bilitation Act Amendments of 1986 (Bellamy,

Supported employment is an alternative vocational service for individuals with severe mental or physical challenges. This article presents findings from a study that examined the impact of participation in a supported employment program on community members ' responses to severely challenged individuals. A test group of45 respondents was used, and data were collected with a questionnaire. After six months ofprogram participation, significant differences were found in the test group's responses to questions regarding an integrated workplace, the ability ofchallenged individuals to learn new skills, and the ability to work with individuals with severe challenges. The findings support interactions built on the strengths of people and indicate that social workers need to transform the writings on the strengths perspective into a model of practice that includes a comprehensive strengths assessment in the design of interventions and the evaluation of process and change. Key words: community participation; mental and physical challenges; strengths assessment; strengths perspective; supported employment Supported employment is one of the most sig-nificant advances in vocational rehabilitationservices to have emerged from the 1980s (Rogan & Hagner, 1990). Viewed as an alternative vocational service for individuals with severe mental or physical challenges, supported employ-ment was initially defined in the regulations of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in 1984 and has since appeared in a vari-ety of federal contexts, including the Develop-mental Disabilities Act of 1984, the Omnibu