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
- 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
- A. Qualified Personnel Needs
Describe the development and maintenance of a system for collecting and analyzing on an annual basis data on qualified personnel needs with respect to:
- A. Qualified Personnel Needs
- 1. System on Personnel and Personnel Development
- i. Comprehensive System of Personnel Development; Data System on Personnel and Personnel Development
i. 1. A. i. The number of personnel who are employed by the State agency in the provision of VR services in relation to the number of individuals served, broken down by personnel category;
Current Narrative:
Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) is committed to maintaining Comprehensive System of Personnel Development standards as set forth in Section 101(a) of the Rehabilitation Act and 34 CFR Regulation 361.18(c). MRS has established procedures and supporting activities to help ensure that the administration of a Comprehensive System of Personnel Development is designed to provide an adequate supply of qualified rehabilitation personnel including professionals and paraprofessionals.
MRS and the human resources within the designated state agency communicate regularly regarding MRS’ priority hiring needs and the maintenance of civil service policies and procedures for ensuring a Comprehensive System of Personnel Development criteria are met. What follows is a summary of the procedures and activities related to this system:
- The academic achievements of candidates are gathered from official transcripts that have been submitted as part of the hiring process. Transcripts are reviewed to determine whether the degree meets MRS’ standard for qualified vocational rehabilitation counselor;
- Hiring and filling of vacancies are prioritized through the use of a Resource Allocation Model (RAM), which calculates the number of work-aged individuals with disabilities estimated to be in a given area of the state and recommends a number of staff proportionate to the respective geographic area. Consideration is then given to bureau specific personnel needs. MRS periodically reviews caseload sizes and other triggers to target filling vacant counselor positions. (Please note: MRS prioritizes filling professional counseling positions over other vacancies, whenever possible, and monitors staffing levels as necessary to reassess projections as needed).
Qualified Personnel Needs -
As of December 14, 2019, MRS has the following full-time equivalent positions to meet the needs of the bureau’s customers:
- 300 Rehabilitation Counselors
- 242 actively providing services
- 4 on medical leave
- 14 in process
- 2 Business Network Division counselors
- 7 Michigan Career and Technical Institute counselors
- 1 Michigan State University counselor
- 28 Pre-ETS Counselors
- 2 Pre-ETS Counselors in process
- 31 Site Managers
- 64 Rehabilitation Assistants
MRS anticipates hiring 40 counselor positions over FFYs 2020-2023.
The ratio of counselors to customers is 1:73 (this number was achieved by dividing the number of open cases [18,040] in 2019 by the total number of counselors [246]). The staff ratio of 1 counselor to 73 customers is anticipated in FFYs 2020-2023.