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
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:
The Wagner-Peyser National Quarterly report of FY 2018 (DOL, n.d.) showed that 190,781 individuals with disabilities received services from Wagner-Peyser, providing 87,721 individuals with basic career services; 95,486 with individualized career services; and 7,574 with training services. Services to individuals with disabilities is 4% of the total served.
Indiana started providing Pre-ETS to students with disabilities in 71 counties in 2017 through both contracted CRPs and internal VR staff. Both students who were eligible for VR services as well as those potentially eligible for VR services received Pre-ETS. BRS implemented a Pre-ETS portal in 2017 for collection of required data on students receiving Pre-ETS. Expansion of Pre-ETS occurred in 2018 with activities being widely available in all of Indiana’s 92 counties through 10 contractors as well as internal VR staff. The number of students served through Pre-ETS and type of Pre-ETS activities received is outlined in the Tables below.
The percentage of eligible individuals served in VRwho were youth (age 14-24) increased from FFY2016-FFY2018, with youth representing 34.8% of the VR participants in FFY2016 and 39.7% in FFY2019. A slight increase in individuals age 25-35 was reported. The data in Table 11 reflects a slight decrease for all other age groups.
VR Eligible and Potentially Eligible Students Served Through Pre-ETS:
| VR eligible and received Pre-ETS | Potentially eligible Pre-ETS only (no VR IPE) | Total students received Pre-ETS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| FFY2017 | 327 | 2,470 | 2,797 |
| FFY2018 | 865 | 5,868 | 6,733 |
The number of students who received Pre-ETS increased substantially from FFY2017 to FFY2018, with 2,797 students with disabilities receiving Pre-ETS in FFY2017 and 6,733 receiving Pre-ETS in FFY2018. The majority of students who received Pre-ETS in both years were those potentially eligible students who were not yet receiving VR services under an IPE.
Pre-ETS activities:
| Job exploration counseling | Work-based learning | Workplace readiness training | Instruction in self-advocacy | Counseling on post-secondary opportunities | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FFY2017 | 7,746 | 4,139 | 13,769 | 4,969 | 2,005 |
| FFY2018 | 23,306 | 13,609 | 34,675 | 10,904 | 6,570 |
Five required Pre-ETS activities are identified in this table. A significant increase in Pre-ETS activities provided in FFY2018 compared to FFY2017 was anticipated due to the expansion of Pre-ETS into all 92 Indiana counties in FFY2018 and to the increase in the number of students served. Workplace readiness training and job exploration counseling were the two Pre-ETS activities provided most frequently.
VR Youth Services staff, along with assistance from the VR Director of Business and Community Engagement, coordinated VR Mentoring Days in 2017 and 2018 for students with disabilities. These days consisted of tours of local businesses, along with discussion of workplace readiness skills. VR partnered with DOE and local education agencies to identify students and collect required data for each student who participated. Speakers from Self-Advocates of Indiana as well as the local WorkOne centers also attended and spoke to the students about the importance of self-advocacy and how to explore job options and other postsecondary opportunities at the local WorkOne.
Additionally, VR leads a Transition Advisory Group that meets quarterly for resource sharing, discussion and review of transition related projects, and oversight of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between VR and DOE. Pre-ETS is a frequent topic among members which include representatives from DWD, DOE, Department of Corrections, IN*SOURCE, Indiana Disability Rights, Arc of Indiana, IIDC, local education agencies, community rehabilitation providers, and many other organizations.