Rehabilitation and Human Services program fights disability stigma

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State College of Education has a mission to “change education by educating for change” but the classroom isn’t the only setting where students can be agents of progressive social change. The Rehabilitation and Human Services (RHS) program offers students opportunities to advance social justice from classroom to community by advocating for people with a wide range of disabilities.

“The major and profession have all been situated with the philosophy of pushing for rights for people with disabilities, having a social justice lens,” said Deirdre O’Sullivan, associate professor of education (rehabilitation and human services) and professor-in-charge (PIC) of the RHS major, as well as the coordinator for the RHS minor and the Addictions and Recovery minor.

For people who have a disability and are part of another minoritized group, that combination of factors can further marginalize them socially, O’Sullivan said.

“We recently made some revisions to the curriculum to better align with the changing demands of the field, and to better prepare our students to be active change-agents working in the systems where they will be employed,” she said. “These changes also align with the College of Education and our department’s strategic plan, vision and mission.”

The RHS major helps prepare students for entry-level positions in a variety of human service settings, particularly settings that provide services to persons with physical, emotional or mental disabilities. RHS students learn a variety of professional skills, including advocating for others; conducting educational and related support groups; developing client treatment plans; identifying and using community resources; and resolving conflicts. Graduates work in a variety of settings including community mental health programs, group homes, schools, drug and alcohol programs, hospitals and medical settings, corrections facilities, and rehabilitation centers.

“I consider the RHS program the college’s best-kept secret,” said Jim Herbert, professor of education (counselor education and rehabilitation and human services) and former PIC of the RHS program. “Students may want to help children, then have their first experience in the classroom and realize teaching is not for them. The cool thing is, those students don’t have to leave the College of Education. We can still help them achieve their goals as far as working with children and adolescents within schools but not necessarily as teachers. Or, if they wish, explore a different population or work setting that will improve the quality of life for others.”

The RHS program is believed to be the first program of its kind in the United States. The late Ken Hylbert founded the program, then known as “Rehabilitation Education,” in 1958 with a vision for creating an undergraduate curriculum that would meet the needs of various disability groups.

Two areas in which the RHS program has been a pioneering force in recent years, Herbert said, are corrections rehabilitation and employment and transition.

Under O’Sullivan’s leadership, Herbert said, RHS faculty have built coursework around corrections rehabilitation and last year, welcomed a new faculty member, Brandy Henry, assistant professor of education (rehabilitation and human services) with expertise in that area. Henry’s research documents social determinants of incarceration and health disparities of criminalized populations, with a focus on trauma, mental health and substance use disorders.

Divine Lipscomb, who graduated in May 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in RHS, is a formerly incarcerated individual who has forged a new path with the resources offered through the program. In fall 2018, he transferred from the College of the Liberal Arts to the RHS program in the College of Education.

“RHS and the College of Education were a better fit for me as I believe in the transformative power of education,” he said. “In addition, RHS allows students to learn how to advocate for their clients in a society that still holds stigmas about disabilities.”

While it has been challenging at times for Lipscomb to navigate the intersections of being formerly incarcerated and a Black male, he said, the program allowed him to “lean into my natural sense of advocacy.” He became president of the Students Restorative Justice Initiative, the advocacy arm of the larger Restorative Justice Initiative, Penn State’s Prison Education program.

Lipscomb, now a master’s student in clinical rehabilitation and mental health, rounded out his RHS experience with an internship with CentrePeace, a reentry service organization in Central Pennsylvania. In his role, he assisted in re-creating and co-facilitating the Centre County Reentry Support Group, which works to “support individuals experiencing different levels of community engagement or lack thereof after incarceration.”

While people with disabilities face all types of social barriers, said Herbert, they are particularly disadvantaged in the employment realm. In 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 19.1% of persons with a disability were employed compared to 63.7%  for persons without a disability.

Since 2019, the RHS program has taken a proactive role in expanding Penn State’s commitment to creating inclusive learning opportunities for people with disabilities through its WorkLink program. WorkLink provides the opportunity for individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) to participate in postsecondary experiences and education alongside their peers. Allison Fleming (associate professor, rehabilitation and human services) and Wendy Coduti (former associate professor of education) initially developed WorkLink. The program is intended to enhance work and independent living skills for individuals with ID.

A key component in the RHS curriculum is its internship requirement. Internship settings can include public, private-nonprofit, and for-profit RHS agencies and facilities such as rehabilitation hospitals, schools, mental health programs, correctional institutions, and children and youth service agencies.

“As long as (students) are supervised by a professional who has a bachelor’s in a related field, they can do their internship in any setting that is aligned with our vision and mission and learning objectives to support people with a range of life barriers,” said O’Sullivan.

Maimouna Fall, a December 2021 graduate of the RHS program who is now pursuing an M.Ed. in higher education at Penn State, said the program provided her tools and resources needed in the real world. She did her internship with Penn State Career Services in the Office of Student Affairs.

“I loved the internship aspect so much because it honestly let the students choose and experience their interest in their field of choice,” said Fall. “All the students may have gone through the same classes and had similar discussions, but we all could take those tools and apply them any and everywhere.”

Besides internships, RHS faculty find other ways to support student learning outside the classroom. Katie Kostohryz and Pia Smal, associate teaching professors of education (RHS),have co-taught the Culture and Disability educational abroad program in Ireland for the past five years. The program enables students in RHS and other majors to learn about disability and social justice from a global perspective.