Vocational Rehabilitation Program (Combined or General)

A. Identify the strategies that contributed to the achievement of the goals.

Goal 1 Improve quality of job placement services so that the average hourly wage for VR consumers reaches $10.60. ADRS achieved this goal through its efforts to improve outcomes which included expansion of the RAVE (Retaining a Valued Employee) program and continuous improvement of services provided through partnerships with community rehabilitation programs. The average wage calculated in 2016 was $10.64 per hour.

Goal 2 Expend 15% of the state’s federal allotment for Pre-Employment transition services. ADRS met the 2016 spending requirement for pre-employment transition services and has continued to increase spending for these services. ADRS spent $9,448,585 in FY 2016 for Pre-ets which is 15% of the State’s federal allotment. This was accomplished by expanding services available to transition students throughout the state and by the inclusion of potentially eligible students in pre-ets services. Extensive training was provided to rehabilitation counselors and service providers to develop and expand these services.

Goal 3 Meet a minimum of 4 times with workforce development partners in order to increase collaboration and improve services. ADRS staff have met with high level staff from the other workforce agencies 8 times during 2016 to continue collaboration, service planning and evaluation of programs. We continue to work together to develop joint programs to provide services benefitting people with disabilities in Alabama.

Goal 4 Increase by 5% the number served in all populations identified as underserved in the Statewide Needs Assessment. The underserved population identified in the 2014 CSNA was the Hispanic population. The ADRS vocational rehabilitation program increased the number of Hispanic consumers served in 2016 by 13%, meeting this goal.

Goal 5 Provide training to 90% of VR professional staff in the area of assistive technology. ADRS provided training to all of its professional staff through local technology specialists and conferences which focused on assistive technology services/products. Rehabilitation Technology Specialists provide training locally to professional staff to provide continuous updates regarding advances in technology. B. Describe the factors that impeded the achievement of the goals and priorities.

2. An evaluation of the extent to which the Supported Employment program goals described in the Supported Employment Supplement for the most recent program year were achieved. The evaluation must:

A. Identify the strategies that contributed to the achievement of the goals.

Goal 1 Increase case service dollars expended for supported employment by 5%. ADRS was able to increase its spending in the area of supported employment by 4.4%. ADRS expenditures were less than 1% short of this goal. The Supported Employment specialists continue to evaluate the need for additional providers throughout the state and are collaborating with workforce partners to expand project search sites.

B. Describe the factors that impeded the achievement of the goals and priorities.

ADRS increased spending in Supported employment in 2016 in spite of a mandate to shift funding to pre-employment transition services. We now have multiple service providers statewide who offer these services and we have focused efforts on improving the quality of these services. ADRS fell short of this goal by less than 1% and Supported employment services continue to expand in this state.

3. The VR program's performance on the performance accountability indicators under section 116 of WIOA.

The agency is collecting baseline data for WIOA indicators.

4. How the funds reserved for innovation and expansion (I&E) activities were utilized.

Innovation and Expansion (I&E) funds were used to support activities of the State Rehabilitation Council.