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:
OVR has recently awarded, through an Innovation and Expansion project, the development of an Industry Integrated Employment and Training Program designed specifically for Latino Adults with Significant Disabilities in Berks County. This project will expand services to this targeted population.
OVR will continue to identify and expand key documentation and literature in Spanish, and further, will continue the use of language line for more effective communication with customers from different ethnic backgrounds to overcome language barriers.
OVR, in collaboration with the Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ODHH) and the Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) developed a Support Service Provider Initiative (SSP) for individuals who are deaf/blind. The purpose is to expand opportunities for individuals who are deaf blind in accessing educational, community and employment services. This collaborative effort will include the centers for independent living and the Helen Keller National Center. This significantly unserved population will now greatly benefit from this crucial service to promote independence.
OVR District Office staff provides outreach activities designed to educate and inform individuals with disabilities who are unserved or underserved. These targeted outreach activities will be designed to provide information about accessing OVR services. Early Reach Coordinators (ERC) will be conducting similar activities in schools to reach unserved or underserved students.
As a result of Section 511 in the re—authorization of the Rehabilitation Act in WIOA, OVR will be required to evaluate an individual with a disability who is age 24 or younger prior to them entering sub—minimum wage work. This will ensure this group of underserved youth has full opportunities to enter community integrated competitive employment.
Neither a local educational agency, as defined in § 397.5(b)(1), nor a State educational agency, as defined in§ 397.5(b)(2), may enter into a contract or other arrangement with an entity, as defined in § 397.5(d), for the purpose of operating a program under which a youth with a disability is engaged in subminimum wage employment. OVR is developing standard procedures to meet the requirements of this section that state that no entity may compensate an individual with a disability who is age 24 or younger at a wage referred to as subminimum wage until the individual has received pre—employment transition services and has applied for vocational rehabilitation services. For individuals who are already in the subminimum wage setting as of July 22, 2016, OVR will be providing career counseling. In addition, OVR is conducting outreach to local education agencies in order to educate them about the proposed regulations regarding the use of subminimum wage and OVR efforts that focus on: 1. Presenting information at transition coordinating council meetings, special education administrators’ meetings, statewide webinars with PaTTAN, and at the Special Education Advisory Panel meetings. 2. Developing alternate service delivery models for individuals with significant disabilities who may have traditionally entered into subminimum wage employment. 3. Developing innovative and collaborative programs and services such as Discovery and Customized Employment as well as funding for Comprehensive Transition Programs that will help divert individuals away from subminimum wage employment. 4. Revising the Supported Employment policy to ensure that these particular services truly meet the needs of the population it was intended to serve and to increase job stability and longevity in a competitive integrated environment.