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:
- I. Comprehensive System of Personnel Development; Data System on Personnel and Personnel Development(Formerly known as Attachment 4.10)). Describe the designated State agency's procedures and activities to establish and maintain a comprehensive system of personnel development designed to ensure an adequate supply of qualified State rehabilitation professional and paraprofessional personnel for the designated State unit, including the following:
- i. Data System on Personnel and Personnel Development
- I. Qualified Personnel Needs.Describe the development and maintenance of a system for collecting and analyzing on an annual basis data on qualified personnel needs with respect to:
- I. Qualified Personnel Needs.
- i. Data System on Personnel and Personnel Development
- I. Comprehensive System of Personnel Development; Data System on Personnel and Personnel Development
- 2. Information on the Formal Interagency Agreement with the State Educational Agency with Respect To:
- d. Coordination with Education Officials
d. 2. I. i. I. a. The number of personnel who are employed by the State agency in the provision of VR services in relation to the number of individuals served, broken down by personnel category;
Current Narrative:
• Personnel Data and Projections
The Division maintains professional Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors to provide direct client services. The total number of counselors employed corresponds with a ratio of approximately one counselor per 31,599 of the general population, the number of positions filled as allowed by the State Personnel Office, and the available budget as approved by the State Legislature and Congress. Under this current methodology, the Division has 66 caseloads to serve a statewide population base of 2,085,572 based on 2010 census data. New Mexico has a projected growth rate of 0.64 annually.
Ideally, the Division would like to decrease this ratio by increasing the number of employed Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors. The initiative to advocate for additional Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors has been successful with the addition of 10 new full-time Vocational Rehabilitation Supervisory Counseling positions recently approved by NM legislative process. Additional efforts to increase NM DVR workforce will continue in order to establish workable caseload sizes. The Division has determined that 13 new counselor positions will be necessary to adequately meet the growing population needs, and provide the appropriate support to our Transition students. NMDVR Staff Development Unit works closely with Human Resource department to analyze personnel needs and resources. In addition, Management staff regularly reviews staffing issues to assist in planning for future staffing needs for the betterment of the agency. Staff Development unit is specifically assigned to maintain training databases in order to design training initiatives necessary to support staff their various positions and job tasks as assigned within the agency. NMDVR is committed in supporting staff towards educational experiences that builds on their fundamental expertise to support the overall goals and mission of the agency. In consideration of WIOA, CSPD guidelines, the agency is committed to ensuring Vocational Rehabilitation staff is appropriately supported in training and professional development through various methods.