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:
- G. Coordination with Employers(Formerly known as Attachment 4.8(b)(5)). Describe how the designated State unit will work with employers to identify competitive integrated employment and career exploration opportunities in order to facilitate the provision of:
- G. Coordination with Employers
- 2. Information on the Formal Interagency Agreement with the State Educational Agency with Respect To:
- d. Coordination with Education Officials
d. 2. G. ii. Transition Services, Including Pre-employment Transition Services, for Students and Youth with Disabilities.
Current Narrative:
The Delaware Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) will utilize their in-house Business Relations Unit staff, resources from Business Relations staff within the Department of Labor’s Job Career Centers, and contractual job development and placement staff from the rehabilitation provider community to develop, build and maintain partnerships with business and industry. These statewide joint efforts will serve to create coordinated business outreach and services to connect business and industry to information and resources to meet their workforce needs and demands and create widespread employment opportunities for people with disabilities, including students and youth, in Delaware. DVR will collaborate with business partners for specific events and activities which help to market career opportunities for students and youth with disabilities. These business activities may include targeted job fair events with business that focus on demands of precise markets and help meet the needs of specific industries. Career/job fair opportunities are developed with business as a way for employer’s recruiters and schools to connect with potential candidates and give pertinent information to potential employees/recruits. DVR works with businesses and schools statewide to coordinate and sponsor disability mentoring days as a way of raising awareness of employment opportunities for students and youth with disabilities and the talents they bring to the workplace. Disability awareness training and lunch-time learning is also offered to business partners who are interested in creating a diverse workforce to learn on topics such as specific aspects of disabilities, assistive technology, workplace accommodations, tax credits and workforce incentives, etc. DVR will encourage business participation in the National Employment Team (NET) to develop a strategy across the footprint of a company. In addition, to offer business the advantage of national qualified applicants, DVR will facilitate business demonstrations of and access to the Talent Acquisition Portal (TAP), an online system that includes both a national talent pool of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) candidates looking for employment and a job posting system for businesses looking to hire individuals with disabilities. Similarly, DVR has worked with employers across the state to develop four Project SEARCH sites, increasing opportunities for students and youth with disabilities to participate in internships within those businesses and allowing businesses to be part of training the local workforce and preparing them for employment in high demand jobs in their local communities. The DVR in-house Business Relations Unit will utilize labor market information and work with businesses to identify those jobs considered in-demand and high growth sectors. This information will be provided to DVR counselors for developing career pathways in addition to creating training and work opportunities for students and youth with disabilities. In partnership with business, DVR will gather real-time labor market information based on current conditions, industry and skills segments to identify workforce needs and supports and align credentialed training with community programs to meet those needs and demands. DVR will work cooperatively with business and industry and education to determine business recognized training opportunities that meet workforce demands and creates employment opportunities for students and youth with disabilities in the community. In collaboration with workforce partners who serve the business community, DVR will create a standard needs assessment to initially determine what business and industry need in terms of resources, information and services, and then follow-up with survey tool(s) for the level of customer satisfaction derived from the workforce services received. The survey will serve to gauge areas of best practices, met and unmet business needs, and areas of improvement for providing future workforce supports. DVR will collaborate and engage in training opportunities with WIOA core partners for how to better serve the business community based on their needs.