A Limited Cost-Benefit Analysis of Virtual Interview Training for Transition-Age Youth With Disabilities in Pre-Employment Transition Services.

Abstract

Transition-age youth with disabilities experience disproportionately higher rates of unemployment compared to their non-disabled peers. To address this disparity, states fund schools and agencies to implement pre-employment transition services (Pre-ETS), which can include job interview training. Virtual Interview Training for Transition-Age Youth (VIT-TAY) is a web-based job interview skills training tool implemented across 10 states, reaching thousands of transition-age youth (now referenced as TAY) with disabilities. While previous research has demonstrated VIT-TAY's effectiveness in improving job interview skills and increasing access to competitive employment for TAY (or students) with disabilities in schools, the net economic benefit for schools adopting this tool remains unclear. Hence, this study conducted a limited cost-benefit analysis utilizing data from 41 teachers and 314 TAY with disabilities. Study results suggest that a one-time investment of $314 per student in VIT-TAY was associated with a $241 increase in mean monthly student income six months following initial use of the intervention. The results suggest that implementing VIT-TAY for TAY with disabilities may yield a net positive economic benefit for the schools implementing this training tool.