Getting and Keeping a Job if You Have an Intellectual and Developmental Disability

What help is available for a person with a disability who has had trouble getting a job or keeping a job? Most states have 3 different agencies or organizations that people with disabilities can go to to find help. The first is the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. Different states have different names for Vocational Rehabilitation. It might be the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation or the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation Services or the Department of Aging and Vocational Rehabilitation Services.
JVR Editorial by Paul Wehman, Ph.D

Supported employment and customized employment: How effective are these interventions and what has been their impact on the field? In the last 20 years, Customized Employment (CE) has joined Supported Employment (SE) which has its roots traced back to approximately 1980, as a popular employment intervention. SE became codified originally in the Rehabilitation Act of 1986 through Title 6 C, dedicated exclusively to funding SE, along with the primary source of all rehabilitation funding, Title 110, for basic employment services. CE began to receive much more attention when the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (2014) was passed by Congress and CE was codified along with SE and numerous other priorities.
Supported & Customized Employment: Side by Side Referral Decision Guide

For vocational rehabilitation agencies offering both supported and customized employment approaches to pursuing employment for people with disabilities, there may be questions about which approach is best based on an individual’s circumstances. This new Supported and Customized Employment Side-by-Side Referral Decision Guide can help determine how to choose between these two approaches.
VR Map & Policies

This map shows the policies and procedures for self-employment services for individuals with disabilities from each state VR.
Self-Employment Policy Paper

The Center on Self-Employment researched and summarized self-employment policies for the 50 States plus the District of Columbia. In total, 73 State VR Agencies were included in this research: 29 Combined VR Agencies, 22 General VR Agencies, and 22 Blind VR Agencies.
This paper represents the background and impetus behind the policy review, summarizes the findings, and offers initial considerations and recommendations for state VR policymakers. The report identified four key opportunities that VR agencies can pursue to increase equitable access to self-employment services.