Man with Down syndrome working at a computer.

Tracking Employment Progress in KY for Students with Disabilities

by Tony Lobianco, Principal Investigator / Project Director KentuckyPost School Outcomes Center

KentuckyWorks tracks its progress through data from the Kentucky Post School Outcomes Center. This Center looks at employment and education outcomes in the first year after high school for students with disabilities. We focus on former students with autism, functional mental disabilities, and multiple disabilities. The figure below shows rates of competitive employment (defined as working at or above minimum wage for an average of 20 hours or more per week for 90 days) and enrollment in higher education (defined as completing at least one term in a two or four-year college or university).

As can be seen rates for both competitive employment and higher education were highest but declining prior to the start of Kentucky Works. However between 2017 and 2018 gains were made in both areas, moving from a competitive employment rate of 12.8% to 14% and a higher education rate of 11% to 11.6%. Continue reading