Vocational Rehabilitation Interagency Activity Improving Supported Employment for People with Severe Disabilities

Abstract

This study is the first of three companion studies investigating the extent of interagency activity among state agencies that deliver or fund employment services. The purpose of this study is to identify exemplary models and strategies used in interagency agreements that improve the delivery of supported employment services. Interagency agreements were most frequent with state agencies that specialized in or had substantial involvement with disability services, including the state mental health (MH) agency, the state mental retardation and developmental disabilities (MR/DD) agency, and the state department of education (DOE). These agreements were seen as having a more positive impact on employment opportunities than agreements with other types of agencies. Agencies that typically provided employment services to the general population were as likely or more likely to be participating in informal interagency activity than in written state level interagency agreements. The impact of these agreements on encouraging supported employment varied by type of agency. The MH and MR/DD agency agreements with the vocational rehabilitation (VR) agency were rated as having the highest impact, whereas the agreements between the One-Stop Career Centers and the VR agency were rated as having no impact, either positive or negative. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.