Competitive integrated employment is defined within the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA, 2014) as full-time or part-time work at minimum wage or higher, with wages and benefits similar to those without disabilities performing the same work, and fully integrated with coworkers without disabilities. The Act requires that states ensure…

At the risk of opening with a cliché statement- at the heart of the most effective mentor is a burning passion. The fuel for this passion is a desire to convince, not just try to, but actually convince your mentee that you care about their success (be it in the classroom, career, or personal life). I am guilty of believing in, and living by, this…

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)…

If six degrees of separation is all that is needed for anyone to find anyone else, and if three clicks can find almost anything on the World Wide Web, perhaps analyzing how social networks form and connect people to each other offers a useful way to reconsider how the rehabilitation profession pursues job placement and employer development. Social…

Through current hiring practices, many school districts may be missing an untapped pool of potential employees--individuals with disabilities. In this article, the authors describe the Hiring Practice Initiative (HPI) and its implementation in 17 Florida school districts. The Hiring Practice Initiative Project goals are to: (a) increase the…

Have parents ever thought about the future of their child with special needs? What happens after they graduate from or ages out of the school system? In this article, the author discusses employment. She feels the best time to start planning and preparing is while the child is still in junior high school. She offers some suggestions that may help…

A bank vice president reviews three barriers to the employment of handicapped persons: misunderstanding and lack of knowledge concerning the handicapped, the traditional lag between recognition of a problem and its solution, and apathy and disinterest. (CL)

Provides background on the job club process and how it can be used for integrated training of special needs and regular education students in need of job search assistance. Includes field test project information. (JOW)

Describes the Slice of Life program, which is based on the concept that career education is a lifelong process beginning in the early years. It is a vocational development program that highlights awareness, assessment, training, and placement. (JOW)

The University of Minnesota at Duluth Handicapped Student Services Program and Career Development and Placement Office initiated a cooperative effort to expand career services for the handicapped. Goals include responding to students needs, initiating contact with area employers, and securing funding. Services can be integrated into the career…

This paper examines the role of agency-sponsored job coaches in supported employment, and proposes a broader concept of supported employment. Suggested alternative support options involve the active participation of supervisors and co-workers. These are titled the mentor option, the training consultant option, the job sharing option, and the…

The fact sheet is designed to help counselors, teachers, administrators, and disabled students with issues concerning career planning and placement in postsecondary academic and technical schools. The value of early counseling and the importance of encouraging healthy risk-taking are underlined. Model programs at University of California…

The author reports on a collaborative effort among three state agencies that is currently giving 3,000 California youth who are disabled a chance to prove themselves in private sector job placements. Discusses program administration, funding, computerized recordkeeping, entrance requirements, and plans for the future. (CT)

Compared the Job Club method with an alternative method, using clients who had job-finding problems, such as physical, emotional, intellectual, and social handicaps, or long-term unemployment. Results suggest that virtually all handicapped or "hard-core" unemployed persons can obtain and retain a job under an intensive Job Club program.…

Discusses the need for expanded work placement programs to enable special needs students to enter the work place efficiently. Outlines a career education progression for the development of work and daily living skills. (CT)