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:
__________
[13] Sec. 102(b)(2)(D)(iii) of WIOA
d. 2. D. Procedures for outreach to and identification of students with disabilities who need transition services.
Current Narrative:
ICBVI, IDVR, and the State Department of Education (SDE) currently have a formal cooperative agreement.
The agreement stipulates that ICBVI will initiate outreach and work with the LEAs to identify potential students with disabilities who need pre-employment transition services and VR transition services for students aged 14-21. This involves informing the student, or when appropriate their parent or legal guardian, as early as possible about the vocational rehabilitation program, its purpose, eligibility criteria, application procedures, and the scope of available VR services, to include pre-employment transition services.
The Commission also engaged key stakeholders in the state through the following activities:
- Collaboration at regional special educator meetings.
- Presenting at statewide administrator meetings.
- Presenting at the Tools for Life Conference to parents, students, and educators.
- Outreach to Idaho Parents Unlimited.
- Participation in the Idaho Interagency Council on Secondary Transition.
- Ongoing collaboration with the Idaho State Department of Education.
- Ongoing collaboration with the Idaho Educational Services for the Deaf and Blind.
Outreach strategies to identify students who need transition services include:
- Counselors and Rehabilitation Teachers are assigned to the school districts in their regions. Staff participate in district transition councils, meetings, and trainings.
- The ICBVI Transition Coordinator participates in district In-Service trainings across the state.
- The MOU with IESDB emphasizes regional collaboration, data sharing, and identifying secondary school students in Idaho who are blind or visually impaired.
The Commission currently working on developing specific goals to improve outreach, which include:
- Creating training and materials that will increase students’ understanding about the VR process and services.
- Create opportunities and materials to use with families to increase their understanding VR Services.
- Increasing outreach activities to rural communities in Idaho.
Since the implimentation of WIOA in 2016, most students are still currently being served in the VR program. While the relationship between outreach strategies and employment outcomes is unknown at this time, ICBVI does recognize the need for program evaluation methodologies that include measures such as these.