Research Brief: Job Placement Outcomes in Israel and U.S. for People with Developmental Disabilities
By Cindy Higgins, RIIL (Research Information for Independent Living) Project
At the end of a two-year study of the work experiences of 109 urban-based individuals with developmental, psychiatric, or learning disabilities who had participated in job-placement programs, 72% of the participants had changed jobs while 28% held their jobs from 12 to 24 months.
The study, a joint project of the U.S.-based National Institute for People With Disabilities and the Mt. Carmel, Israel-based University of Haifa, was conducted to assess the extent to which people with developmental disabilities are aided by job-placement programs in obtaining and maintaining employment in the competitive sector.
According to researchers Shelly Botuck, Joel M. Levy, and Arie Rimmerman in an article they wrote for the Journal of Rehabilitation, the high rate of turnover was not due to factors such as gender, age, race, ethnic group, family economic status, previous paid employment, training site location, or diagnosis. What was learned was that almost all the individuals in the study needed some form of public assistance if they have a full-time job.
Botuck, Levy, and Rimmerman suggest that job retention and separation are different for each situation and reflect a combination of factors. They observe that previous research has linked family responsibilities, loss of benefits, transportation problems, economic downturns, social isolation on the job, stressful workplace, low pay, or psychiatric disability to job turnover. Moreover, they note that the placement program itself can have poor job matching, inadequate training, poor job supervision, and other weaknesses.
Most (80%) of the workers in the study were younger than 30 years old and none were married. It took about six and one-half months after entering the program to get a job. Men got jobs quicker than women. Many got jobs in maintenance and retail.
Another interesting result was that people with learning disabilities initially received higher hourly wages. However, In time, individuals with mental retardation and psychiatric disabilities received far more pay increases than those with learning disabilities.
For more information, see "Post-Placement Outcomes in Competitive Employment: How Do Urban Young Adults with Developmental Disabilities Fare Over Time?" in the Journal of Rehabilitation (vol. 64, no. 3), a publication of the National Rehabilitation Association (www.nationalrehab.org).
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