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
- i. Comprehensive System of Personnel Development; Data System on Personnel and Personnel Development
Describe the designated State agency's procedures and activities to establish and maintain a comprehensive system of personnel development designed to ensure an adequate supply of qualified State rehabilitation professional and paraprofessional personnel for the designated State unit, including the following:
- 1. System on Personnel and Personnel Development
- A. Qualified Personnel Needs
Describe the development and maintenance of a system for collecting and analyzing on an annual basis data on qualified personnel needs with respect to:
- A. Qualified Personnel Needs
- 1. System on Personnel and Personnel Development
- i. Comprehensive System of Personnel Development; Data System on Personnel and Personnel Development
i. 1. A. i. The number of personnel who are employed by the State agency in the provision of VR services in relation to the number of individuals served, broken down by personnel category;
Current Narrative:
The Vermont Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired (DBVI) operates in the Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living (DAIL) in the Agency of Human Services (AHS). DBVI employs 11 full-time positions. DBVI is organized to allow a structure for advancement within based on increased professional abilities, knowledge, leadership, improved services and outcomes.
In FFY 2019 DBVI Counselors served 248 clients. DBVI has sufficient VR Counselor capacity to meet the needs of vocational rehabilitation clients. DBVI has four regional offices located in Burlington, Montpelier, Rutland and Springfield. Each of the four offices have one Counselor. The Springfield office has an Associate Counselor completing a graduate program with the University of Southern Maine and will obtain a Master of Science in Counseling.
Two Associate counselors completed their Master of Science in Counseling in August 2018 and both were promoted to full-time Rehabilitation Counselors providing rehabilitation services in the Montpelier and Burlington offices. One full-time Associate Counselor position has been added to the Springfield office in 2019 and a second full-time Associate Counselor will be added to the Burlington office due to vacancy in Oct 2019. These added Associate Counselor positions provide increased capacity to serve Pre-ETS students and for development of programs with the Department of Labor (DOL).
Two Rehab Associate positions have divided administrative responsibilities to support the vocational rehabilitation program in the north and south regions of the State of Vermont. These two positions are supervised by the Counselors in the Montpelier and Rutland offices.
The Springfield office has filled the vacant full-time Administrative Services Coordinator position with a full-time Associate Counselor. One Senior Counselor retired in July 2019 and a second Senior Counselor is retiring in February 2020. A VR Counselor II was promoted to Senior Counselor in October 2019. One half-time VR counselor left in October 2019. One Rehab Associate II has been on medical leave since July 2019.
Technology services are provided by the Blind Services Assistive Technology Coordinator and a contracted professional Rehabilitation Technology expert. The Assistive Technology Coordinator provides services for DBVI clients and covers the entire State. DBVI has two Employment Consultants. This service is contracted through VABIR (Vermont Association of Business Industry and Rehabilitation). Overall supervision is provided by the Division Director.