The ICI’s State Systems Team Received a New Grant to Work with Arizona Rehabilitation Services

Dr. Jean Winsor, ICI Senior Research Associate, received a 1-year, $90,000 grant from the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council to conduct a comprehensive review and analysis of Arizona’s Rehabilitation Services (ARS) vocational rehabilitation services for youth with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD). ICI State Systems and Employment team members Jean Winsor, Oliver Lyons, John Shepard, and Allison Hall will work to assess the strengths and barriers of their services that help transition-age youth with I/DD achieve successful employment.

The project will review and analyze data to address racial, disability, and language inequities in vocational rehabilitation (VR) youth services. The team will determine the impact of services on youth and make recommendations to stakeholders in Arizona that consider the following:

• How well does Arizona’s VR program help transition-age youth (ages 14–24) with I/DD reach their employment goals?

• What are the key strengths and barriers to achieving successful outcomes for Arizona’s VR program?

• Do inequities exist in employment outcomes by disability type, spoken language, race, and ethnicity? If so, what is the nature of the inequities and why do they exist?

• Are there specific services that move youth toward a path that led to successful outcomes? Are certain services more impactful than others? Are service trends emerging? Are there true success markers?

• What is not working well within the Arizona VR system? Are there services that are not producing positive impacts?

• What measures can demonstrate successful employment outcomes for transition-age youth with disabilities?

The team will produce a final report with their findings at the end of the grant period. Congratulations, Dr. Jean Winsor and the State Systems and Employment team!