Technical Assistance on a National Scale

Issue title: Professional Development of Rehabilitation Personnel

Subtitle: Efforts to Improve and Expand Supported Employment

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Mank, David | Buckley, Jay | Green, J. Howard | VanCovern, Deborah L. | Revell, W. Grant

Affiliations: University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon | Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia

Abstract: The National initiative for supported employment has used a number of systems change strategies to increase the availability of integrated employment with long-term support for people with severe disabilities. Technical assistance is one strategy for promoting change that has been used within states and on a national scale. This article discusses the role of technical assistance within the larger context of promoting systems change. Features that contribute to valued technical assistance are discussed in jive areas. In addition, this article defines a process for planning, providing, and evaluating technical assistance. Issues about the role of technical assistance projects are discussed in terms of principles of quality improvement and the difficulty of assessing the true impact of technical assistance.

DOI: 10.3233/JVR-1992-2407

Journal: Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 35-44, 1992