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
- o. State's Strategies
Describe the required strategies and how the agency will use these strategies to achieve its goals and priorities, support innovation and expansion activities, and overcome any barriers to accessing the VR and the Supported Employment programs (See sections 101(a)(15)(D) and (18)(B) of the Rehabilitation Act and section 427 of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA)):
- o. State's Strategies
o. 7. Strategies for assisting other components of the statewide workforce development system in assisting individuals with disabilities
Current Narrative:
VR continues to engage in collaborative discussion with DWD on several initiatives, and cross-training and education has been a major part of this effort. Training regarding disability etiquette, reasonable accommodations, and other topics was conducted with Work One staff in 2017. BRS staff sit on local workforce development boards in each region and offer subject matter expertise regarding training and employment services for job seekers with disabilities. Representatives from all 12 DWD Regions participated in a roundtable summit in June, 2017 co-hosted by BRS and DWD. BRS and DWD Leadership meet regularly to enhance collaboration and share information and updates. Federal monitoring visits occurred for both BRS and DWD in 2017, and there was cross-participation of both programs in these visits. More recently, VR and DWD have ramped up collaboration around business engagement efforts through the use of a single system to track efforts, jointly meeting with businesses, and jointly conducting outreach events such as a lunch and learn event with human resources professionals in 2019. VR and DWD also implemented an additional MOU in 2019 to increase participation of students with disabilities in the Jobs for America’s Graduates Program (JAG) through an interagency cash transfer agreement. VR and DWD have plans for further expansion of this collaboration effort in 2020.
VR continues to engage in ongoing discussion with DWD. BRS and DWD leadership meet regularly to enhance collaboration and share information and updates at the state level.
BRS staff sit on local workforce development boards in each region and provide subject matter expertise regarding training and employment services for job seekers with disabilities as well as resources for employers from VR’s Business & Community Engagement Team.
The Business & Community Engagement team meets with DWD leadership staff and gives updates on employers partners with around the state on a regular basis. The B&CE team also uses the same customer relationship manager that DWD is using (INGage) to track services to businesses. Because of the regular engagement, the B&CE team was recently connected to an employer who needed resources to support an employee returning to work after a severe workplace injury. Because of the ongoing relationship with DWD and their familiarity with services VR provides, they made an immediate referral to VR to work with the employer. On many occasions, the VR B&CE team and DWD joined together to tour employer work sites and continue to explore opportunities to support employers.