The Employment Emphasis in NIDRR's Proposed Long-Range Plan

In the Notice of Proposed Long-Range Plan for Fiscal Years 1999-2004 (Federal Register, 1998b) NIDRR provides a vision for research activities in the next five years. This Long-Range Plan is based on a "New Paradigm of Disability" where disability lies not solely with the person's physical/mental status or limitations but with: "an interaction between characteristics (e.g. conditions or impairments, functional status, or personal and social qualities) of the individual and characteristics of the natural, built, cultural, and social environments. The construct of disability is located on a continuum from enablement to disablement. Personal characteristics, as well as environmental ones, may be enabling or disabling, and the relative degree fluctuates, depending on condition, time and setting." (p. 57192) Consistent with the "New Paradigm" is NIDRR's purpose in supporting employment research to:

1. Assess the impact of economic policy and labor market trends on the employment outcomes of persons with disabilities;
2. Improve the effectiveness of community-based employment service programs;
3. Improve the effectiveness of State employment service systems;
4. Evaluate the contribution of business practices and workplace supports to the employment outcomes of persons with disabilities; and
5. Improve school-to-work transition outcomes. (p. 57201)

Future NIDRR-funded employment research will depart from a previous emphasis on specific disabilities, service systems and service quality to focus on labor market, environmental, and economic issues that impact the employment of people with disabilities. This research focus will address:

• Labor market issues including "SSA reform; restructured funding and payment mechanisms, including the use of vouchers; the impact of workforce consolidation; radical restructuring of employment training services at State and local levels; employment-related needs of unserved and underserved groups; linkage of health insurance to either jobs or benefit programs; and transition from school to work among youth with disabilities." (p. 57200);
• Environmental concerns by investigating individual workplace supports that make work more accessible through designing and adapting built environments, material adaptations, human supports (employment specialist and coworker supports), and through strategies for assisting individuals in acquiring work skills and improved job flexibility; and
• Economic issues through research on a variety of business and employee incentive plans, labor force projections and analyses, and analyses of business practices, business roles and perspectives, and motivational systems.
  

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NIDRR Project Number: H133A990008
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