Homelessness and Justice Involvement as Predictors of Competitive Integrated Employment Outcomes among Veterans: A National Study

Background Veterans in the United States represent a distinct population that faces numerous challenges resulting from their military service, significantly affecting their reintegration into civilian life. Objective This study aimed to examine how the history of homelessness and criminal justice involvement are associated with competitive integrated employment outcomes among veterans with disabilities. Methods This study used a secondary data analysis of national vocational rehabilitation (VR) case records from the U.S. Department of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration Case Service Report (RSA-911). The analytic sample included 10,934 veterans with disabilities ( M age = 44.48, SD = 16.64). Results The final logistic regression model was statistically significant, χ²(11) = 2147.604, p < .001, and accounted for 25% of the variance in competitive integrated employment according to the Nagelkerke R ². Adding ex-offender status and homelessness in the final block produced a statistically significant but modest improvement in model fit. Ex-offender status was associated with 20.0% lower odds of competitive integrated employment at exit, OR = 0.80, 95% CI [0.69, 0.93]. Homelessness was associated with 37.5% lower odds of competitive integrated employment, OR = 0.63, 95% CI [0.48, 0.82]. Conclusion Homelessness and justice involvement were statistically significant predictors of competitive integrated employment among veterans with disabilities. However, their incremental contribution to model fit was modest after accounting for sociodemographic characteristics, disability-related factors, and VR service utilization. The findings support integrated vocational rehabilitation approaches that address employment, disability-related needs, housing instability, and barriers associated with justice involvement.