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:
Outreach procedures that are currently being used to identify and serve individuals with disabilities who are minorities as well as those who have been unserved or underserved begin with state agency level outreach, and trickle down to local field relationships with various partners. While no formal written agreements for identifying and serving individuals with disabilities who are minorities currently exist, VR has initiated interagency cooperation with the following programs in order to address underserved and unserved populations: Indiana Civil Rights Commission, the Native American Affairs Commission, the American Indian Center of Indiana, the Latino Institute, Commission on the Social Status of Black Males, Indiana Black Expo, the Haitian American Association, and the Burmese American Association. BRS’ Director of Business and Community Engagement regularly conducts outreach to meet and as needed, provide VR 101 training to these various groups. The Director of Business and Community Engagement then disburses information to appropriate VR field staff and serves as a liaison to obtain additional resources as needed. BRS also has several staff attend the Black Expo event annually to provide information to individuals with disabilities, or family members of individuals with disabilities. The Black Expo event is very well attended and is one of the city’s largest non-sports affiliated events each year.
For consumers with the most significant disabilities, VR continues to collaborate with BDDS, DOE, local educational agencies, INARF, IPAS/CAP, and others to ensure opportunities are afforded to these individuals to achieve competitive, integrated employment. BRS maintains a written agreement with DOE, the BRS Director regularly attends and presents at quarterly INARF events, staff attend annual INARF and INAPSE conferences, VR Counselors are assigned as liaisons to each local educational agency, and BRS Leadership regularly meets with IPAS/CAP and BDDS. All of these partners are also included on workgroups and advisory boards, and are invited to present at training events and meetings as appropriate. Additionally, VR field offices are co-located with BDDS field offices to improve local relationships, better service mutual consumers, and facilitate a cross-referral process.