Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM)
About This Program
Target Population: People with disabilities ages 16 to 21
For children/adolescents ages: 16 – 21
Program Overview
The Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM) was designed to provide people with disabilities the knowledge and skills they need to compete for jobs they want with the potential for career advancement, higher wages, and benefits. SDCDM's purpose is to enhance consumer self-determination by teaching a structured process to identify their job and career goals, develop an action plan to achieve those goals, and to evaluate and modify that plan. The goal is that with increased self-determination and proper supports, people with disabilities will self-direct their vocational planning and decisions related to career changes with less reliance upon service systems.
Program Goals
The goals for Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM) are:
- Enhance goal-setting, problem-solving, and self-reflection competencies
- Promote engagement in the employment/career design process
- Promote positive employment outcomes
Logic Model
The program representative did not provide information about a Logic Model for Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM).
Essential Components
The essential components of Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM) include:
- A facilitator supports a person with a disability to work through the three-phase model, and in doing so develops self-regulated problem-solving skills related to self-determination.
- The model is defined by three problem-solving phases, each of which presents a problem to be solved by the person with a disability:
- What is my goal?
- What is my plan?
- What have I learned?
- The person solves the problem (answers the question) in each phase by posing and answering a series of four Employment Questions per phase.
- Each Employment Question is linked to a set of Facilitator Objectives and Employment Supports, which are objectives a facilitator will be trying to accomplish by implementing the model.
- A critical element of the SDCDM process is that job seekers work through the model repeatedly as they work toward employment-related goals.
Program Delivery
Child/Adolescent Services
Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM) directly provides services to children/adolescents and addresses the following:
- Has a disability and a possible lack of skills such as decision making, goal setting, and problem solving
Services Involve Family/Support Structures:
This program involves the family or other support systems in the individual's treatment: During the SDCDM, young adults learn to recruit supports that can help them achieve their goals. Family members and others that know the young adult can be included as supports. Additionally, family members can be present during sessions and can contribute to the process – with the understanding that the young adult with a disability is the primary driver of action.
Recommended Intensity:
Two 30- to 60-minute weekly sessions; one session a week can be sufficient if meeting twice is problematic
Recommended Duration:
The model is designed to be used repeatedly (so the person sets and achieves multiple goals). Outcomes are best if the model is used for at least a year.
Delivery Settings
This program is typically conducted in a(n):
- Birth Family Home
- Foster / Kinship Care
- Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider
- Group or Residential Care
- School Setting (Including: Day Care, Day Treatment Programs, etc.)
Homework
Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM) includes a homework component:
This is optional, but young adults can work through the model faster if they work on assignments (for example, visiting a job site and reflecting on their strengths and interests related to a particular job) throughout the week. However, this work can also be done during facilitated sessions.
Resources Needed to Run Program
The typical resources for implementing the program are:
- Meeting space for the facilitator and young adult
- A computer to access online resources
Manuals and Training
Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications
Recommended to have a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent level of training) and experience supporting people with disabilities
Manual Information
There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.
Program Manual(s)
Manual details:
- Shogren, K. A., Dean, E. E., Hagiwara, M., & Wehmeyer, M. L. (2018). The Self-Determined Career Design Model facilitator's guide. Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities.
Contact training contact below for how to access the manual.
Training Information
There is training available for this program.
Training Contact:
- Wendy Parent-Johnson
wparentjohnson@email.arizona.edu
Training Type/Location:
Training can be provided onsite and can be enhanced through ongoing remote coaching sessions.
Number of days/hours:
While the training can be done in eight hours, 2-3 days of training for facilitators to have to time practice using the model is encouraged.
Implementation Information
Pre-Implementation Materials
The program representative did not provide information about pre-implementation materials.
Formal Support for Implementation
There is formal support available for implementation of Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM) as listed below:
Ongoing coaching is provided during implementation. Contact the program representative on bottom of page for more information.
Fidelity Measures
The program representative did not provide information about fidelity measures of Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM).
Implementation Guides or Manuals
There are implementation guides or manuals for Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM) as listed below:
A facilitator guide is available by contacting the program contact listed above. Other implementation materials are available at the National Gateway on Self-Determination: http://ngsd.org/professionals/self-determined-career-development-model
Implementation Cost
There are no studies of the costs of Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM).
Research on How to Implement the Program
Research has not been conducted on how to implement Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM).
Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research
Benitez, D., Lattimore, J., & Wehmeyer, M. L. (2005). Promoting the involvement of students with emotional and behavioral disorders in career and vocational planning and decision-making: The Self-Determined Career Development Model. Behavioral Disorders, 30, 431-447. doi:10.1177/019874290503000401
Type of Study:
One group pretest-posttest study
Number of Participants:
5
Population:
- Age — Not specified
- Race/Ethnicity — Not specified
- Gender — Not specified
- Status — Participants were young adults with mental health diagnoses.
Location/Institution: Alternative middle and high school setting
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of this study was to examined the effectiveness of a Self-Determined Career Development Model [now called the Self-Determined Career Design Model] to instruct youth with emotional and behavior disorders to self-direct the problem-solving processes and promote self-determination skills by enabling them to: (a) set employment/career-related goals, (b) develop and implement a plan toward goal attainment, and (c) adjust and evaluate progress toward meeting their goals. Measures utilized include a demographic questionnaire. Results indicate that all participants made progress toward each of their goals. Additionally, all participants reported that they achieved their target goals and were satisfied with the support that the model provided. Limitations include small participant size, lack of randomization, lack of control group, and lack of follow-up.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.
Sowers, J. A., & Swank, P. (2017). Enhancing the career planning self-determination of young adults with mental health challenges. Journal of Social Work in Disability & Rehabilitation, 16(2), 161-179. doi:10.1080/1536710X.2017.1300081
Type of Study:
Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants:
67
Population:
- Age — 20-30 years
- Race/Ethnicity — 53 White, 5 Hispanic/Latino, 5 Asian/Pacific Islander, and 4 Black
- Gender — 38 Male and 29 Female
- Status — Participants were young adults with mental health diagnoses.
Location/Institution: Not specified
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of an adaptation of the Self-Determined Career Development Model (SDCDM) [now called the Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM)] intervention on the self-determination and career planning engagement of young and emerging adults with mental health challenges. Participants were randomly assigned to SDCDM and control groups. Measures utilized include self-reported sexual behaviors and the Adult Version of the ARC Self-Determination Scale (SDS), the Career Planning Activity Engagement (CPAE), the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale–Short Form (CDSE), the Disability-Related Career Self-Efficacy Scale (DCSE), the Mental Health Recovery Measure (MHRM), the Consumer Empowerment Scale (CES) and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Results indicate statistically significant greater increases were made by SDCDM versus the control group for self-determination and career planning engagement; and that self-determination at least partially mediated increases in career planning engagement. Limitations include small participant size, reliance on self-reported measures, and lack of follow-up.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.
Dean, E. E., Shogren, K. A., Wehmeyer, M. L., Almire, B., & Mellenbruch, R. (2018). Career design and development for adults with intellectual disability: A program evaluation. Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Advance online publication. doi:10.1007/s41252-018-0080-6
Type of Study:
One-group pretest-posttest study
Number of Participants:
12
Population:
- Age — 23-53 years (Mean=32 years)
- Race/Ethnicity — 8 African Americans and 4 White
- Gender — 6 Male and 6 Female
- Status — Participants were adults with intellectual disability with mild to moderate impairments in intellectual functioning.
Location/Institution: An urban Midwestern city
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
This study described and examined the impact of the Self-Determined Career Development Model (SDCDM) [now called Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM)] within a community service agency for adults with intellectual disability to promote such outcomes. Measures included tracking of employment outcomes and job status 1 year after the program began. Results indicate 9 out of the 12 participants obtained competitive employment during the implementation year, and 5 people were still employed after 1 year. Limitations include small participant size, SDCDM was paired with job development activities, but no effort was made to measure the effects of these interventions separately, lack of control group, and lack of follow-up.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.
Additional References
No reference materials are currently available for Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM).
Contact Information
- Wendy Parent-Johnson
- Website: ngsd.org/news/self-determined-career-development-model
- Email: wparentjohnson@email.arizona.edu
- Phone: (785) 864-7600
Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed by CEBC: September 2021
Date Program Content Last Reviewed by Program Staff: November 2018
Date Program Originally Loaded onto CEBC: March 2019
