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
k. 2. B. The Supported Employment Program; and
Current Narrative:
The Title VI – Supported Employment regulations were affected with the passing of WIOA, allowing states a longer period of time to provide services to youth with a most significant disability who required supported employment services. Another change was that costs were not captured as supported employment until the individual was placed in employment status. The funds were also specifically earmarked for certain populations, restricting spending to adults if the equivalent expenditures were not made within the youth budget. Therefore, there may not be a direct correlation between the number of eligible individuals to the amount spent in each respective budget. In FFY2019, there were 31 individuals that were identified as needing supported employment services. The costs of these services fell within the Title VI as well as the Title I program as many of the identified individuals were not placed into employment status. Currently, there are approximately 10 DBVI consumers identified as “Youth with a Significant Disability.” DBVI has determined that many consumers are able to work in the competitive labor market without supports.
Maine DBVI estimates that for both FFY20 and FFY21, the number will stay relatively the same or perhaps even decline slightly for those in the supported employment program. The best estimate for both years is between 20-30 individuals for both adults and youth with a significant disability.