Unraveling the factors influencing engagement in vocational rehabilitation services among transition-age Hispanic youth: An exploratory study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Prior research has investigated the engagement process of vocational rehabilitation (VR) consumers yet limited understanding about transition-age Hispanic youth VR consumers remains. OBJECTIVE: This exploratory cross-sectional study evaluated the factors predicting VR engagement among transition-age Hispanic youth with disabilities who have received pre-employment transition services (pre-ETS). METHOD: Descriptive, bivariate correlation, and stepwise logistic regression analyses were conducted in this study. A total of four categories of independent variables (sociodemographic, contextual, theoretical, and pre-ETS related) were selected to investigate their relationship with VR engagement. RESULTS: Findings revealed that education level, living with family, perceived social support from friends, perceived stigma from others, VR counselors’ ability to speak Spanish, competence, vocational outcome expectancy, and number of pre-ETS received were among the significant predictors of VR engagement, with the final model explaining a total of 87.6% of the variance. CONCLUSION: Findings of this study can help inform practices and policies to bridge the gap surrounding the service delivery and utilization of VR services among transition-age Hispanic youth with disabilities.