New Immigrating Minority Populations and "Trend Impacts" on State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies: A Delphi Study.

DELPHI method; EMPLOYMENT; IMMIGRANTS; INTERPROFESSIONAL relations; RESEARCH methodology; MINORITIES; PSYCHOLOGY of People with disabilities; RACE; REHABILITATION centers; SCALE analysis (Psychology); SURVEYS; VOCATIONAL rehabilitation; MEDICAL coding; DESCRIPTIVE statistics

Current migration trends and projections indicate that the United States' (U.S.) population continues to increase and diversify. Consequently, the number of new U.S. citizens and legalized permanent residents with disabilities from traditionally underserved racial and ethnic populations is expected to grow at an accelerated rate--roughly 1 million new citizens and legal permanent residents annually. This study examined state vocational rehabilitation agencies' (SVRAs) perspectives on potential impacts of new U.S. citizen and legal permanent residency immigration trends on their service systems' capacity. Findings revealed 51 key themes, including 18 potential trend impacts on SVRAs, 26 macro and micro level strategies that could be considered for use to address forecasted implications, and seven general strategies that are currently being implemented to meet the needs of these target population members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]