October 16, 2019
The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) at ACL has awarded a number of grants to support research towards advancing employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Below are highlights of some of the various projects set to begin:
- Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Employment of People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities -- Awarded to the Virginia Commonwealth University ($875,000 a year, for a period of five years) for establishing this RRTC in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Vanderbilt University, and Kent State University. The cornerstone of this RRTC will be a series of six studies that examine the critical variables that have the potential to improve competitive integrated employment (CIE) outcomes for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), including how: 1) a major corporation implements a demand side approach to hiring workers with I/DD; 2) young adults from minorities with I/DD acquire technology skills to enable them to access careers in IT fields; 3) college students with Autism Spectrum Disorder can use cognitive technology to impact their academic and employment outcomes; 4) parent intervention impacts parent expectations and their sons and daughters CIE outcomes; and 5) training employment specialists using a competency based curriculum can improve CIE outcomes.
- Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Employment of Transition-Age Youth with Disabilities -- Awarded to the Virginia Commonwealth University ($875,000 a year, for a period of five years) for establishing this RRTC in partnership with the Vanderbilt University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Kent State University. The RRTC will conduct six studies to generate evidence-based interventions to assist youth to enter competitive integrated employment: 1) a systematic review of the literature to assess and organize the relevant research to inform their work; 2) a pilot study of an intervention on effective knowledge translation methods for counselors working with students with significant disabilities ages 14-16; 3) a randomized control trial to study the effects of paid internships for at-risk youth with disabilities prior to graduation; 4) a randomized control trial to examine the effects of technology for college students with traumatic brain injury and develop an intervention on the effects of paid work in high school of youth with severe disabilities; 5) a randomized control trial on the effects of paid work in high school for youth with severe disabilities; and 6) an intervention on the effects of an online course and subsequent technical assistance for postsecondary staff providing employment supports for college students with I/DD.
- Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Improving Employment Outcomes for People with Psychiatric Disabilities -- The Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Boston University ($875,000 a year, for a period of five years) with a network of collaborators will conduct a coordinated program of research and knowledge translation projects and activities that build on the existing evidence-based supported employment (IPS) and improve employment outcomes for individuals with psychiatric disabilities. Research will include a qualitative study of the barriers and facilitators to access IPS, a categorization of provider-generated adaptations of IPS, examination of performance-based incentives for IPS specialists and their effects, testing an intervention of self-management strategies for workplace success, developing and testing an innovative metacognitive intervention to improve work outcomes, and testing an intervention that integrates career guidance and supported education to improve employment outcomes.
Within ACL, NIDILRR works to generate new knowledge and promote its effective use to improve the abilities of individuals with disabilities to perform activities of their choice in the community; and to expand society's capacity to provide full opportunities and accommodations for people with disabilities. NIDILRR conducts its work through grants that support research and development.