Supported Employment - Publications and Reports
Understanding Social and Professional Integration as an Adjustment Process: Contribution to a Theory of Coadaptation (2007), by Suzanne Carrier, seeks to understand how the social integration process in the workplace unfolds with adults who have intellectual disabilities. The study led to the emergence of a theory of coadaptation, a process that defines and builds social and professional integration. The full text of the article is available for a fee from the American Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
Rights of People with Intellectual Disabilities: Access to Education and Employment (2006), produced by OSI's EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP) and MHI, is a series of 14 country reports on the rights of people with intellectual disabilities in Europe, focusing on education and employment. The reports monitor the degree to which existing international standards and national legislation are heeded and applied. Each report includes specific policy recommendations targeting both domestic and international decision-makers.
Access to Education and Employment for People with Intellectual Disabilities: An Overview of the Situation in Central and Eastern Europe (2006) is MHI's overview paper based on information from the above monitoring reports on access to education and employment for people with intellectual disabilities.
The 10 minute film "I Want to Work and I Can Work!" highlights the need for supported employment for people with intellectual disabilities. Created by Pentru Voi Foundation in Timisoara, Romania with the financial support of the Open Society Mental Health Initiative and in collaboration with Teleuniversitatea - The Television of the Polytechnic University Timisoara, the 10 minute film demonstrates the need, ability, and desire of people with intellectual disabilities to undertake meaningful employment. Four workers are interviewed for the film, and each person explains why it is important to have a job.
The Best 4 Ways to Recruit Employees with Disabilities (2006), an article from DiversityInc magazine, highlights partnerships, human-resources training, using employee-resource groups, and using government organizations and job boards as effective tools for recruiting employees with disabilities in mainstream workplaces.
Use of the Supports Intensity Scale with Individuals with Asperger's Syndrome Results in Successful Summer Job Placements (2006), from the SIS Website news, describes how the use of the Supports Intensity Scale with 40 individuals ages 16-21 with Asperger's syndrome resulted in a dramatic decrease in support needs in the areas of employability and social skills after the 8-week duration of the program.
Sickness, Disability and Work: Breaking the Barriers (Vol. 1) - Norway, Poland and Switzerland (2006), an OECD report, argues that, while health is improving, more people of working age are out of the workforce relying on long-term sickness and disability benefits. The report explores the possible factors behind this situation and offers recommendations for reform.
How Do Persons With Intellectual Disability Manage In The Open Labour Markets? A Follow-Up of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (2005), by A. Taanila, P. Rantakallio, M. Koiranen, L. von Wendt, & M.-R. Järvelin. The aim was to study how many of the individuals with intellectual disability in an age cohort in Northern Finland were not receiving a disability pension by the age of 34 years and what their life situation was like in terms of employment, education and morbidity. The article is available for a fee from the Journal of Intellectual Disability Research.
Workplace Culture Analysis Where People With Intellectual Disabilities Work: A Case Study Approach (2005), by Rose Fillary and Regina Pernice explores the potential of using Hagner's (2000) Workplace Culture Survey to identify inclusive characteristics of eight New Zealand workplaces where people with intellectual disability were employed. Research results indicated that four workplaces had a strong workplace culture, and researchers concluded that the use of Hagner's Workplace Culture Survey is helpful in identifying inclusive workplaces and inclusion levels of both workers with intellectual disability and co-workers. The article was published in the Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability. The abstract is available free of charge.
The European Commission's working paper on Disability Mainstreaming in the European Employment Strategy (2005) underlines the importance of member states addressing, in the context of the revised European Employment Strategy, the specific impediments faced by people with disabilities in labor market participation. The working paper also presents best practices that have been developed by member states in this area, often with the financial support of the European Social Fund or the Community Initiative EQUAL. To read a discussion paper on disability mainstreaming in the European Employment Strategy (2005), please click here. To read the discussion paper in Easy to Read, please click here.
Serving Up Skills (2005), by Mary Radigan of Grand Rapids Press, highlights the Goodwill Industries' Hospitality Food Service program, a program that offers job training to people with disabilities or other barriers to employment. The article is available on http://www.bridges4kids.org/.
Fighting for our Rights: Using Non-Discrimination Law to Protect People with Disabilities (2004) is Inclusion Europe's report on the transposition of Council Directive 2000/78/EC on Establishing a General Framework for Equal Treatment in Employment and Occupation. (To view an Easy-to-Read version of Council Directive 2000/78/EC, please click here.) The report includes a version in Easy-to-Read and a version in standard English. The Directive is attached at the end.
Employing People with Learning Disabilities: A Handbook for Employers (2004), by Susan Hemmings and Jenny Morris, is a guide based on the experiences of employers who have successfully employed people with intellectual disabilities in the United Kingdom.
Health and Safety at Work for People with Disabilities (2004) from ONCE provides an overview of the integration of people with disabilities into the labor market, and of issues relating to the occupational health and safety of people with disabilities.
In Their Own Words: Employer Perspectives on Youth with Disabilities in the Workplace (2004), edited by Richard Luecking, TransCen, Inc., and made available on the website of the U.S. National Center on Secondary Education and Transition, is a collection of writing from employers who have successfully hired, supported, and integrated into the work environment young people with disabilities.
Lisa Waddington's Implementing and Interpreting the Reasonable Accommodation Provision of the Framework Employment Directive: Learning from experience and achieving best practice (2004) analyzes the legal concept of reasonable accommodation under European Union law.
The European Commission's Country Reports by Independent Legal Experts on the Implementation of Anti-Discrimination Laws (2004) provide an overview of anti-discrimination laws covering disability and employment in European Union member states.
The Right to Decent Work of Persons with Disabilities (2003) is an International Labour Organization-commissioned paper written in preparation for the development of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The paper was intended to be of specific relevance to those involved in drafting the provisions concerning employment and work in the Convention.
Hungary: Job Placement That Works (2003), by Judit Szakacs. Hungary's NGOs show that by offering active support, finding work for people with intellectual disabilities is possible. This article is one in a series commissioned and published by Transitions Online (TOL) and MHI.
Poland: Slow and Unsure (2003), by Inessa Kim. The government could ease the strain on its budget by easing the integration of the disabled into the workplace. This article is one in a series commissioned and published by Transitions Online (TOL) and MHI.
Illness, Disability and Social Inclusion (2003), from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, examines how to achieve the social inclusion of people with chronic physical or mental illness and disability. The report identifies policy initiatives in employment, education, housing, transport, and other areas which facilitate social and economic integration. It concludes with concrete proposals for future action in this domain.
Mencap's WorkRight brochure (2008) provides information about a scheme which supports people with a learning disability into genuine work opportunities with national UK employers.
Integrating Service Systems at the Point of Transition for Youth with Significant Disabilities: A Model that Works (2002), by Richard G. Luecking and Nicholas J. Certo, and made available on the website of the U.S. National Center on Secondary Education and Transition, discusses how various services can work together successfully in assisting young people with disabilities in their transition out of secondary school.
Inclusion Europe's Position Paper on Inclusive Employment (2001) puts forth the view that all adults, irrespective of their level of intellectual disability, have gifts and capacities and should be afforded the opportunity to participate in real employment in the open labor market.
The Employment Situation of People with Disabilities in the European Union (2001), a study prepared by EIM Business and Policy Research for the European Commission's DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, provides general information on people with disabilities in the EU, discusses the labor market position of people with disabilities, and offers recommendations.
Integrating Women and Girls with Disabilities into Mainstream Vocational Training: A Practical Guide (1999) by Foo Gaik Sim for the International Labour Organization was developed as an ILO contribution to implementing the Agenda for Action of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002. The guide is intended for vocational training institutes; it discusses the main issues relating to the seriously disadvantaged position of women with disabilities and provides basic information about disability. It suggests practical actions to increase the enrolment, participation, and integration of women with disabilities into training programs.
Employment, Equality, and Gender (1990), by Rannveig Traustadottir, addresses the specific employment barriers facing women with disabilities, demonstrating their unequal access to rehabilitation services, employment, and benefits by comparing them to non-disabled women and men with disabilities. The article is available on the website of the Center on Human Policy, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA.
In From Sheltered Workshops to Supported Employment (1988), Michael J. Kennedy, Self-Advocacy Coordinator at the Center on Human Policy, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA, speaks about the value of supported employment.
Zana Marie Lutfyia, Pat Rogan and Bonnie Shoulz's Supported Employment: A conceptual overview (1988) provides an overview of the principles and practices of supported employment. The article is available on the website of the Center on Human Policy, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA.
The Job Accommodation Network's publication, Accommodations for People with Mental Retardation or Other Developmental Disabilities, provides specific examples of accommodations available for people with intellectual disabilities under US disability and labor laws.
The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's publication, Questions & Answers About Persons with Intellectual Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act, provides examples of types of accommodations available for people with intellectual disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Susan Hemmings and Jenny Morris' Employing People with Learning Disabilities (2004) is a detailed, step-by-step guide to the process of employing people with intellectual disabilities.
Paul Wehman and John Bricout's Supported Employment: Critical issues and new directions looks at the more sensitive areas of supported employment and proposes solutions.
Supported Employment Quality Indicators (2000) produced by the Association for Persons in Supported Employment (APSE), represents an effort by APSE to articulate quality indicators of individualized and integrated Supported Employment. The quality indicators were designed to complement APSE's Ethical Guidelines for Professionals in Supported Employment.