The State of State Vocational Evaluators: A National Study

摘要

Vocational evaluation (VE) as a profession has evolved over time. Although studies have examined the roles and functions of vocational evaluators, there is a need to identify current VE employment practices in state vocational rehabilitation (VR) programs. This paper reports a survey administered to a purposeful sample of 63 respondents representing general, blind, or combined state VR programs in the United States. The 32-item survey collected data on job titles; the number of positions currently available; entry level requirements for employment; career ladder opportunities (both horizontal and vertical); starting and ending salaries; geographic assignments; DOL exemption status; and vocational evaluator responsibilities, including report writing production and components, and tool utilization. This study provides benchmarks for the VE profession that include the ways in which VR programs provide VE services, the number of vocational evaluators employed by VR programs, a comparison of employment conditions of vocational evaluators and rehabilitation counselors, and other employment conditions unique to VE.