Vocational Rehabilitation Program (Combined or General)

The CDOR will initiate qualitative research methods starting in Spring of 2020 for the purposes of gathering data to identify the service needs of students with disabilities, and the extent these services are coordinated with transition services.

Initial findings for identifying the needs of youth and students with disabilities and their need for transition services and pre-employment services will be outlined in this section.

Special Education- High School Diploma Attainment (Nationwide)

The most recent data (school year 2016-17) available from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Program indicates areas of potential service gaps for youth and students with disabilities. For the purposes of the following data, both youth who may no longer be enrolled in school and students who are enrolled in school are included in this initial analysis. 71% of 14 to 21-year-old students served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) received their high school diploma, and 10% received alternative certificates. In contrast, 17% dropped out of school and 1% ‘aged-out’ without ever receiving their regular high school diplomas in the 2016-2017 school year.

Special Education- High School Diploma Attainment by Disability: Among students (ages 14 to 22) receiving education through IDEA nationally, the proportion of students who graduated with a regular high school diploma, received an alternative certificate, and dropped out also differed by type of disability for the 2016-17 school year.

For example, 85% of students with speech/language impairments received their high school diploma. On the other hand, attainment of a high school diploma was lowest for students with intellectual disabilities at 43%. Students with intellectual disabilities were also the highest to receive alternative certificates at 35%. The percentage of exiting students who dropped out in 2016-17 was highest for those with emotional disturbances at 35%, and lowest for students with deaf-blindness at 5%.

Special Education- High School Diploma Attainment by Ethnicity:

For the 2016-17 school year, secondary education (IDEA) participation rates differed by race/ethnicity. The percentage of exiting students who graduated with a regular high school diploma was highest for Asian students at 76%, followed by White students (74%); Hispanic students (70%); Pacific Islander students (69%); American Indian/Alaska Native (68%); and Two or more race students (68%). The lowest graduation rates were among Black students at 64%. Low high school diploma rates for Black students are contrasted by this group having the highest attainment of alternative certificates at 14%. Of all ethnic groups, data indicates American Indian/Alaskan Native students are the most in danger of being underserved, with 27% of this group dropping out of school. Asian students had the lowest drop-out rate of 8%.

California Department of Education (CDE) - Special Education Enrollment by Disability: CDE provides special education services to youth and students with disabilities from infancy to 22 years old, and the age range utilized by CDE will differ from those used by CDOR for youth and student service provision. Noting this difference, for the 2017-18 school year CDE special education enrollment indicates Specific Learning Disabilities was the highest disability at 51.4%; Other Health Impairment (14.7%); Autism (12.3%); Intellectual (8.1%); Emotional Disturbance (5.7%); Speech/Language (2.7%); Orthopedic (1.6%); Hard of Hearing (1.1%); Multiple Disability (1.1%); Deaf (0.5%), Visual (0.5%), and Traumatic Brain Injury (0.3%).

CDE Special Education Enrollment by Ethnicity: CDE special education enrollment for 2017-18 (ages 14-22) indicates Hispanic as the highest ethnic group enrolled in special education in the state at 56%, followed by White (24.4%); African American (9.9%); Asian (5.5%); Multi-race (3.0%); Native American (0.9%); Pacific Islander (0.4%).

CDOR Caseload and CDE Comparison for Students with Disabilities

CDOR caseload and CDE student representation generally aligns for both disability type and ethnicity. It is important to note, age ranges, ethnicity and disability type definition for students and youth with disabilities differ between the two agencies. Due to the difference in classifications, any direct comparisons will only be estimates. Also, the age range served through IDEA (14-22 years old) is wider than the student age range used by CDOR (16-21 years old), therefore percentages for ethnicity and disability type will appear upwardly biased. However, it is still useful to compare CDOR and CDE data to identify potentially underserved youth/student groups.

For PY 2017-18, students with disabilities (ages 16 to 21) comprised 16% of total consumers served by CDOR. Consumers designated as a ‘Student with a Disability’ and within the 16 to 21-year-old age range accounted for 24% of all new applications for services.

CDOR Caseload and CDE Comparison for Students with Disabilities- Ethnicity:

Students who identified as Native American or American Indian were closely congruent in representation for both CDE and CDOR and is a characteristically underserved population in California:

• CDE: 0.9%
• CDOR: 0.7%
• ACS: There is no specific disability data for this ethnicity and age range, however California’s statewide population of all people who identify American Indian alone total 0.8%. More data is needed for this disability group as population estimates may be even smaller when disaggregating by age and disability type.

Students with disabilities who identified as Asian had similar representation for CDE and CDOR:

• CDE: 5.5%
• CDOR: 5.0%

Students who identified as Pacific Islander were represented almost equally for both CDE and CDOR:

• CDE: 0.4%
• CDOR: 0.3%

Multi-ethnic students with disabilities also were represented equally for CDOR and CDE:

• CDE: 3.0%
• CDOR: 3.0%

Hispanic students with disabilities were represented in higher proportions for CDE than CDOR:

• CDE: 56.0%
• CDOR: 50.8%

Students who identified as African American were represented almost equally by both CDE and CDOR:

• CDE: 9.9%
• CDOR: 9.3%

Students who identified as White were represented in higher proportions at CDOR than CDE:

• CDE: 24.4%
• CDOR: 29.3%

Potentially underrepresented students with disabilities may include Hispanic students. CDOR will continue to explore both internal and external available data sources. As CDOR increases outreach efforts to students and their guardians through the implementation of WIOA, CDOR may include updates on these outreach measures to Pacific Islander, Hispanic, and African American ethnicities as potentially underserved groups in the final 2018-2020 CSA. Next steps may also include communicating with VR staff who serve as cultural liaisons in either a formal or informal capacity to gather more insight on the specific needs of underserved ethnicities.

Snapshot of Youth with Disabilities Served Through CDOR:

Youth with disabilities are those who are 14 to 24 years old and may or may not be enrolled in school due to various circumstances of the consumer. Out-of-school foster youth with disabilities may be at risk of being unserved or underserved for VR services due to the nature of displacement from family and the structured educational system. The CDOR is placing an emphasis on serving this population of individuals with disabilities in priority one, goal three to provide targeted supports to ensure the successful transition to employment and self-sufficiency for transition age foster youth.

Snapshot of Youth with Disabilities Served Through CDOR by Ethnicity:

Youth with disabilities (ages 14 to 24) on CDOR’s consumer caseload indicate Hispanic as the highest proportion at 50.9%; White (29.1%); African American (10.9%); Asian (5.0%); Multi-race (3.1%); Not reported (1.1%); American Indian (0.7%); and Pacific Islander (0.3%).

Snapshot of Youth with Disabilities Served Through CDOR by Disability:

Youth with disabilities (ages 14 to 24) on CDOR’s consumer caseload indicate Learning disabilities as the highest proportion at 37.3%; Intellectual (20.0%); Psychiatric (12.3%); Cognitive (9.6%); Physical (6.1%); Deaf (5.6%); Not reported (5.3%); Blind/Visual (3.3%); and Traumatic Brain Injury (0.7%).

Rehabilitation Needs, Including the Need for Pre-Employment Transition Services or Other Transition Services, of Students and Youth with Disabilities

The CDOR collaborates with CDE to determine the number of students with disabilities. In California, the number of students with disabilities is approximately 150,000.  The CDOR is collaborating with the workforce development system to determine the number of dislocated youth no longer in the educational system.

Findings: For PY 2017-2018, youth with disabilities aged 14 to 24 years old made up almost a quarter of all total consumers served at CDOR, or 24%. Among youth with disabilities, 31% have attained successful outcomes in employment. Youth with disabilities also accounted for 20% of all new applications for services.

The ACS does not distinguish between students with disabilities who are enrolled in school and youth who may not be enrolled in school. Additionally, Census data compiled by the ACS for youth is limited to the age range of 16 to 20 years old but may provide an idea of potentially underserved populations among this age group. In 2017, the overall percentage of people with a disability ages 16 to 20 in California was 5.1%. Among the six types of disabilities identified in the ACS, the highest prevalence rate was for “Cognitive Disability” at 3.6%. The lowest prevalence rate was for “Hearing Disability” at 0.6%. ACS data for this age group is limited but in general, it appears consumers who comprise the 9 disability types used by CDOR are significantly above prevalence rates for all disability types reflected in Census data.

Next Steps: CDOR will analyze PY 2018-2019 program data once complete and validated for inclusion in the 2018-2020 CSA. When comparing CDOR’s caseload data to the California Department of Education, CDOR may be underserving Hispanic/Latinx youth and students with disabilities. There may also be a need to engage with whole families throughout the VR service delivery process for youth and students with disabilities that may experience cultural barriers to service. CDOR will continue identifying ways to enhance communication to consumers and their families that receive transition and pre-employment transition services.

In fulfillment of CDOR’s goal to create statewide linkages which serve to provide information and referral to out of school youth with disabilities, the CDOR participated in the California Health and Human Services Agency’s coordinated effort, Trauma-Informed Systems of Care”. This leadership workgroup partners with the Departments of Health Care Services, Social Services, Developmental Services, Education along with county and local partners and/or stakeholders. This partnership aims to better serve foster children and youth who are receiving services from multiple public programs at the county level. The CDOR will continue to work to ensure transition age foster youth are not underserved as indicated in priority one, goal three. Refer to Description (l)(1) for additional information on this goal.