Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Vocational Rehabilitation
The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services Portion of the Unified or Combined State Plan* must include the following descriptions and estimates, as required by section 101(a) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by WIOA:
__________
* Sec. 102(b)(D)(iii) of WIOA
- d. Coordination with Education Officials
- 2. Information on the Formal Interagency Agreement with the State Educational Agency with Respect To:
- O. State's StrategiesDescribe the required strategies and how the agency will use these strategies to achieve its goals and priorities, support innovation and expansion activities, and overcome any barriers to accessing the VR and the Supported Employment programs (See sections 101(a)(15)(D) and (18)(B) of the Rehabilitation Act and section 427 of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA)):
- O. State's Strategies
- 2. Information on the Formal Interagency Agreement with the State Educational Agency with Respect To:
- d. Coordination with Education Officials
d. 2. O. viii. II. Support Innovation and Expansion Activities; and
Current Narrative:
In FY 2014, DVR established the goal of expanding the availability of employer—based training for transition students. The anticipated goal at that time was to continue the implementation of Project SEARCH in New Castle County while expanding the services into Kent and Sussex Counties. The following progress has been attained: • The Project SEARCH program in New Castle County has been maintained its relationship with the Red Clay School District since the fall of 2013. A cohort completed the program at the Christiana Medical Center in May of 2015, and a new group began in the fall of 2015. • A second Project SEARCH site was initiated in Kent County. Project SEARCH is working with the Capital School District and the employer, Bayhealth. The first program cohort, initiated in the fall of 2014, has successfully completed the program, and a new cohort began in the fall of 2015. • Further expansion of Project SEARCH has occurred with the initiation of a second site in Kent County, the Delaware Department of Transportation, and a first site in Sussex County, Nanticoke Hospital. • DVR is seeking other Project SEARCH locations at work locations, both public and private, that are willing to support the program and include the diversity of occupations to offer program participants a choice in workplace experiences. DVR has expanded the goals of the Innovation and Expansion project to reflect the implementation of the Start on Success (SOS) program. Similar to Project SEARCH, SOS provides employer—based training opportunities for youth in transition. • In FY 2014, DVR implemented the SOS program as a partnership with the Christina School District and several YMCA locations in New Castle County. The training vendor is Humanim. DVR has continued to implement the program in FY 2015 and FY 2016. • The program has expanded to include students from three school districts. Thus far, the SOS sites are in New Castle County. Efforts were made to expand to a site in Kent County, but ultimately the program was not initiated. DVR will continue to explore the expansion into Kent and Sussex Counties. DVR will continue the Project SEARCH and Start on Success models as the models implement business—based experience for transition youth. DVR anticipates expanding opportunities for business—based experiences through the implementation of pre—employment transition services