Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors’ Perspectives on Rehabilitation Success

Abstract

Vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies often encounter challenges to help persons with disabilities successfully attain their employment goals. This study was conducted to understand how VR counselors define “success” and what practices they deem to be most successful. Ninety-one VR counselors from a Midwestern state were asked to write about a typically successful case from their caseload. Participants were asked to describe the demographic characteristics of the counseling recipient, the rehabilitation goals, whether the consumer received support from family and/or community members, the counseling outcomes, services provided, and best practices that could lead to positive outcomes. Case summaries were content analyzed to identify how “success” is defined by VR counselors. Findings revealed that 74% of the cases were related to a successful employment outcome, 30% to an educational outcome, and 33% to an independent living outcome. Several best practices for serving VR customers were identified. Counselors have clear perceptions about their successful clients, and they may use those perceptions when engaging with their clients. Implications for VR service provision are discussed.