Labor Force Participation and Income of Individuals with Disabilities in Sheltered and Competitive Employment: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses of Seven States During the 1980s and 1990s
Labor Force Participation and Income of Individuals with Disabilities in Sheltered and Competitive Employment: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses of Seven States During the 1980s and 1990s
Peter Blanck
Helen A. Schartz
Kevin M. Schartz
PETER BLANCK, HELEN A. SCHARTZ & KEVIN
M. SCHARTZ*
The purpose of this investigation was to examine the labor force
participation and wages of individuals with disabilities who have
transitioned from facility-based (i.e., sheltered) work to employment
in integrated and competitive settings. The investigators had access
to data from seven states on the labor force participation and wages
of more than 3000 individuals with disabilities who have moved
from
institutional to community placements over the past two
decades.
* Direct correspondence to Peter Blanck, Law, Health Policy &Disability Center (LHPDC),
The University of Iowa, 431 Boyd Law Building, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1113, USA; e-mail:
. Dr. Blanck, Ph.D., J.D., is the Charles M. and Marion Kierscht
Professor of Law and Director of the LHPDC. Dr. Helen Schartz, Ph.D., J.D., and Dr. Kevin
Schartz, Ph.D., M.C.S. are Research Scientists at the LHPDC.
The views herein reflect only those of the authors and not of any funding agency. This
research was funded in part by: The President's Task Force on Employment of Adults with
Disabilities; U.S. Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and
Rehabilitation Research, Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Workforce
Investment and Employment Policy for Persons with Disabilities, Grant No.
H133B98004299; The Great Plain ADA and IT Center; and The University of Iowa College of Law
Foundation. For related projects, see the LHPDC web site at httpJ/www.its.uiowa.edu/law.
The data for the present analyses were provided by James Conroy, Center for Outcome
Analysis. Dr. Conroy and Amanda Fullerton provided invaluable assistance with regard to
the development of the data sets. For their helpful comments, we also thank Lisa Clay,
Michael Morris, James Schmeling, and Robert Silverstein. An earlier version of this Article
was presented as a report to The President's Task Force on Employment of Adults with
Disabilities, December, 2001. See http'//www. dol.gov/_sec/programs/ptfead.
Among the findings: the majority of individuals in these
geographically diverse samples were unemployed over time;
sheltered employment prepared some individuals for entry into
employment in integrated settings and resulted in substantial gains
in earned income and reported higher levels of daily living skills.
However, the daily life functioning of many individuals who
remained in sheltered employment was comparable to that of those
who transitioned to integrated employment. Avenues for future
research, and legal and policy analysis are discussed.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONCLUSION . .......................................
A. Core Findings ..................................
B. EmergingIssues and FutureResearch ..............
C. Closing .......................................
METHODOLOGICAL APPENDIX ..........................
A. DataDescription................................
B. PreliminaryAnalyses ............................
C. LongitudinalAnalyses ...........................
D. Wage Analyses .................................
E. RegressionAnalyses .............................
INTRODUCTION
A remarkable shift has occurred in the area of disability
employment policy and law. In contrast to prior models of charity,
compensation, and medical oversight, contemporary employment
policies focus on increasing the labor force participation of qualified
persons with disabilities and reducing their dependence on
governmental entitlement programs. The modern disability civil
rights model, as reflected in the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 (ADA), is aimed at increasing the labor force participation of
qualified working age adults with disabilities and preventing
discrimination in the workplace.1
Despite the dramatic change in perspective toward disability civil
rights, there is little empirical information documenting the work
lives of Americans with disabilities and their segregation from or
entry into the contemporary workforce. Of course, this information
is necessary for policymakers, courts, and persons with disabilities
to assess whether the new disability employment policies are
effective. In addition, a more complete perspective is gained when
information is gathered from a variety of sources.
The purpose ofthe present investigation is to examine one aspect
of disability and employment policy: labor force participation and
wages of a large sample of individuals with disabilities who have
transitioned from facility-based (i.e., sheltered) work to employment
in integrated and competitive settings.
The investigators had access to data from seven states on the
labor force participation and wages of more than 3000 individuals
with disabilities who have moved from i (...truncated)