Latino VR Access Rates by Disability Type and Proportions in the General Population with Disabilities

Abstract

The access (application and entry) rates of Latino and other ethnic/racial group members to the state-federal vocational rehabilitation (VR) system was provided and compared to proportions with the same corresponding disability in the general population. Percentages were slightly higher (2-3%) for Latinos with visual impairments, and Latinos with deafness and hearing loss, and about the same for Latinos with substance dependence and those with mental retardation relative to the percentages of Latinos with the same types of disabilities in the national population. We concluded that the socioeconomic disadvantages of Latinos with visual impairments and with deafness and hearing loss may increase their need to access VR relative to all other ethnic or racial group members (i.e., African Americans, Whites) with visual impairments or with deafness and hearing loss. There was additional discussion of a strikingly higher percentage of African Americans with substance abuse in VR.