Youth with disabilities receiving transition from services from State/Federal VR agencies accounted for more than one quarter of closed cases within in FY 2010 (RSA, 2010). This unique population of clients, however, has received little attention in empirical studies, scholarly journals, and as a focus within training programs. By investing in youth as they enter the world of work and embark in their formative years of career development, professionals can seek to eliminate the "revolving door" of services that many clients pursue out throughout their vocational lifetime. An effective way to invest in youth with disabilities is to educate rehabilitation counseling professionals in the unique needs of this population. As studies have shown, transition services are an important and relevant area of rehabilitation practice (Leahy et al, 1993; Leahy et al 2003, Shaw et al, 2006; Leahy et al 2009), however counselors feel as if they have received limited preparation for these tasks (Chan et al, 2003; Leahy, et al, 2009).A sample of 353 rehabilitation professionals working in a public vocational rehabilitation agency was obtained for this study. Participants were located in Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Minnesota or Wisconsin. The sample included 240 general rehabilitation counselors who provided services primarily to adults with disabilities, and 110 transition counselors who identified at least 50 percent of their caseloads to consist of transition aged youth. This sample allowed for comparisons between general and transition counselors regarding demographics characteristics and training profiles. This specific demographic information regarding transition counselors has previously been unknown to the field of rehabilitation counseling. Furthermore, this sample also allows for comparisons between the two groups of counselors on their perception of importance and preparedness regarding transition and general rehabilitation counseling knowledge domains. The results of this study yield several implications for practice, training and policy. First, the knowledge domain that was identified to be the most important was that of transition knowledge. Despite this finding, however, vocational rehabilitation counselors found themselves to be the least prepared in this knowledge domain area. Second, less than one quarter of transition counselors stated that they receive transition trainings either often or very often. This shows an obvious limitation in the availability of skill development and attainment for this group of rehabilitation professionals. Additionally, some transition counselors stated that they have received no training at all relevant to transition services. Finally, results showed that staff development units would be well served to provide more in-service training specific to: vocational consultation and services for employers, group and family counseling, mental health counseling, and psychosocial and cultural issues in counseling, as these knowledge subdomains were rated lowest for preparedness by counselors.
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