Job Advocacy

Synonyms

Employment facilitation; Job coach; Job support

Definition

Job advocacy is a process of promoting vocational adjustment for individuals with disabilities by providing systematic and intentional support toward the acquisition and maintenance of a job and ultimately normalizing the employment experience. Job advocacy is a wraparound concept and ranges from providing upfront effort to secure employment, to the provision of an array of supports in varying degrees of intensity that may be needed to promote adjustment to a job by an individual with a disability (e.g., improving employer awareness of the nature of disability, developing accommodations, teaching the employee to be a self-advocate, and problem solving), to include non-intensive ongoing support throughout one’s job tenure to ensure long-term employment success. Job advocacy encapsulates a range of deliberate interventions and strategies that vocational rehabilitation professionals deploy to support and enhance job...