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…

Presents a cost-benefit analysis of a supported-employment program using natural support strategies to assist 59 workers with severe disabilities in integrated employment settings. Results suggest substantial benefits to participants, the taxpayer, and society resulting from the choice of a natural support approach over the sheltered workshop…

The paper criticizes the practice of providing sheltered occupational environments to severely handicapped individuals and considers ways in which public school programs and adult service systems can be arranged to maximize vocational functioning. Following an operational definition of meaningful work, the chapter analyzes reasons for the…

The relationship between cost-efficiency and personal characteristics of 111 supported employees were examined. When sheltered workshops were used as alternative placements, supported employees with high IQS benefited more from employment within the community than did supported employees with lower IQS. From society's perspective, African-American…