Recommendations for Expanding Employability Services Provided by Independent Living Programs (1994)

Services to persons with disabilities which target employment outcomes are in a process of change. The current rate of change is quickening relative to the historical stability of the concepts and operations of the state/federal vocational rehabilitation program which has been the major provider of employment services. Changes are occurring as a result of a number of obvious factors. Prime among these are the consumer movement and the changes in the Rehabilitation Act. There is, of course, much interaction between these two factors. These changes are apparent and meaningful in the quantity and quality of services available to persons with disabilities. Many new services (e.g., including rehabilitation engineering, rehabilitation technology) have been recently added to the constellation of available employment services. One of the notable additions to the rehabilitation system is the implementation of independent living programs (ILPs). ILPs were originally funded under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for the purpose of meeting the independent living needs of persons with disabilities. Specific core services were specified as necessary to meet the designation as an Independent Living Center (ILC) (as opposed to an ILP) but beyond those core services ILP and ILCs alike were guided largely by the concept of unmet needs. Consequently, there is considerable variability in both the type and amount of services that ILPs/ILCs provide in the communities they serve. According to the Report of the Comprehensive Needs Study (1975), which was mandated by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, there is a need for ILPs to address employment of persons with disabilities. Consistent with the recommendations from that study, Section 702 of the 1978 Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services Act specified that independent living services should address the needs of individuals who were experiencing severe disability related limitation in their ability to engage or continue in employment or to function independently in family or community. According to survey results reported by Berkeley Planning Associates (1986), ILPs have responded differentially to their charge. Findings in the Berkeley report pertinent to employment or vocational services are as follows: * ...the Centers that make up the current Title VII, Part B program are extremely varied in their characteristics. * Over two-thirds (70%) of consumers are now, or have been in the past, vocational rehabilitation clients, and nearly one-third (30%) currently have an open case file with vocational rehabilitation. * Vocational services were provided by 43% of Centers and received by 13% of consumer respondents. * ...employment and health care were areas where other agencies believed the effects of Center activities were least apparent. Certainly ILPs have an emerging role in the delivery of employment services. In a recent survey conducted by the Research and Training Center on Independent Living at the University of Kansas, Jones, Petty, Bolles, and Mathews (1986) found that ILP directors rated accessibility and employment issues as their most prominent concern from a list of 72 different services. Unfortunately, research concerning the type of employment-related services needed by ILP clientele has not been conducted. The rehabilitation system as a whole continues to develop and recent history has seen major changes in priority groups for service as well as the goals of services. Preparedness for independent living and opportunity in the community are beginning to have equal goal status with the individual's employability in the eyes of service providers. ILPs are the service entity of the independent living (IL) movement and as such are prime movers in preparing persons with disabilities for independence and in advocating for community integration. They have and can be expected to continue to play a critical role in supporting the full community integration of persons with disabilities into mainstream America. …