Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Vocational Rehabilitation (Blind)
The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services Portion of the Unified or Combined State Plan [13] must include the following descriptions and estimates, as required by section 101(a) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by title IV of WIOA:
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[13] Sec. 102(b)(2)(D)(iii) of WIOA
p. 1. B. Describe the factors that impeded the achievement of the goals and priorities
Current Narrative:
Strategy 1.4: Increase consumer participation in industry certifications, apprenticeships, and post-secondary outcomes/impacts.
This goal was not achieved due to the lack of staff knowledge regarding apprenticeships and a tracking mechanism. In 2019, the Division revved up its activities around apprenticeships by working in collaboration with an interagency partner to educate counselors and other staff about these programs. In addition, the Division made changes to the AWARE case management system allowing counselors to track apprenticeship activities.
Strategy 2.3: Increase the number of individuals with significant and most significant disabilities receiving services.
Some clients refuse service due to fear of losing their Social Security benefits. The Division urged more counselors to participate in CWIC training to obtain certification; this will improve benefits counseling services in hopes of reducing this fear.
Strategy 4.2: Incorporate elements of the common performance measures into employee expectations and evaluations.
Factors such as staff vacancies, turnover, and workloads impeded the Division's ability to achieve this goal. Draft expectations were created in 2019, with the anticipation of implementing these expectations in June 2020.
Other factors that impeded achievement of the Division's goals were as follows:
- Clients refusing services or not needing further services;
- Inability to locate or contact clients;
- Clients’ relocation out of state;
- Amount of time it takes to train new employment placement staff;
- Employer resistance to hiring individuals with disabilities; and
- Increase in the number of individuals pursuing postsecondary training instead of employment.