Timeframe from Application to Closure in Integrated Employment for Vocational Rehabilitation Customers with Developmental Disabilities

Data Note 14, 2008

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By Alberto Migliore and Frank A. Smith.

Getting a job promptly after applying for vocational rehabilitation (VR) services is important for a successful career. Rapid placement boosts self-confidence and prevents applicants from losing work skills as a consequence of inactivity. Moreover, employers may prefer candidates whose work history shows limited gaps in employment.

This data note describes the integrated employment timeframe from application to closure for people with developmental disabilities (i.e., mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and autism) whose cases were closed by VR in 2006 (N = 27,579). VR typically closes cases when applicants have been in employment for at least 90 days.

The table below, divided by state, shows the percentages of cases closed within one year of application, between one and three years from application, and more than three years from application. Across all states, 33 percent of closures took place within one year of application, 49 percent between one and three years, and 18 percent more than three years after application. The highest percentage of cases closed within one year from application was 56, in both Vermont and Nevada. The highest percentages of cases closed more than three years from application was 42, in Oklahoma.

It is noteworthy that the time elapsed between application and closure is not necessarily a measure of individual success in employment outcomes. Applicants who are students may delay looking for employment until after completing secondary or postsecondary education. Moreover, some applicants may receive services beyond the 90th day of employment, extending the date of case closure in comparison to job entry. RSA 911 data do not provide the date of job entry.

*Totals not equal to 100 are due to rounding error.

Source RSA-911, FY2006.

Suggested Citation

Migliore, A. & Smith, F.A., 2007. Timeframe from Application to Closure in Integrated Employment for Vocational Rehabilitation Customers with Developmental Disabilities . DataNote Series, Data Note XIV. Boston, MA: Institute for Community Inclusion.

This is a publication of StateData.info, funded in part by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (#90DN0216). This Data Note was written by Alberto Migliore and Frank A. Smith.

The recommended citation for these charts and data is: Institute for Community Inclusion. (n.d.) StateData.info. Retrieved [today's date] from http://www.statedata.info.

This is a project of the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston supported in part by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under cooperative agreement #90DN0126 with additional support from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education under grant #H133A021503. The opinions contained in this website are those of the grantee and do not necessarily reflect those of the funders.