A comment on the removal of extended employment as an approved employment outcome for individuals served by vocational rehabilitation

On January 22, 2001, the Rehabilitation Services Administration of the US Department of Education amended the regulations governing the State Vocational Rehabilitation Program to redefine the term employment outcome to mean an individual with a disability working in an integrated setting [2]. Historically within State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), extended employment (sometimes referred to as non-integrated or sheltered employment) was an approved potential employment outcome for individuals with a disability who received VR services. Because extended/sheltered employment utilizes non-integrated work settings, the redefining of an employment outcome for a VR participant to mean ‘work in an integrated setting’ removes extended/sheltered employment as an approved potential employment outcome for Vocational Rehabilitation services. The purpose of the Vocational Rehabilitation program, as stated in The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, is to enable individuals with a disability to achieve an employment outcome in an integrated setting [2]. In response to the priority on employment outcomes in integrated settings first highlighted in the 1992 Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the decade of the 1990s was marked by a continual decrease in the use of the sheltered employment as an employment outcome by Vocational Rehabilitation agencies. For example, VR agencies nationally closed 11,605 in sheltered employment in Fiscal Year (FY) 1990; by FY 1998, the number of sheltered employment VR closures dropped 34% to 7,633. In contrast, the number of persons closed by VR in supported employment, an employment outcome marked by the use of integrated work settings, rose steadily during the 1990s. For example, VR closed approximately 9,528 persons in supported employment in FY 1991, 13,950 in FY 1994, and 23,056 in FY 1998 [5]. Wage opportunities are a key factor in the movement by VR away from sheltered employment to more integrated employment outcomes. The average wage for persons closed in sheltered employment by VR in FY 98 was $2.54 per hour and $64.51 per week; the corresponding wage information for persons closed by VR in supported employment during the same time period was $5.88 per hour and $142.93 per week. These wage differences are consistent across various disability groupings. For example, individuals with a primary disability classification of moderate mental retardation closed in sheltered employment by VR in FY 98 earned on average $2.04 per hour and $50.71 per week; the corresponding wage information for persons in this disability classification closed by VR in supported employment during the same time period was $5.24 per hour and $112.09 per week [5]. The Federal minimum wage increased from $4.75 to $5.15 per hour as of September 1, 1997, one month before the start of federal FY 1998. A critically important policy consideration for Vocational Rehabilitation in implementing the amended definition of an employment outcome is the functional meaning of the term work in an integrated setting. Current VR regulations define integrated setting as being a setting typically found in the community where individuals with a disability interact with non-disabled in-