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
j. 3. Include an assessment of the needs of individuals with disabilities for transition career services and pre-employment transition services, and the extent to which such services are coordinated with transition services provided under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Current Narrative:
- Students with Disabilities
The State of Vermont has sixty supervisory unions serving students in primarily rural communities. During the 2016 to 2017 school year, 5,390 Vermont high school students were served. All were between the ages of 14 and 22 and either on an IEP or 504 plan, and therefore met the definition of a student with a disability.
- Youth with Disabilities
According to American Community Survey (ACS), 7.5% of youth ages 16 to 20 (3,450) reported having a disability. The ACS does not provide data for youth ages 14 to 24 who report having disability, which is the WIOA definition. However, extrapolating the ACS data for youth ages 16 to 20 would suggest that there are approximately 8,600 youth with disabilities in Vermont. It is important to note that the ACS uses primarily self-reported data and youth may be less likely to self-identify as a person with a disability. Therefore, this number maybe an underestimate of the actual prevalence.
- Employment Rates for Youth with Disabilities
The ACS provides data on the employment rate of youth with disabilities ages 16 to 20. As Table 4 shows, youth with disabilities are much less likely to be employed than their counterparts without disabilities at both the national and state level. It is well documented that early work experiences for students and youth are the best predictor of future employment. The gap in employment rates in this age group is likely to continue into adulthood unless students and youth with disabilities have opportunities for work based learning experiences.
Table 4: Employment Rates for Youth With and Without Disabilities
| Population | Total | Employed Count | Employed Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Youth without Disabilities | 20,268,600 | 7,539,919 | 37.2% |
| Vermont Youth without Disabilities | 42,600 | 18,190 | 42.7% |
| US Youth with Disabilities | 1,266,800 | 288,830 | 22.8% |
| Vermont Youth with Disabilities | 3,400 | 952 | 28% |