Vocational Rehabilitation Program (Combined or General)

The CDOR jointly conducts a triennial comprehensive statewide assessment (CSA) with the State Rehabilitation Council (SRC) to determine the VR needs of individuals with disabilities in California.

Comprehensive Statewide Needs Assessment Methodology

The purpose of the CSA is to assess the needs of Californians with disabilities identify barriers to employment and service needs. Over the 2018-2020 triennial cycle of the CSA, the five federally required areas of assessment will be conducted by cumulative qualitative and quantitative data research methods. The five areas of assessment will be to determine the rehabilitation needs of:

• Individuals with most significant disabilities and their need for supported employment services.
• Individuals who are minorities and individuals who are unserved or underserved by CDOR.
• Individuals who have been served through other components of the statewide workforce development system.
• Youth with disabilities and students with disabilities, including their need for transition services or pre-employment transition services.
• And, an assessment of the need to establish, develop, or improve community rehabilitation programs in California.
   

This update will introduce the initial data collected as of June 2019 for each required area of assessment and the planned areas for further research to be included in the final draft of the CSA. The needs assessment will utilize quantitative data research consisting of internal VR caseload data and external sources such as U.S. Census survey data. Qualitative data will also be used to assess areas of need and may include focus groups, key informant interviews, surveys, and telephone interviews. The qualitative component plan has been established and will be conducted beginning in the Fall of 2019 through the Spring 2020.

This update lays the groundwork for the final CSA report which will include completed research data, analysis and recommendations for each of the five required areas of assessment.

Individuals with the Most Significant Disabilities:

Individuals with the most significant disabilities may receive Supported Employment (SE) services for the ongoing support necessary to maintain employment in an integrated setting. Per CDOR policy, individuals with the most significant disabilities (Priority Category 1) are eligible to receive SE services. Preliminary findings of CDOR caseload data indicate the following for individuals who are most significantly disabled and/or have received any SE service:

• Individuals with the most significant disabilities (Priority 1), make up 99% of CDOR consumers who receive SE services.
• Individuals with the most significant disabilities (Priority 1) are on average, 31% of CDOR’s total consumer caseload. Over the past 4 program years, the number of Priority 1 consumers declined 7%. This is in contrast with a 10% increase in total CDOR consumers. The decline of Priority 1 consumers may be attributed to changes in federal regulations surrounding competitive integrated employment in an integrated setting. The CDOR no longer places consumers in subminimum wage employment and requires all job placements to be in integrated settings.

CDOR Caseload: Individuals with the Most Significant Disabilities

• The average total of consumers within priority category 1 was approximately 32,000 across four program years.
• The average percentage of consumers within priority category 1 was 31% across four program years.
• The average number of consumers who receive Supported Employment services annually is approximately 3,500.
• Overall, consumers who received any type of service related to Supported Employment decreased 11% over a span of 4 program years.
• Of CDOR consumers who received Supported Employment services over the past 4 program years (PY), 85% of SE services were individual services and 15% were provided in a group setting. In addition, over the past four years, Individual SE services rose by 24%, while Group SE services fell by 162%. As previously mentioned, the WIOA definition of competitive integrated employment may be causing the shift from group SE to individual SE placements.

CDOR Caseload: Consumers who received Individual or Group SE Services

• The average total of consumers receiving Individual SE services was approximately 3,000 across four program years.
• The average total of consumers receiving Group Se services was approximately 500 across four program years.
• CDOR Supported Employment consumers by geographic location: Areas with the lowest number of CDOR consumers who receive Supported Employment services may exist within counties considered rural based on rural definitions of the Economic Research Service Rural-Urban Commuting Areas (RUCA). The counties are:
  • Amador
  • Butte
  • El Dorado
  • Calaveras
  • Tuolumne

Future research will include gathering feedback from Supported Employment partners in rural areas to expand on the needs of individuals with the most significant disabilities.

Individuals with the Most Significant Disabilities by Disability Type: For the most recent program year 2018-19, demographic data by disability type for Priority 1 consumers indicate:

• Intellectual/Developmental disabilities represent 79% of Priority 1 consumers. Research will be conducted for inclusion in the final CSA for the purpose of gathering qualitative data from the Department of Developmental Services to better assess the needs of individuals with Intellectual/Developmental disabilities.
• All other disability types used by CDOR are less than 10% each and include:
  • Cognitive: 7%
  • Physical: 6%
  • Learning: 4%
  • Psychiatric: 2%
  • Traumatic Brain Injury: 1%
  • Deaf/Hard of Hearing: 1%
  • Blind/Visual: <1%

CDOR Caseload: Supported Employment Consumers by Disability Type

Individuals with the Most Significant Disabilities by Ethnicity: Underserved or unserved ethnic groups for people with the most significant disabilities may be identified by comparing data from the American Community Survey (ACS) with CDOR consumer demographic data. For PY 18-19, CDOR demographic data by ethnicity for Priority 1 consumers indicate:

• American Indian: <1%
• Pacific Islander: <1%
• Multi: 3%
• Asian: 8%
• African American: 12%
• Hispanic: 32%
• White: 45%

CDOR Caseload: Supported Employment Consumers by Ethnicity

ACS 5-year estimate demographic data for 2013-2017 for individuals who have reported a disability and reside in California:

• American Indian: 16.4%
• Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 10.4%
• Two or more races: 9.3%
• Asian: 8.0%
• African American: 15.0%
• Hispanic: 8.1%
• White alone, not Hispanic or Latinx: 13.5%

Overall population estimates for Californians with disabilities using ACS data in comparison with CDOR consumer data indicates some ethnic groups may be underserved. African American, American Indian, Asian and Pacific Islander ethnic groups may be considered underserved based upon initial data with respect to overall population representation. Additional qualitative data will be gathered from key informants on unserved and underserved individuals with disabilities in the state and the analysis will be included in the final CSA set to be released in Fall 2020. It is important to note, Hispanic ethnicities are no longer considered underserved due to implementation of cultural engagement measures by CDOR, referenced in Description (o)(3).

Youth with the Most Significant Disabilities: Youth aged 14-24 made up 33% of the CDOR caseload for consumers with most significant disabilities. CDOR has made it a priority to provide services to youth with the most significant disabilities.

CDOR Caseload: Supported Employment Consumers - Youth with Disabilities

Findings: Disability data from the U.S. Census Bureau can be used to compare state population demographics with CDOR consumer demographics to indicate if a certain population is underserved. However, for individuals with a most significant disability, U.S. Census Bureau data for this specific population that is drilled down by ethnicity is unavailable. As the Census does not designate disabilities by degree and/or magnitude of disability as CDOR does, only the total population of people with general disabilities as defined by the Census within California can be used. Because the data is not similar, definitive comparisons cannot be made for Priority 1 consumers in this section but will be covered in section VI-VR j.1.B.

In response to the changes in SE, CDOR has placed an emphasis on ensuring individuals with the most significant disabilities, including those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, achieve competitive integrated employment. Priority one, goal three highlights this emphasis by identifying opportunities for partnership and systems alignment to increase competitive integrated employment for individuals with the most significant disabilities. Refer to Description (l)(1) for additional information on this goal.

Next Steps: Key Informant interviews will be conducted with individuals who represent a wide range of vocational rehabilitation and independent living-related constituencies. These potential key informants were selected by CDOR, in collaboration with the SRC. Key informants include but are not limited to: executive directors of VR service delivery-related agencies large and small, education partners, justice involved agencies, mental health clinicians, workforce development system, independent living centers, Division of Apprenticeship Standards, American Indian VR agencies and members of the California Association of Social Rehabilitation Agencies.

Prior to initiating the key informant interviews, the CDOR presented the survey questions and obtained feedback from the SRC. Privacy measures were established to anonymize key informants, protect response integrity and to encourage free-flowing dialogue during the interview. Following the early planning phase of the project, a qualitative research method was developed by CDOR to ensure accuracy, clarity and the inclusion of evidence-based research techniques. Once the interviews are initiated, each potential key informant will receive an invitational email by CDOR that discloses the purpose, intent and importance of the federally mandated CSA and requests their support and participation.

Coding, comparison and memo-writing techniques will be used in the analysis of the qualitative data for the ultimate cohesion and consistency of narrative information. Coding and comparison will be utilized to disaggregate the data for the purpose of labelling.  At the conclusion of this exercise, CDOR researchers agree on the final themes and share the final findings in the full CSA report set to be released in the Fall of 2020.