Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Vocational Rehabilitation (Combined or General)
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
- 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
- B. Personnel Development
Describe the development and maintenance of a system for collecting and analyzing on an annual basis data on personnel development with respect to:
- B. Personnel Development
- 1. System on Personnel and Personnel Development
- i. Comprehensive System of Personnel Development; Data System on Personnel and Personnel Development
i. 1. B. i. A list of the institutions of higher education in the State that are preparing VR professionals, by type of program;
Current Narrative:
Currently, Alabama has five universities that offer the master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling and eleven that offer counseling degrees in other areas. The universities are listed below.
ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY (Rehab Counseling)
ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY (Rehab Counseling)
AUBURN UNIVERSITY (Rehab Counseling & Other Counseling)
TROY UNIVERSITY (Rehab Counseling & Other Counseling – 4 campuses)
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA (Rehab Counseling & Other Counseling)
UNIVERSITY OF MONTEVALLO (Other Counseling)
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA (Other Counseling)
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA (Other Counseling)
In addition to the master’s-level rehab counseling and counseling programs mentioned above, there are also three other universities that offer CACREP accredited programs in Alabama: Auburn Montgomery University, Jacksonville State University, and University of Alabama Birmingham.
Updated enrollment and graduate data as reported by these three universities will be submitted with the next CSPD reporting period. The above institutions provide excellent candidates for available counseling positions. This translates into increased candidates for the department to recruit into employment.
The State Personnel Department’s qualifications for rehabilitation counselor currently require specific master’s degrees; therefore, ADRS will not be presented with candidates without appropriate degrees. Furthermore, candidates must provide an official transcript to ADRS prior to being appointed to a counselor position.
With the addition of master’s degrees in counseling which are not specifically rehabilitation counseling, ADRS is able to increase the number of qualified candidates for employment in counseling positions.