Targeted Transition Assessment Leading to Job Placement for Young Adults with Disabilities in Rural Areas

Abstract In rural areas, transition planning for young adults with disabilities presents considerable challenges, including linkage to employment upon completion of special education services. Two assessment programs, described in this article, work in concert to assist transition teachers and youth with disabilities in rural areas and include: (a) web-based job preference and job matching assessments, and (b) a social network assessment. An internet-based assessment (www.yesjobsearch.com) presents 2-4 min of video for up to 120 entry-level jobs and allows a job seeker to select preferred ones. A job matching assessment determines the extent to which the job seeker's current skill level matches preferred jobs. Once preferred and well-matched jobs are identified, the social network assessment identifies family, friends, acquaintances, and resources associated with the job seeker's most-preferred/best-matched job. The article describes use of these assessments to facilitate job placement for youth with disabilities in rural areas. Keywords: transition, rural special education, vocational assessment Employment is a critical post-school outcome for young adults with high incidence disabilities (e.g., specific learning disabilities) and low incidence disabilities (e.g., intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorders) as recognized by the 2004 re-authorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004). As described by Rabren, Dunn, and Chambers (2002), young adults with disabilities who are employed upon completion of high school are likely to remain employed. Rabren et al. found an 87% probability that students would remain employed one year after high school if they held a part-time job when they exited school. The probabilities of holding a job one year after high school were 3.8 times greater for those who had paying jobs compared to those who did not have a job. Although Rabren et al. did not examine rural versus urban settings in their phone interview survey of 1,547 students and parents in Alabama, it is reasonable to assume that post-school employment takes on equal or greater importance for young adults with disabilities in rural areas. Post-school employment in rural areas presents considerable challenges. Dunn and Shumaker (1997) conducted a follow-up study of special education students after high school and found that post-school employment in rural areas lagged behind urban areas. These researchers examined employment status of young adults with intellectual disabilities, behavior disorders, and learning disabilities, including 25 participants in rural settings and 43 participants in urban settings. Based on a telephone survey to former students and their parents, employment rates were reported to be 72% and 81.4% in rural and urban settings, respectively. Results were similar to earlier follow-up studies comparing rural and urban employment rates (e.g., Hasazi, Gordon, & Roe, 1985). Factors associated with diminished employment in rural areas vary across locations and economic conditions but relate to extensive or chronic poverty, intense competition for limited jobs, and/or increased high school drop-out rates in some rural areas (Morgan & Morgan, 2006). In addition, diminished employment may be associated with relatively low priority of job placement in the transition components of Individual Education Programs (IEPs) of secondary students with disabilities in rural schools (Shearin, Roessler, & Schriner, 1999). According to IDEA, transition assessment in IEPs should focus on "needs, taking into account the child's strengths, preferences, and interests" (Section 602, 34[b]). In rural areas, transition assessment should be targeted, that is, focused on specific aspects of local job market and social networks leading to employment. The efficiency of the process should be reflected in time necessary to complete assessment, training of skills related to specific jobs, and communications with employers who can hire the individual job seeker with disabilities. …