Vocational Rehabilitation Services for Hispanic Individuals With Disabilities: Strengths, Challenges, and Opportunities

Abstract

Hispanics represented 18.1% of the United States population in 2017. Several factors, such as language and cultural barriers, lack of access to preventative care, and limited health resources, can impact health among Hispanics (U.S. Department of Human and Health Services Office of Minority Health, 2019). Although employment is central to physical and psychological health and well-being, unemployment rates among people with disabilities still remain lower compared to the general population (Chan et al., 2016; O’Neill et al., 2017). Regarding the unemployment rate among people with disabilities across various racial/ethnic groups, Hispanics had an unemployment rate of 8.6% compared to Blacks (11.8%), Asians (6.7%), and Whites (6.6%) in 2019 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020). Hispanics with disabilities may face challenges in employment and VR associated with their dual-minority status. This scoping review addresses this population to gain a deeper insight into Hispanics with disabilities’ VR experiences to guide vocational rehabilitation practitioners in improving outreach efforts and enhancing VR service provision and quality, to better serve the Hispanic disability community.