This open book presents models for evaluating the efficacy of vocational rehabilitation (VR) service receipts and, using these VR-ROI models, analyses their effect on the employment and earnings of individuals with disabilities receiving VR services. Focusing on applicants during Program Year 2012 (and spanning 2007-2012 for individuals who are blind or visually impaired), we use longitudinal quarterly employment and earnings data to estimate and assess the impacts of vocational rehabilitation services across five states: Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. For the first time, the VR-ROI model is used to simultaneously compare short- and long-term labor market outcomes across multiple state agencies and four distinct disability groups: mental illness (MI), physical impairment (PI), cognitive impairment (CI), and blindness and visual impairment (BVI).  For each disability group, the book provides information about the return on investment (ROI), as measured by the rate of return, for VR services considering their impacts on labor market outcomes relative to the costs of service provision. It also offers insights into how VR services have worked across different settings and client populations and provides lessons that remain relevant for stakeholders today.  By offering this broad and in-depth evaluation in concert with intuitive explanations of the model and the estimation methodology, the book helps to bridge the gap between research and practice and to equip stakeholders with data-driven insights to enhance vocational rehabilitation programs for individuals with disabilities.

Featuring conceptual and graphical explanations backed by appendices with detailed mathematical modelling and estimation tools that can be utilized by various organizations and researchers, this book demonstrates ways in which vocational rehabilitation service practitioners and administrators can perform evaluations of vocational rehabilitation services.

This is an open access book.