This study determined the characteristics of employers who are open to hiring and supporting people with disabilities. The purpose was to help rehabilitation professionals better target their placement and educational activities. Using a grounded theory qualitative approach, the researchers conducted focus groups and interviews with employers, employed persons with disabilities, and experienced rehabilitation placement professionals. The results indicated that 13 specific characteristics, organized into three major categories, are found among employers who are open to hiring and accommodating persons with disabilities. The three major categories were work cultural issues, job match, and employer experience and support.

The authors investigated the experiences of counseling students on a 1‐week cultural immersion trip to New Mexico. Students' journals were analyzed, using the open coding procedure from grounded theory. Five major categories emerged that reflected students' internal reactions to the experience. The findings and their instructional implications are discussed. Los autores investigaron las experiencias de un grupo de estudiantes de consejería durante un viaje de inmersión cultural a Nuevo México de 1 semana. Se analizaron los diarios de los estudiantes, usando el procedimiento de codificación abierta de la teoría entrañada (grounded theory). Destacaron 5 categorías principales que reflejaban las reacciones internas de los estudiantes a la experiencia. Se discuten los resultados y sus implicaciones instructivas.

This study describes a series of focus groups conducted with employers. A series of 10 focus groups was conducted in 10 different communities in a midwestern state, with small, medium, and large communities represented. A total of 67 participants, representing human resources offices and direct supervisors, responded to questions regarding problems they faced in recruiting, selecting, training, accommodating, and promoting workers. Follow-up questions asked how the diversity and disability of job seekers affected these problems. Responses yielded several themes regarding their view of these problems, offering a frame from within which rehabilitation providers can better understand the issues facing employers. Fundamental to employers' concerns were the risks they took and the nature of the labor market that contributed to those risks.

This study explored the degree and type of childhood trauma experienced before the age of 18 years reported by prison inmates. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) instrument was administered to 328 incarcerated and/or recently released individuals. Participants included women, males convicted of sex offenses, and males convicted of low-risk crimes. The majority of respondents reported levels of childhood trauma substantially above that reported in the general population. Women and males convicted of sex offenses reported the highest degree of trauma. The discussion addresses how rehabilitation counselors can collaborate with others in the counseling profession for earlier identification of individuals who may be experiencing or have experienced childhood trauma and promote better trauma-informed transition services to postsecondary education and employment and reduce levels of incarceration.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test an instrument that measures the quality of job placements of State-Federal Vocational Rehabilitation program consumers. A four part operational definition of quality placement was developed that included: (1) income and satisfaction with salary; (2) benefits provided, and consumer satisfaction with benefits; (3) potential for training opportunities and career development; and (4) satisfaction with job and personal life after placement. The “Rehabilitation Success Survey” was developed by a panel of rehabilitation professionals and consumers to measure these 4 components of placement quality. The instrument was piloted in one state, revised, and then administered in a second state. Results indicated that broadening the definition of successful placement beyond status code 26 closure, provides a more comprehensive picture of the impact of employment and rehabilitation services on consumers' lives.