Economic and programmatic indicators explain vocational rehabilitation employment rates of persons with cognitive disabilities

This national study investigated state economic health and state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services for persons with cognitive disabilities. Using 2004 to 2010 extant data from the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) and the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the U.S. Census Bureau, this study explains variability in state VR services employment outcomes based on state economic performance and state-level VR factors. The results show state economic performance explains a significant amount of the variation in state VR employment rates for persons with cognitive disabilities. An additional significant amount of variation was explained after accounting for VR programmatic factors. These findings have broad economic and programmatic implications that should be considered to improve the employment rate of persons with cognitive disabilities.