Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Despite advances in transition service delivery and increased knowledge of research supported intervention strategies, long-standing service and systems issues continue to impede optimal employment outcomes for students and youth with disabilities. To assess one approach to address this policy and service circumstance, this study examined the implementation and results of a model for delivering transition and employment services to youth with disabilities. Two research questions guided the inquiry. First, were there differences in vocational rehabilitation service patterns and costs for youth who participated in the service model compared with a matched sample of youth who did not? Second, were there differences in vocational rehabilitation service closure outcomes for youth who participated in the service model compared with a matched sample of youth who did not?

The transition model featured research-supported components integrated into a single service model which was implemented across eleven Maryland school districts from 2007 - 2013. The matched comparison group was obtained using an inverse propensity of treatment weighting approach. Using administrative data extracted from the Maryland Division of Rehabilitation Services, several major findings emerged. Compared with the matched sample, model participants: experienced a shorter time from eligibility to development of the Individual Plan for Employment, but their cases remained open longer; received more job-related services and fewer assessment and diagnostic services; cost less to serve; achieved significantly higher employment rates at case closure; and conditional on being employed, worked slightly fewer hours and earned less per week at closure. These results suggest implications for vocational rehabilitation practice with students and youth with disabilities, especially in the context of transition service requirements of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014.