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:
__________
* 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:
- G. Coordination with Employers(Formerly known as Attachment 4.8(b)(5)). Describe how the designated State unit will work with employers to identify competitive integrated employment and career exploration opportunities in order to facilitate the provision of:
- G. Coordination with Employers
- 2. Information on the Formal Interagency Agreement with the State Educational Agency with Respect To:
- d. Coordination with Education Officials
d. 2. G. ii. Transition Services, Including Pre-employment Transition Services, for Students and Youth with Disabilities.
Current Narrative:
DVR maintains membership on the Colorado State Youth Council (SYC), which is a subcommittee of the Colorado Workforce Development Council. One goal of the SYC is to identify and support existing strategies, practices and projects that demonstrate success, and to augment and introduce other successful practices throughout Colorado. Each year, local communities are invited to submit local promising practices to the SYC that effectively address the needs of youth who are transitioning into adulthood. Submissions are scored against the National Center on Workforce and Disability’s (NCSD) evidence-based Design Guideposts for Success. These are: school preparation; youth development and leadership; career preparation; connecting activities; and family involvement and supports.
The SYC recognizes selected promising practices every other year at the Think Big Youth Forum. The Think Big Youth Forum is sponsored by the SYC, the Colorado Department of Labor, the Office of Workforce Development, the Colorado Department of Education and DVR. The Youth Forum brings together statewide youth practitioners from vocational rehabilitation, education and workforce development for two days of professional development. The promising practices recognized at the Forum are highlighted and recognized. The SYC continues to coordinate their efforts to work more closely with local youth councils using Colorado’s Blue Print, a bottom-up economic development planning initiative. These benefit the youth we serve by moving them towards employment outcomes in the various industry sectors.
Results from DVR’s recent comprehensive statewide needs assessment survey showed a greater need to expand work based learning activities for Colorado’s youth with disabilities. School Districts in Colorado are not adequately equipped to serve students in this manner, although there is a shared opinion that young adults who have the opportunity to participate in a work experience have greater success after exiting the secondary education system. DVR has begun to address this need through by facilitating the development of work experiences at the local level through partnerships with employers, districts/BOCES, DVR and the work force centers. DVR will examine those areas that have demonstrated success in creating work experiences to determine if there are common themes that other areas of the state can learn and use or if practices can be replicated.
DVR continues to explore opportunities to further coordinate with employers to support the provision of transition services, including pre-employment transition services, for students and youth with disabilities.