VIDBE-Q Volume 65 Issue 2
77
Our Program
Background
Putting Your Best Foot Forward is a structured, intensive job search skills
training program for groups of approximately 10-15 transition-age youth with
visual impairments. It is based on the School to Work program (Koivisto, Vuori, &
Nykyri, 2007; Koivisto, Vuori, & Vinokur, 2010), which was based on the JOBS
program (Curran, Wishart, & Gingrich, 1999). These programs have extensive
evidence of effectiveness for unemployed adults (Caplan, Vinokur, Price, & van
Ryn, 1989; Vinokur, Price, Caplan, van Ryn, & Curran, 1995; Vinokur, Schul,
Vuori, & Price, 2000; Vinokur, van Ryn, Gramlich, & Price, 1991) and transition-
age youth (Koivisto et al., 2007, 2010). We modified the School to Work program
by adding content specific to youth with visual impairments (e.g., disclosing your
visual impairment, preparing a statement about your visual impairment), removing
some existing content, and adding individual activities. We based our program on
these existing programs because they have strong empirical evidence for
effectiveness, a strong theoretical foundation, and include the six critical
components identified by Lui et al. (2014). A unique characteristic of these
programs is the six principles or learning processes that are key to their
implementation, including active learning, social support, and increasing self-
