The importance of job functions and knowledge domains to the practice of disability management was examined by systematically obtaining the opinions of a panel of 44 recognized experts in disability management. As proposed by Habeck and Kirchner (1999), disability management was conceptualized at two levels of practice. Level I (DM) was defined as administrative and managerial in nature, with an organizational focus. Level II (dm) was conceptualized as human-service oriented, involving the direct provision of services to individual clients. The results indicated that many functions and knowledge domains that appear to be generally important to disability management practice, while others appear to have greater or lesser salience depending on whether services are focused at the organizational or individual level of intervention.

From its inception, the public vocational rehabilitation program has focused on efforts to assist Americans with physical and mental disabilities, through a variety of services, to become gainfully employed and self-reliant. This article describes a study in which the rehabilitation outcomes (i.e., closure status & weekly earnings) of persons with mental retardation were analyzed. Six predictor variables were used to predict one dichotomous and one continuous criterion variable: closure status and weekly earnings. Results are presented for each criterion variable, and the implications of the findings for service and research are discussed.

No abstract