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. 2. M. i. II. The Justification for the Order.
Current Narrative:
Beginning in October 2015, DSHS/DVR experienced a significant increase in the number of customers served under Individualized Plans for Employment (IPEs). This rapid increase occurred after the drafting of the DSHS/DVR 2016 - 2020 State Plan. In October of 2015, when State Plan estimates were calculated, DSHS/DVR served 6,598 customers with IPEs. By the end of federal fiscal year 2017, this number had grown to 7,483, a 13% increase.
Increased service volumes led to corresponding increases in case service expenditures. Monthly average purchased service expenditures have increased steadily from $2,493,912 in FFY 2015 to $2,721,649 in FFY 2016, to $2,833,130 in FFY 2017.
While service volumes and costs have increased, DSHS/DVR’s funds have not increased to meet this demand. Because revenue streams remain consistent, DSHS/DVR directed carry-over funds to meet increasing service demands and costs. Consequently, carry-over funds have rapidly diminished. DSHS/DVR carried-over $34,366,000 into FFY 2015, $29,052,638 into FFY 2016, $20,302,559 into FFY 2017 and $14,391,272 into FFY 2018.
Had DSHS/DVR continued to expand services and costs at its former rate, DSHS/DVR would have overspent all revenue sources by late FFY 2018. Therefore, an order of selection was necessary to ensure services remained available for all customers with IPEs, without overspending available funds. In addition, DSHS/DVR projected that implementation on November 1, 2017 will allow Priority Category 1 to remain open, ensuring individuals with the most significant disabilities access to services without a wait list.
The FFY 2018 costs of serving existing IPE customers and new Priority Category 1 customers is projected to be $33,000,000. This amount will require DSHS/DVR to direct an estimated $7,500,000 of its carry-over funds to purchased services.
Current case service and budget projections indicate that DSHS/DVR’s sustainable purchased service budget is between $25,000,000 and $26,000,000. FFY 2019 projections indicate this budget is sufficient to serve existing customers with IPEs, new Priority Category 1 customers, and between 600 - 800 Priority Category 2 customers who may be released from the wait list in small cohorts on a monthly basis.
DSHS/DVR is confident in the reliability of its case service and fiscal projection models. These models are based on 32 months of fiscal and case service data and include rigorous methods and data validations. However, baseline data were collected when DSHS/DVR was not operating under an order of selection and, at the time of this update, order of selection has been in effect for less than three months. Due to these limitations, DSHS/DVR is closely monitoring the impact of order of selection.