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
j. 1. B. Who are minorities;
Current Narrative:
The CSNA assessment data show the Vermont demographics. It shows that people are spread throughout our rural state and are not necessarily living in certain communities. The exception is Burlington which has the most diverse population in Vermont. These data guide our outreach efforts and indicate a need for DBVI to outreach to all communities. The most challenging region for outreach is the Northeast Kingdom which is very rural. The CSNA indicated a need to do more public outreach on the radio using a Public Service Announcement across the state.
The DBVI Director is also a member of the Agency of Humans Services Committee to make sure the agency is accessible to all individuals. Several initiatives of the group include sharing resources about translation services and connections with community agencies that assist diverse groups. Sone specific needs and strategies include:
- Interpretation and Translation service available to all AHS staff.
- Tools for working with LEP clients
- Specialized training for communicating across cultures, and; communicating effectively through an interpreter.
- The key service needs for reaching out to individuals who are blind or visually impaired and who are minorities (Strategies for Reaching Out to Minority Individuals With Disabilities—By Fabricio E. Balcazar, Ph.D., Principal Investigator Developing the Capacity of Minority Communities to Promote the Implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)--University of Illinois at Chicago) are:
- Making sure your agency can provide the services they need.
- Utilizing a diverse research team or diverse staff to deliver services to the target population.
- Building personal relationships with members of the target community.
- Becoming a part of the local network.
- Building consumers’ strengths.
- Being persistent and do not let consumers go when they fail to comply.
- Being willing to listen. If we want to reach out, we should be able and willing to listen.
- Utilizing members of the target community in outreach efforts.
- Meeting people where they are instead of waiting for them to come to you.
- Utilizing multiple channels of communication to disseminate information in the target community.