Vocational Rehabilitation Program (Blind)

Based on the DBVI/SRC Needs Assessment completed in December of 2017, DBVI and the SRC have established targets for Program Year 2020 for DBVI’s Strategic Plan goals.  DBVI and the SRC have also established goals and priorities in response to the new mandates and requirements included in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (WIOA). DBVI and the SRC established goals and priorities related to the implementation of the WIOA Common Performance Measures. All DBVI goals and priorities are established within the Division’s long-established strategic themes for all participants of the DBVI program as follows:

• Economic Independence.
• Blindness Related Adaptive Skill Building (Assistive Technology; Low Vision; O+M; Blindness Rehabilitation Evaluation and Teaching).
• Delivering DBVI service well and assisting individuals to become better off.
• Expanding program growth and partnerships.

Program Year 2020 Goals and Priorities

1. DBVI will align services to support consumers in achieving the WIOA Common Performance Outcome Measures.

DBVI is a strong supporter of the WIOA Common Performance Measures. The new measures support consumers in their career goals and promote higher wages and more sustainable employment. The WIOA measures are extremely lagging, meaning most of the desired outcomes occur well after services end. For example, the measure of median earnings occurs two full quarters after case closure. As a result, the measures are not very useful in guiding the work of DBVI staff on a day-to-day basis. DBVI decided to establish the following leading measures:

• Leading Measure One: The use of career assessment tools to support exploration of higher wage and higher skill options. 
• Leading Measure Two: The use of blindness adaptive skill evaluation and training.
• Leading Measure Three: The use of blindness assistive technology evaluation and training.

Targets for the Lead Indicators:

• 50% of cases will include use of career assessment tools to support exploration of higher wage and higher skill options.
• 50% of cases will include blindness adaptive skill evaluation and training.
• 50% of cases will include blindness assistive technology evaluation and training.

2. DBVI will increase the percentage of consumers earning more than minimum wage at closure.

DBVI believes that in order to increase median earnings six months post closure, the agency must increase earnings at closure. 

PY 2017 data show that:

• 27.7% of DBVI consumers were earning 110% of minimum wage or less at closure
• 72.3% of DBVI consumers were earning over 110% of minimum wage at closure (44.7% had wage rates at or above 150% of the minimum wage).

These numbers improved by Program Year 2018 as follows:

• 20% had wage rates at or below 110% of the minimum wage at closure
• 80% had wage rates at or above 110% of minimum wage at closure (44.4% had wage rates at or above 150% of the minimum wage).

Targets

PY 2020

• 19% had wage rates at or below 110% of the minimum wage at closure
• 81% had wage rates at or above 110% of minimum wage at closure (44.4% had wage rates at or above 150% of the minimum wage).

PY 2021

• 18% had wage rates at or below 110% of the minimum wage at closure
• 82% had wage rates at or above 110% of minimum wage at closure (44.4% had wage rates at or above 150% of the minimum wage).

3. DBVI will increase consumer opportunities to participate in post-secondary education and training and gain industry recognized credentials.  

Post-secondary credentials are a proven mechanism for consumers to access higher wage employment and meaningful careers. In Program Year 2018, 30 participants were enrolled in programs potentially leading to a credential, and 9 participants completed a post-secondary degree or industry-recognized credential. 

Targets:

Program Year 2020 Target: 35 DBVI consumers will enroll in training leading to a credential and 12 DBVI consumers will achieve a credential.

Program Year 2021 Target: 40 DBVI consumers will enroll in training leading to a credential and 15 DBVI consumers will achieve a credential.

4. In partnership with VDOL and Community Partners, DBVI will create more opportunities for DBVI consumers to participate in these programs.  

DOL programs can offer DBVI consumers the opportunity to earn money while receiving necessary training to achieve a credential and higher wage employment.

Case note and other evidence suggest that 12 cases in PY 2018 (July 2018 – June 2019) had DOL involvement.

Targets:

Program Year 2020: 4 DBVI consumers will enroll in a DOL program.

Program Year 2021: 4 DBVI consumers will enroll in a DOL program.

5. DBVI will continue to implement highly effective Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) for students statewide.

• Total number of youth served with a DBVI IPE= 54 (PY 2018)
• Total number of students in school and under age 22 served in PY 2018 with a DBVI IPE= 34 (PY 2018)
• DBVI has successfully expanded our services overall to youth.  The percentage of population served who were under age 22 at entry into DBVI services has grown from 17% of people served in SFY 2019.

• Targets

  PY 2020

• Total number of youth served with a DBVI IPE= 55 (Projected)
• Total number of students in school and under age 22 served in with a DBVI IPE= 35 (Projected)
•  The percentage of youth population served who were under age 22 at entry into DBVI services will increase to 30% of people served.

•  

  PY 2021

• Total number of youth served with a DBVI IPE= 56 (Projected)
• Total number of students in school and under age 22 served in with a DBVI IPE= 36 (Projected)
•  The percentage of youth population served who were under age 22 at entry into DBVI services will increase to 32% of people served.

6. DBVI will partner with DVR and CWS to continue to expand efforts to effectively serve employers through Creative Workforce Solutions (CWS).

Employer engagement continues to be a critical activity to ensure DVR and DBVI consumers have access to employment opportunities and careers. Creative Workforce Solutions is the employer engagement and marketing arm of DVR and DBVI. DVR and DBVI measures employer engagement through the following three metrics:

• New Employer Contacts: These are defined as new contacts with employers who have never engaged with CWS

• Employer Activities: These are defined as ongoing engagement activities with employers who have an ongoing relationship with CWS
• Employer Opportunities: These are defined as specific consumer opportunities such as a job opening, training opportunity, work based learning opportunity, company tour or informational interview

The annual targets for the CWS team for Program Years 2020 and 2021 are as follows:

• Contacts: 750 new contacts per program year
• Activities: 2,250 distinct engagement activities per program year
• Opportunities: 2,500 discrete consumer opportunities developed per program year

7. DBVI will continue to seek opportunities to expand and/or improve services for underserved populations including individuals who need supported employment.

DBVI recognizes that there continue to be populations of Vermonters with disabilities that are unserved or underserved in the state. These include, but are not limited to:

• Individuals with severe disabilities who need supported employment services but are not eligible for long term supports through the Division of Developmental Services or the Department of Mental Health.
• Individuals who are deaf-blind.

DBVI will partner with DVR to explore opportunities to expand or improve services to address the unmet needs of these groups. This includes exploring new partnerships or expanding existing partnerships with other agencies, funding sources and stakeholders.

8. DBVI will continue to track consumer satisfaction with the program’s services through the Tri-annual consumer satisfaction survey.

DBVI contracts tri-annually with an independent survey organization to assess consumer satisfaction statewide. This data is critical to helping us improve services and provide better customer service. DBVI has consistently maintained high overall rates of satisfaction.

The most recent resultsof the 3-year statewide random survey of all participants in the DBVI Vocational Vision Rehabilitation program was Conducted by Market Decisions in 2017 The next statewide survey is scheduled for November/December 2020.

• 93% of respondents said they are satisfied with the DBVI vocational rehabilitation program.
• 93% of respondents said overall, they are better off as a result of the services they received from DBVI.
• 95% of respondents said that DBVI staff treated them with dignity and respect.
• 94% of respondents said that DBVI helped them achieve their vocational rehabilitation goals.
• 92% of respondents said that DBVI services met their expectations.
• 89% of respondents said that DBVI vocational rehabilitation services helped them become more independent.
• 84% of respondents said that DBVI helped them reach their job goals.

Targets:

• In the 2020 Consumer Satisfaction Survey, at least 95% of respondents will report that they are satisfied with the DBVI vocational rehabilitation program.