Although calls to expand integrated employment opportunities have permeated recent legislative and policy initiatives in the United States, substantial numbers of adults with severe disabilities still work in segregated settings. We examined findings from events held in eight communities to solicit the views of parents and other family members (n…

This paper refutes criticism about industrial workshops for individuals with blindness and argues that they are a suitable vocational option that is often underutilized. The paper explores the role of the sheltered workshop as a continuum for multihandicapped blind persons, employment experience for teenagers, opportunity for older individuals,…

Benefits and costs of supported and transitional employment services are compared with those of adult day care and traditional sheltered workshops (including work activity centers) for the severely disabled. Evidence indicates that all forms of employment (supported, transitional, and sheltered) are more productive and less costly than adult day…

Data from surveys of 2,071 facilities providing vocational services to adults with developmental disabilities were used to analyze: employment placement patterns in sheltered, supported, competitive, or transitional settings; employment retention rates; occupational categories; rehabilitation costs; integration with nondisabled coworkers; effects…

This project attempted to develop competitive employment opportunities for people with mental retardation with Greater Cincinnati (Ohio) businesses and industries. The Employment Initiatives Project was designed for persons with mental retardation, functioning in the moderate to severe range, who are located in either an adult work activity or…

A study investigated the circumstances and views of 16 individuals 8 years after participation in one agency's conversion from a sheltered workshop to an exclusively community employment service. Most participants associated the agency's changeover with long-term, personal benefits, including community employment opportunities, increased income,…

Data were gathered from 1,119 facilities providing vocational services to 112,996 adults with developmental disabilities, to analyze employment outcomes for persons in transitional training or sheltered, supported, or competitive employment; placements by occupational categories; movement patterns within employment statuses; employment retention;…