African American Youth's Vocational Rehabilitation Outcomes: Examining Service Characteristics

African American (AA) youth with disabilities face significant challenges as they transition to adulthood. Currently, as a group, post-secondary education, employment, and living independently outcomes remain poor. As of 2021, only a quarter of African Americans with disabilities were employed (U.S. Department of Labor, n.d. ). Without the proper connections, and pre-employment transition services, African American youth with disabilities and their families struggle to find adequate support to help meet their post-school outcomes. State vocational rehabilitation (VR) departments are among the top collaborators of transition services and funding for youth with disabilities. The current qualitative investigation explored the experiences of four urban and eight suburban youth with disabilities and their families related to transition services provided by VR. Results indicate that young adults are not accessing available accommodations or completing their programs in post-secondary institutions. Also, youth were gainfully employed in entry-level jobs and did not access many adult services. Implications for collaboration between districts, families, and VR are offered. Suggestions for practice and future research are also provided.