The Rehabilitation Act: Outcomes for Transition-Age Youth

October 28, 2008

SCOPE AND PURPOSE:

This report is a comprehensive assessment of the impact of the Rehabilitation Act on the employment and postsecondary education outcomes of eligible transition-age youth. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, together with the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, set in motion policy changes that have allowed many thousands of children and youth with disabilities in the United States the opportunity to gain the educational and vocational skills needed to transition to living, working, and participating as adults in community life.

NCD undertook this study to examine the extent to which the vocational rehabilitation system’s (VR) existing federal/state structure promotes:

• the delivery of effective transition services to adolescents and young adults with disabilities;
• the long-term results of VR’s investment in postsecondary education for individuals with disabilities;
• and the effectiveness of collaborative efforts among vocational rehabilitation, secondary and postsecondary education, and other service systems in the planning and delivery of transition services.