Dean D H, Dolan R C
J Policy Anal Manage. 1991 Fall;10(4):568-87.
Since 1975, vocational rehabilitation has represented a small and declining component of federal disability policy. This trend is perhaps reflective of the relatively crude assessment techniques that have been applied to the program in the past. Using the Virginia Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program as a prototype, we outline how the data and methods of assessment can be improved for purposes of directing public policy. The key issues include identifying an appropriate comparison group for VR, analysis of longitudinal earnings data, and methods for refining measures of program cost. The analysis provides "fixed-effects" estimates of net earnings impacts for each of three postprogram years stratified by disability classification and gender. These treatment impacts are compared to total and service-specific costs. In general, this analysis suggests that evaluation of VR can be substantially improved and that these improvements can be attained at relatively modest analytic cost.
自1975年以来，职业康复在联邦残疾政策中所占的比重一直较小且呈下降趋势。这种趋势或许反映了过去应用于该项目的评估技术相对粗糙。以弗吉尼亚职业康复（VR）项目为蓝本，我们概述了如何为指导公共政策而改进评估数据和方法。关键问题包括为VR确定一个合适的对照组、分析纵向收入数据以及完善项目成本衡量方法。该分析提供了按残疾分类和性别分层的三个项目后年份中每一年的净收入影响的“固定效应”估计值。将这些治疗效果与总成本和特定服务成本进行比较。总体而言，该分析表明，对VR的评估可得到大幅改进，而且这些改进能够以相对适度的分析成本实现。
