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:
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[13] Sec. 102(b)(2)(D)(iii) of WIOA
d. 2. C. Roles and responsibilities, including financial responsibilities, of each agency, including provisions for determining State lead agencies and qualified personnel responsible for transition services;
Current Narrative:
The MOU between ALSDE and ADRS outlines the scope of services that both agencies agree to in terms of personnel, roles and responsibilities. The agreement further outlines what the agencies, and agency staff are responsible for including which personnel will be providing the service to prevent duplication.
The MOA clarifies that nothing under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act reduces the obligation of the LEA to pay for, or provide transition services that are considered special education services, or related services necessary for assuring a free and appropriate education for students. The agreement also states that all expenditures identified by the LEA and VR for provision of pre-employment transition services that are new, having a VR focus of preparing students with disabilities to access careers that will lead to long term competitive integrated employment, and are not duplicative of services provided by the LEA, be the responsibility of ADRS. It also clarifies in the memorandum of agreement, that expenditures approved by the VR Counselor for transition services that are provided to VR students with disabilities, eligible for VR services, that are vocational in nature and support and lead to the achievement of the employment goal in the IEP, will be the financial responsibility of ADRS.
ADRS recognizes the importance of clarifying the roles and responsibilities of each agency. Educational responsibilities rest with educational agencies that include the cost of accommodations for students with disabilities. Transition counselors are trained to assure responsibilities of the education agency are not transferred to ADRS while the student is in school. The educational agency is responsible for ensuring students with disabilities are provided equal access to education. The school is responsible for providing school records to be used in determining eligibility and planning a rehabilitation program. ADRS utilizes school records and other available information in order to develop a rehabilitation program. These roles and responsibilities are further defined in the formal interagency agreement with the Alabama State Department of Education.