Vocational Rehabilitation Program (Blind)

In response to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, Bureau of Services for Blind Persons updated the transition policy. This included changing the definition of Youth to align with the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act definition and providing guidance for the provision of pre-employment transition services.

Student with a Disability (WIOA):

• Age 14-26* at application; and
• Enrolled in the K-12 education system including traditional public schools, intermediate school districts, private schools, charter schools (public school academies), alternative schools, schools for individuals with disabilities such as the Michigan School for the Deaf, 504 students, home-schooled students and students in education programs in correctional facilities.

Youth with a Disability (WIOA):

• Age 14-24 at application; and
• Not enrolled in the K-12 education system including traditional public schools, intermediate school districts, private schools, charter schools (public school academies), alternative schools, schools for individuals with disabilities such as the Michigan School for the Deaf, 504 students, home-schooled students and students in education programs in correctional facilities.

Student with a Disability (Michigan Admin. Rules for Special Education)

• “Student with a disability” means a person who has been evaluated according to the individuals with disabilities education act and these rules, and is determined by an individualized education program team, an individualized family service plan team, or an administrative law judge to have 1 or more of the impairments specified in this part that necessitates special education or related services, or both, who is not more than 25 years of age as of September 1 of the school year of enrollment, and who has not graduated from high school. A student who reaches the age of 26 years after September 1 is a “student with a disability” and entitled to continue a special education program or service until the end of that school year.
• Postsecondary goals and transition services for a child with a disability must begin not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child turns 16, or younger if determined appropriate by the Individualized Education Program Team.

During Performance Year 2018, transition youth customers, ages younger than 26 years at application, represented 38.8% (n=6,743) of Michigan Rehabilitation Services VR customers. Their adjusted rehab rate (42.6%) was much lower than adults (64.8%). A similar trend has been observed in previous years.

The 2017 Comprehensive Statewide Needs Assessment identified students and transition youth with disabilities as an underserved group and elaborated on their needs and issues. The commonly addressed issues were as follows: inadequate staffing, difficulty navigating multiple systems, inadequate skills training programs, limited access to services, discontinuity of MRS service provision, lack of interagency collaboration, and lack of disability trained professionals.

The State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report includes annual targets, explains progression or regression, and discusses improvement activities for 18 performance indicators identified by the Office of Special Education Programs at the United States Department of Education. Of 37,851 students enrolled in special education. 37.1% were 16 years of age; 34.2% were 17 years of age; 16.3% were 18 years of age; and 5.6% were 19 years of age. The top five diagnostic categories who received special education were: specific learning disabilities (42.3%), cognitive impairment (15.4%), other health impairments (15.2%), autism (11.8%) and emotional impairment (7.9%). In addition, 0.4% were reported as having visual impairments.

The 2017 State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report provided the following information about secondary students with disabilities in Michigan.

• 65.3% of students with an Individualized Education Program graduated from high school with a regular diploma while 6.8% dropped out of high school.
• 81.0% (vs. 81.3% in 2016; 78.3% in 2015) of students with an Individualized Education Program, ages 16 and older, (a) had appropriate and measurable postsecondary goals that are updated annually and based upon an age appropriate transition assessment; (b) transition services, including courses of study, that will reasonably enable the student to meet those postsecondary goals; and (c) annual Individualized Education Program goals related to the student’s transition service needs.
• The 2017 Annual Performance Review estimated that, of the youth who are no longer in secondary school and had Individualized Education Programs in effect at the time they left school, 29.2% were enrolled in higher education within one year of leaving high school, and 64.9% were enrolled in higher education or competitively employed within one year of leaving high school. In sum, it was estimated that 77.4% were either enrolled in higher education or in some other postsecondary education or training program, were competitively employed, or were in some other employment within one year of leaving high school. The 2016 rates were 32.5%, 63.0% and 76.9%, respectively.

The Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP) will evaluate data from the most recent CSNA when completed, the Center for Education and Performance Information (CEPI) to identify students who are visually impaired who would benefit from Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) services. BSBP consistently communicates with the Michigan Department of Education-Low Incidence Outreach (MDE-LIO) as well as local Teacher Consultants for the Visually Impaired to determine if there are students who need Pre-ETS and other transition services.