The role of community rehabilitation providers in employment for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities: results of the 2010-2011 National Survey.

Daria and her team mailed a survey to every community rehab provider in the United States. They asked who was served, what jobs they held, and which services they got. More than 550 agencies replied, covering the adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

The survey painted a national picture of day and work services in 2010-2011.

Only 15 out of every 100 people with IDD worked a real job in the community. Another 19 percent got some job help, but most still spent their days in sheltered workshops or non-work day programs.

These numbers had barely moved since the last count eight years earlier.

Wehman et al. (2014) looked at the same IDD group and found a way forward. When states used supported employment, young people landed competitive jobs at much higher rates. The survey shows the problem; the later study shows the fix.

Fedoroff et al. (2016) pushed further. Every adult with autism in their project kept a community job after customized placement and fading support. Again, the survey tells us where we are; the case series tells us what works.

Wilson et al. (2023) tested customized employment in high-school students with IDD. Students who got the model gained independence in work, home, and self-advocacy skills. The survey shows the gap; the new study shows the gain.

Your caseload mirrors these numbers. If you write adult goals, push for individual placement, not group crews. Use the supported or customized models that later studies prove. One shift in the ITP can move a client from the 85 percent bench to the 15 percent who work.