Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Vocational Rehabilitation (Blind)
The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services Portion of the Unified or Combined State Plan [13] must include the following descriptions and estimates, as required by section 101(a) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by title IV of WIOA:
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[13] Sec. 102(b)(2)(D)(iii) of WIOA
- c. Cooperative Agreements with Agencies Not Carrying Out Activities Under the Statewide Workforce Development System
Describe interagency cooperation with and utilization of the services and facilities of agencies and programs that are not carrying out activities through the statewide workforce development system with respect to:
- c. Cooperative Agreements with Agencies Not Carrying Out Activities Under the Statewide Workforce Development System
c. 3. Programs carried out by the Under Secretary for Rural Development of the Department of Agriculture;
Current Narrative:
DBVI supports staff involvement in the USDA’s AgrAbility project. Maine AgrAbility is administered by Alpha One and the University of Maine. The BRS liaison to the project shares information with DBVI staff about AgrAbility and related resources.
Based on results of a special project targeting youth with disabilities and agriculture, Maine AgrAbility evaluated their mission to determine how to support job exploration and development. Out of this project, they discovered gaps not addressed as part of AgrAbility's mission. These are opportunities where Maine AgrAbility could work with VR to support VR clients interested in either job exploration or job development as part of a fee-for-service agreement because Maine AgrAbility cannot provide these additional services at no cost with the current USDA grant funding. One concept was to identify farms that may be interested in having a person with disabilities work on their farm. This would include a farm visit, introduction of AgrAbility and VR, as well as sharing success stories. This would help to develop a better understanding of the type of work, tasks, and expectations of working on the farm. Another concept was to provide “Farm Oversight". This person would help place clients on farms/sites in coordination with VRC.
A separate effort in 2020 will discuss this fee for service for transition age youth to access farms for work trials and prospective employment.