A Statewide Follow-Up On Post High School Employment And Residential Status Of Students Labeled,“mentally Retarded”

This study investigated the employment and residential status of 243 mentally retarded youths who had exited high school in Vermont between 1981 and 1983. Information was solicited from school records and through telephone interviews and included vocational training history, employment history, social service utilization, and residential and marital status. The results indicated that certain vocational and educational experiences during high school were related to employment status and salary level following high school, that employment rates remained stable across rural, urban and metropolitan areas, and that the majority of employed youths found their jobs through their self-family-friend network. The findings were compared with those of an earlier study of a cross-categorical sample of handicapped youths.