Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Vocational Rehabilitation
The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services Portion of the Unified or Combined State Plan* must include the following descriptions and estimates, as required by section 101(a) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by WIOA:
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* Sec. 102(b)(D)(iii) of WIOA
- d. Coordination with Education Officials
- 2. Information on the Formal Interagency Agreement with the State Educational Agency with Respect To:
- O. State's StrategiesDescribe 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
- 2. Information on the Formal Interagency Agreement with the State Educational Agency with Respect To:
- d. Coordination with Education Officials
d. 2. O. iii. The Outreach Procedures That Will Be Used to Identify and Serve Individuals with Disabilities Who Are Minorities, Including Those with the Most Significant Disabilities, as Well as Those Who Have Been Unserved or Underserved by the Vr Program.
Current Narrative:
The Hispanic population is by far Idaho’s largest minority group at 11.7%; however, this group represents only 7.4% of individuals served by IDVR. While no other minority group in Idaho exceeds 2.4%, Idaho is a major state for resettlement and has experienced a significant influx of refugees in Regions 3, 4, 7 and 8. In order to best understand the needs of this population, IDVR conducts joint staff training in conjunction with the Agency for New American’s. IDVR works maintains regular contact and outreach with staff at the International Rescue Committee refugee organization and all three resettlement agencies in the Treasure Valley and Magic Valley regions. IDVR has had representation at the 2015 Idaho Conference on Refugees. The Division maintains contact with Family Medicine, a medical provider to newly arrived refugees in the Treasure Valley to coordinate referrals.
Additionally, IDVR conducts ongoing outreach activities to meet the needs of the Spanish speaking population statewide. A number of these individuals engage in migrant seasonal farm work. The Division works collaboratively with IDOL, the Idaho Migrant Council, and the Idaho Division of Hispanic Affairs to identify these individuals and processes to best conduct outreach activities.
The Division conducts various outreach activities to identify and involve individuals with disabilities from underserved backgrounds. These include but are not limited to:
- Monthly Participation in the Amigo Round Table hosted by the Mexican Consulate
- Working with community based mental health programs to identify leads for potential outreach
- Continuing meetings with Boise State University’s Hispanic equivalency recruiter
- Meeting with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s bilingual staff as well as ongoing meetings with DHW’s Targeted Service Coordinators to identify potential referrals
- Collaborating with Idaho Youth Ranch to look at ways of better serving individuals who are minorities
- Participation in the multi–partner Refugee Employment Networking and Training group hosted by the Idaho Department of Labor
IDVR also conducts tribal outreach, per agreement, in conjunction with 121 projects to the four tribes located in Idaho and the substantial American Indian population residing in the Treasure Valley.
IDVR has connected with the ESL coordinator at the College of Western Idaho who disseminates information to VR staff on free English language classes and training opportunities for customers.
IDVR maintains regular meetings with qualified interpreters for a variety of languages to better serve VR clients with limited English proficiency.
Finally, with the changes to subminimum wage in WIOA, IDVR is establishing a process to provide career counseling, information and referral, and document informed choice with individuals who are in or considering subminimum wage employment.