Research Rehabilitation and Training Center on Individual-level Characteristics Related to Employment Among Individuals with Disabilities
| NH-INACTIVE-Institute on Disability, UCEDD | |||
| Program Type | UCEDD | Fiscal Year | 2020 |
| Contact | Andrew Houtenville, PhD | ||
| [email protected] | |||
| Phone | 603-862-3999 | ||
| Project Description | |||
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Importance of the Problem. Despite the ADA and advances in medicine and technology, as a group, people with disabilities have become economically less self-sufficient over the last few decades. Their employment rates have declined, their reliance on public benefits has increased, and their household incomes have fallen further behind those of other households. In addition, there are substantial disparities in employment outcomes within the population with disabilities. To further the development of improved strategies and interventions, it is imperative to know which individuals fare relatively well with respect to employment, and why. Mission. The proposed Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Individual-Level Characteristics Related to Employment Among Individuals with Disabilities (IC-RRTC) will generate new knowledge about these disparities and the role of individual characteristics (i.e., new knowledge about the which and why questions from above) to build the evidence base needed to improve strategies and interventions for attaining better employment outcomes for the various subpopulations of people with disabilities. Approach. We frame our research around three domains that effect employment outcomes. This framework blends the social model of disability with labor economic theory, adopting the framework of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The first domain is ?health conditions,? the physical and mental characteristics that underlie disability. The second domain is ?personal characteristics,? including demographic characteristics, human capital (education and training), and social capital (an individual?s family, community and employment relationships). The third domain is ?environmental characteristics,? including accessibility, transportation, the local economy, public policies, and geography. We will test a series of hypotheses regarding the effect of characteristics in each of these domains (and their interactions) on employment outcomes. There will be three research phases, with each subsequent phase informing the next. Phase 1?Existing Literature entails a comprehensive review of the vocational rehabilitation and social science literatures on facilitators and barriers to employment for persons with disabilities. Phase 2?Existing Data extends the key findings from Phase 1, utilizing data from disability-related public programs and national and international surveys. In particular, we will examine geographic and individual variation in these data to support identification of individual, social, economic, and environmental barriers and facilitators to employment. Phase 3?New Data will fill gaps identified in Phase 1 and not addressed by Phase 2 through collection of new data. We will design, implement, and analyze the National Survey Disability and Employment (NDSE), which will be a disability follow-back survey attached to the next Heath System?s Change Household Survey, a periodic health care survey conducted by Mathematica. The NDSE provides an opportunity to address key evidence gaps that are not addressed in the literature and cannot be addressed through analysis of extant data. Knowledge Translation. To ensure the utilization of our findings in the development of new strategies and innovations, the Hunter IC-RRTC will conduct a series of outreach projects design to reach and work with key audiences (e.g., CSAVR, AAPD, RSA, ODEP, BLN, TACE Centers). Representatives from these organizations will serve on the RRTC Policy and Scientific Review Committee (SRC) and meet with project staff on a regular basis, in person and through teleconference. The culminating output of the Hunter IC-RRTC will be the publication of an edited volume, Employment and Disability in America, that will summarize the IC-RRTC findings in a durable, lasting, highly visible format. |
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