Vocational Rehabilitative Services
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 4,000 vocational rehabilitative services providers offer job counseling, job training, and work experience to unemployed and underemployed persons, persons with disabilities, and persons who have a job market disadvantage because of lack of education, job skill, or experience. The industry includes job training facilities and sheltered workshops (which employ adults with physical or intellectual disabilities).
Dependence on Government Funding
The vocational rehabilitative (VR) services industry is highly dependent on a mix of federal and state government funding.
Heavy Caseloads
Heavy caseloads, particularly in urban centers, can compromise the quality of services, which affects job placement.
Industry size & Structure
The average vocational rehabilitative services provider employs about 70 workers and generates $3.5 million annually.
- The vocational rehabilitative services industry consists of about 4,000 firms that employ over 275,000 workers and generate about $14 billion annually.
- The industry is fragmented with the top 50 companies accounting for about 30% of industry revenue.
- More than 70% of establishments are tax-exempt organizations.
- State agencies administer services and funding for vocational and rehabilitative services. Large non-profit organizations like Goodwill and Easter Seals also offer vocational rehabilitative services.
- In the US, 13% of civilians live with a disability, according to the Disability Statistics Compendium.
Industry Forecast
Vocational Rehabilitative Services Industry Growth
Recent Developments
May 11, 2024 - Moderate Sales Growth Expected
- Vocational rehabilitative service sales are forecast to increase at a 5.35% compounded annual rate from 2022 to 2027, faster than the growth of the overall economy, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. Vocational rehabilitation service industry revenue increased 9.9% year over year and 9.3% quarter over quarter during Q2 2023 to $4,026 million, according to the US Census Bureau. Community vocational rehabilitative service revenue typically comes from contracts with state vocational rehabilitation agencies, which authorize billable services. Fee-for-services contracts base payment on hourly, daily, half-day, or other unit-based rates. Industry labor costs increased during 2023 as employment levels and average wages for nonsupervisory employees increased moderately, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- About 6,700 openings for rehabilitation counselors are projected each year over the decade, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment of rehabilitation counselors is projected to increase 2% annually from 2022 to 2032, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, primarily through retirement.
- Early return to work (RTW) is key to successful vocational rehabilitation, according to Kerry A. Skillin, CRC, LPC, ABVE/D of CRC Services. Early RTW helps physical and psychological healing and is crucial in preserving the injured worker's sense of purpose and identity. Skillin also emphasized that injured workers who do not return to their pre-injury wages within a year face significant long-term challenges. These workers have a notably reduced likelihood of returning to their previous wage levels even after three years.
- Guidance provided by the US Department of Education warns state vocational rehabilitation agencies that they need to provide more than minimal services in their efforts to help people with disabilities gain employment. Vocational rehabilitative services may benefit if the guidance results in more use of their services. The guidance outlines strategies that states can use to better promote their offerings and urges them to engage with individuals in a timely manner by simplifying the application process, expediting the determination of eligibility, and other efforts to eliminate barriers. There should also be policies to ensure a minimum level of communication with individuals with disabilities who are part of the vocational rehabilitation program to ensure that issues and challenges can be addressed as needed and that job placements are on track, the guidance notes.
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