Massachusetts Employment and Disability Snapshot Report, 2000-2005

This monograph presents the results of secondary analysis of the RSA-911 database from the Rehabilitation Services Administration. All successful VR closures for individuals with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy for six data points between 1985 and 1998 were investigated. Trends in competitive labor market and extended employment (sheltered workshops) closures were examined. The use of supported employment in the VR system and its outcomes were also discussed. Findings include increased incidence of competitive labor market closures and supported employment services, with a decrease in extended employment closures. This is the second in an annual series of snapshot reports on the employment of people with disabilities in Massachusetts developed by the Medicaid Infrastructure and Comprehensive Employment Opportunities (MI-CEO) grant. It is intended to provide people with disabilities, advocates, policymakers, researchers, and other interested parties an overview of the state and trends in employment of people with disabilities. The report includes information on the employment of people with disabilities overall in Massachusetts as well as data on particular sub-populations of people with disabilities: those on Supplemental Security Income; MassHealth (Medicaid) members; and people receiving disability services from the Department of Mental Retardation, the Department of Mental Health, the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission, or the Commission for the Blind. Data are also given on services provided to people with disabilities through One-Stop Career Centers. These centers constitute the workforce development system for the general population. Since each agency has a distinct population, mission, budget, and data collection mechanism, collecting consistent data across agencies is not possible at this time. A committee of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, with support from the MI-CEO grant, is in the process of developing and implementing a common set of measures across agencies. In the meantime, this snapshot is intended to provide an overall view of the state of the state and should not be used for comparison across agencies