Document Type
Occasional Paper
Publication Date
2016
Abstract
With the persistently low competitive employment rate for working-age people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), a main focus area for the field of disability research has been on the interaction between the individual and the service system. Yet we know much less about the interaction between systems and families around employment. Family engagement is key to successful employment and life planning, often leading individuals with disabilities on the path to employment when family members serve as role models for work ethic and behavior. Family members may also provide logistical support, including coaching and advice, help with planning and organizing work schedules and activities, and transportation and other resources. Moreover, research has shown that a person with IDD is most likely to be employed when their parents want them to be employed and believe that they can work. Despite these findings, we also know that parents often lack adequate knowledge to support their child’s transition to adult life. Family factors found to influence outcomes include lack of information about work incentives and fear of losing benefits.
This brief: Summarizes what we know about the effectiveness of strategies being used to inform, engage, and support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families in the development of a positive employment vision; Introduces a new line of individual and family engagement research that culminates in the development of a “small touch” intervention and strategy. This strategy addresses unemployment of people with IDD as an information mismatch between service systems and the family system. Addressing this mismatch can result in improved engagement, expectations, education, and outcomes in community employment.
Recommended Citation
ThinkWork! at the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston, "Knowledge Translation and Support for Individuals and Families (Bringing Employment First to Scale, Issue No. 5)" (2016). All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications. 22.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/ici_pubs/22