How youth with disabilities transition to higher education, work and community living

To inform policy and identify best practices in helping high school students with disabilities successfully go to college and get good jobs, Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations' (ILR) Employment and Disability Institute (EDI) will partner with New York state on a five-year, $5.1 million research study.

The study, funded by the New York State Education Department's Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID), will examine how 60 rural, suburban and metropolitan high schools across the state serve youth with disabilities as they transition to higher education, work and community living.

The study also will evaluate how these schools collaborate with rehabilitation providers, assisted living facilities and other community agencies to support transitions. VESID is providing funding to these schools through its Model Transition Project to help stimulate school-agency collaborations and provide more school-to-work transition services.

"Too many youth with disabilities are not accessing the vocational rehabilitation system before they leave high school, because they don't often see the benefits, or they are getting into the system too late, which negatively affects their success," says David Brewer, a Cornell senior extension associate and the EDI program leader for the study. "We expect our research findings to address these concerns and ultimately help increase their options for employment and secondary education, and help turn around the high rate of unemployment that people with disabilities experience."

The study is the result of a 16-year relationship with the State Education Department, Brewer says, and builds on past disability-related work that the ILR School has conducted. He says the state selected Cornell because it is uniquely positioned to do this kind of study.

EDI offers research, continuing education and consulting to companies, labor organizations, government agencies, schools and communities throughout the world to accommodate and integrate individuals with disabilities. For more information, see http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/edi/