Vocational Rehabilitation Program (Combined or General)

The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) has a strong relationship established with many transition stakeholders throughout the state. DVR collaborates with the Delaware Department of Education (DOE), including the Exceptional Children Resources and Career & Technical Education Work Groups as well as with the Local Education Agencies and Charter Schools. DVR continues to participate in the Statewide Transition Council, the Delaware Community of Practice on Transition and the monthly DOE Cadre meetings. The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation works closely with the DOE and other organizations on a variety of other initiatives to facilitate the transition process for students with disabilities. Some of these initiatives include the annual Transition Conference, Customized Employment Bootcamp, Project SEARCH, the Start on Success program (SOS), Early Start to Supported Employment (ESSE) and Intensive Technical Assistance from the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT). DVR and DOE, in collaboration with the Delaware Division for the Visually Impaired (DVI) and the Delaware Division of Developmental Disabilities Services (DDDS), plan and financially support the statewide Transition Conference which had over 1,000 attendees in 2017, half of whom were transition students. In 2017, DVR, DDDS and DOE held the semi—annual Customized Employment Bootcamp for school personnel, DVR staff, community rehabilitation program (CRP) staff, other state agency personnel, families and businesses. This is a long standing training program focused on employment strategies for working with individuals with disabilities, especially high school students and those requiring supported employment services. The Start on Success Program (SOS) is a collaboration among a variety of partners including DVR, DOE, community businesses, local school districts and Humanim, a community rehabilitation program. The 2016—2017 school—year marked the fourth year of SOS which is a successful employment assistance program targeting three main factors for finding and keeping employment: 1) Career Readiness, 2) Experience, and 3) Job Retention. The major focus is a four— month paid internship in a business where students learn on site experience through various work opportunities. Students are mentored by current employees at the business and supported by SOS staff from Humanim and the VR Counselor. Three school districts have entered into MOUs with Humanim to contribute funding for the paid internships. Each school supports 10-15 students to participate in the program and DVR funds Humanim for the workplace readiness workshops and on-site support for the internships as well as job placement and short-term follow-along services after the student graduates from high school. The businesses providing internship sites include multiple YMCA locations and two hospitals. Project SEARCH is another example of a strong collaboration with DVR, DOE, local schools, businesses and a community rehabilitation provider. It was expanded to 4 businesses and all three counties in the 2017-2018 school year including Christiana Care Health Services (CCHS) in New Castle County, Bayhealth Hospital and the Delaware Department of Transportation in Kent County and Nanticoke Hospital in Sussex County. Each site has a host school district providing the instructor and classroom support, however students from any district or school are encouraged to apply and have the ability to use the school choice process in order to participate through the host district. Delaware has been nationally recognized for the high rate of successful employment among the graduates of the CCHS and Bayhealth Project SEARCH sites, the two longer standing programs. Both programs consistently achieve 80%-100% placement rates with each cohort of students. These two sites have also received the “Superstars in Education” Award from the Delaware Chamber of Commerce. In order to reach more transition students at a younger age (summer prior to senior year or younger), DVR has worked with many of the CRPs, training vendors, local businesses and a local university to develop summer and school-year programs specifically related to Pre—Employment Transition Service activities. In 2017, twelve providers were funded by DVR to offer 16 different programs including activities related to paid or unpaid internships and job shadows, career preparation, skills training and college exploration activities. These programs have the capacity to serve over 400 students statewide with most of them reaching their capacity. DVR works closely with the local schools to ensure students are informed of the opportunities available during the school year and summer break. Continuous Improvement a. Project Search/ Steering Committees exist for all Project SEARCH (PS) programs in Delaware and are comprised of representatives from each of the partners; the host business, DOE, DVR, Local Education Agency and provider agency. Although each program operates slightly differently, the committee meetings are held regularly, generally monthly, but no less than quarterly. The purpose of the committee is to monitor and evaluate the program based on adherence to the Memorandum of Understanding. The committee reviews roles and responsibilities, process and procedures, and the timeline of events to evaluate program effectiveness and efficiency. With all partners at the table on a regular basis, we have the ability to provide continuous program evaluation. When situations arise in which a change is required, the partners discuss options, the impact the change may have on the program and considerations for each individual partner. The Committee will consult with the PS on-site team to receive feedback and communicate changes for program implementation. The PS on-site team consists of the instructor, para professional(s), skills trainers and the VR Counselor. The PS on-site team meets weekly to review operational needs, plan coverage, identify and address concerns, and facilitate communication and collaboration. A member of the Steering Committee meets with the PS on-site team at least monthly in order to maintain communication, evaluate the daily operations, and assist with identifying and resolving programmatic barriers. The partners of the Start on Success (SOS) program also meet quarterly at a minimum. This committee includes representatives from the DOE, DVR, LEAs and the provider, Humanim. The committee’s purpose is to evaluate the program, addressing the areas of program structure and timelines, funding and expansion, eligibility requirements, marketing and recruiting and student outcomes. The daily operations are often addressed by many of the same individuals, but may also include the VR Counselor and employment specialists. Given the size of Delaware and the ability of all parties involved in PS and SOS to maintain regular contact, issues can be identified and addressed quickly. Some program sites are more established than others and there is a lot of opportunity to learn from those programs. Each program, however, is unique and requires continuous and thoughtful evaluation to establish, enhance or expand in order to provide effective and relevant services to students with disabilities. b. Pre-Employment Transition Services. For the past 3 years, DVR has worked with local provider agencies to develop programming related to the 5 core Pre-Employment Transition Services for transition students ages 14-21 potentially eligible for DVR. In the summer of 2015, DVR was able to offer 11 different programs related to work-based learning experience, career exploration and employment readiness training, and exposure to opportunities for higher education. In 2016, that initiative was expanded to 20 summer and school year programs. In 2017, DVR scaled back to 16 programs, increasing the capacity of a few, but also hiring 4 internal Pre-Employment Career Counselors to work directly with the LEAs and the students. Pre-ETS Career Counselors meet with the LEAs to identify needs of the students and gaps in career preparation services. Together they develop a plan for which core Pre-ETS services are most needed and how they will be carried out. DVR prefers to work with the youngest age (14) eligible for Pre-ETS to help students develop a foundation of skills related to career interests and exploration, self-advocacy and disability awareness, but recognizes each school has different resources so DVR remains flexible to meet the needs of the students. The collaboration among DVR, DOE, the LEAs, Pre-ETS Career Counselors and providers has been exceptional with everyone seeing the value of connecting students to these opportunities. DVR monitors and evaluates the programs and services provided by the Pre-ETS Career Counselors, both formally and informally. On-site monitoring, observations, soliciting feedback from schools, students and families and using pre/post tests are all strategies used to evaluate the Pre-ETS services being provided. In addition, agencies and Pre-ETS Career Counselors are asked to collect information on each student participating, submit monthly reports or formal program summaries upon completion of the program. In addition to the more formal documentation, anecdotal information is shared by students, school staff and family members who see the benefits students gain by participating in these programs. There is a lot of valuable information available and DVR continues to utilize the case management system to find the most effective way to track and share information on the students who participate in Pre-ETS services, especially if/when they do become DVR consumers. This is information that can be used by schools, the DVR Counselor, students themselves and any provider they may work with in the future. Due to the difficulty in sharing individual information, DVR sees this as an opportunity to encourage providers and Pre-ETS Career Counselors to help the students have a better understanding of their own strengths, barriers, disability and accommodation needs in order to develop and utilize their self-advocacy skills to the best of their ability. c. Anticipated changing needs of TR/Pre-ETS students. Delaware DOE, DVR and LEAs participate in a monthly cadre meeting to share transition information, receive professional development and participate in collaborative transition planning. Through this forum, the partners have begun a student leadership initiative with about 70 students participating. This has provided the “transition professionals” with valuable, first-hand feedback directly from students themselves. The student leadership initiative will continue to inform and influence Delaware’s efforts in strengthening transition services for students with disabilities. In addition, Delaware has been selected by the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT) to be an intensive technical assistance state. Planning has already begun, but utilizing the expertise and resources through NTACT as well as WINTAC and Y-TAC for evidence-based, effective and promising practices will help Delaware as we work to better understand the needs of transition students and youth with disabilities and develop programing and planning for these young adults.