Implementation and Challenge of Supported Employment for People With Disabilities in China.

Yan and team talked to 32 people running disability job programs in three Chinese cities.

They asked how the programs started, who pays, and what makes the work hard.

Most programs were tiny NGOs funded by local disability federations.

Without national rules or steady money, each NGO survives month to month.

Staff train workers, find jobs, and coach on site, but can only serve a handful at a time.

One city lost its program when the local grant ended; staff moved to other jobs.

Rogan et al. (2011) showed US agencies moved from sheltered to integrated work after federal "Employment First" policy gave clear direction and funds. China still lacks that top-down push.

Emerson et al. (2023) listed seven state-level coordination steps that lifted US employment rates. Yan’s picture of scattered NGOs shows China has none of those steps yet.

McCabe (2013) found China’s autism services grew "feeling stones to cross the river"—fast, isolated, and light on evidence. Yan sees the same pattern now in adult job services.

If you write grants or train staff overseas, press for national policy, not just pilot sites. Share the US blueprints from Patricia et al. and E et al. with Chinese partners. Stress stable funding lines and inter-agency data sharing. Without these levers, even the best local NGO will stay small and fragile.