/$35.00 © 2016 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved 134 C.L. Moore and N. Wang / Veterans of color and outcomes CONCLUSIONS: These findings warrant new service (e.g., greater SVRA and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) co-service provision) and policy initiatives.