Vocational Fit Assessment and Employment Status in People with Intellectual Disabilities

从青春期到成年期的过渡和就业对8名儿童来说是一个巨大的挑战 数以百万计的美国智障人士。高达85%的身份证(PWID)患者面临失业，因为 成年人，尽管通过各种地方、州和联邦机制获得支持服务。一位批评者 我们在恰当和准确地评估和预测个人与个人之间的最佳匹配方面存在局限性 技能和兴趣、工作要求和活动。既能为就业提供信息的有效且可靠的方法 需要服务和预测问题，以确定支持目标、防止失业和保持PWID的使用。 我们开发了职业适合度评估(VFA)，以提供准确的、以人为本的衡量标准 与工作相关的兴趣和适应行为(Persch，2015)。VFA包括：(1)VFA-Worker和 VFA-工作，分别用于评估工人的能力和工作需求，使用共同的项目 需求和能力转换算法，将VFA数据进行转换以供分析和临床使用 行动；以及(3)工作匹配报告，它通过确定利弊来可视化职业匹配的“vocFit” 每个潜在的工作匹配和适合干预的需要领域(例如，工作培训， 住宿、改建)。利益相关者(如PWID、家长、提供者、雇主)参与 以定制就业为中心的共享决策过程可以使用VFA数据来指导干预， 针对潜在问题，监控对干预措施的反应。 我们的长期目标是改善残疾人士的就业情况。这个项目的总体目标是， 这是实现我们长期目标的下一步，是量化可靠性、效度、响应性和 不同特殊教育和职业康复环境中PWID患者的VFA的临床应用。我们会 通过追求以下具体目标来实现这一目标：具体目标1：量化职业匹配 在向就业过渡的过程中评估PWID的可靠性和有效性。具体目标2： 确定职业适宜性评估的响应性。具体目标3：评估职业适合性 评估临床实用性。 我们将利用混合方法来实现这些目标。一项综合评估 将管理电池(CAB)，包括VFA、标准雇佣措施和代理措施 通过采访参与者PWID(n=360)和熟悉他们的人(即可靠的记者) 3次(基线、12个月后和24个月后)。VFA的心理测量学评价 随后将进行因子分析、Rasch分析和多变量多水平增长曲线建模。 将使用CAB数据、访谈以及残疾人和就业专家的焦点小组来定义 有意义的锚。该方法能够使用锚点和 在多种情况下与VFA的管理相结合时，采用基于分发的方法。

The transition from adolescence to adulthood and employment is a significant challenge for the 8 million Americans living with intellectual disabilities. Up to 85% of people with ID (PwID) face unemployment as adults despite receiving support services through a variety of local, state, and federal mechanisms. A critical limitation exists in our ability to appropriately and accurately assess and predict the best fit between individuals' skills and interests and job demands and activities. A valid and reliable method that both informs employment services and predicts problems is needed to target supports, preventing job loss, and keeping PwID employed. We developed the Vocational Fit Assessment (VFA), to provide accurate, person-centered measures of work-related interests and adaptive behavior (Persch, 2015). The VFA consists of the: (1) VFA-Worker and VFA-Job, which are used to assess workers' abilities and job demands, respectively, using common item stems; (2) Demands & Abilities Transforming Algorithm, which transforms VFA data for analysis and clinical action; and (3) Job Matching Reports, which visualizes vocational fit “VocFit” by identifying the pros and cons of each potential job match and areas of need that are suitable for intervention (e.g., job training, accommodations, modifications). Stakeholders (e.g., PwID, parents, providers, employers) engaged in the shared decision-making process central to customized employment may use VFA data to guide intervention, target potential problems, and monitor response to intervention. Our long-term goal is to improve employment outcomes for PwID. The overall objective of this project, which is the next step to achieve our long-term goal, is to quantify the reliability, validity, responsiveness, and clinical utility of the VFA with PwID in diverse special education and vocational rehabilitation settings. We will accomplish this objective by pursuing the following specific aims: Specific Aim 1: Quantify Vocational Fit Assessment reliability and validity in the context of PwID in transition to employment. Specific Aim 2: Determine Vocational Fit Assessment responsiveness. Specific Aim 3: Evaluate Vocational Fit Assessment clinical utility. We will utilize mixed-methods approaches to achieve these aims. A Comprehensive Assessment Battery (CAB) including the VFA, criterion employment measures, and proxy measures will be administered through an interview with the participant PwID (n=360) and those who know them well (i.e., reliable reporters) on 3 occasions (baseline, after 12 months, and after 24 months). Psychometric evaluation of the VFA using factor analysis, Rasch analysis, and multivariate multilevel growth curve modeling will follow data collection. The CAB data, interviews, and focus groups with disability and employment experts will be used to define meaningful anchors. This approach enables evaluation of VFA responsiveness to change using anchor and distribution-based methods when combined with administration of the VFA on multiple occasions.