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:
__________
[13] Sec. 102(b)(2)(D)(iii) of WIOA
- g. Coordination with Employers
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
g. 2. Transition services, including pre-employment transition services, for students and youth with disabilities.
Current Narrative:
In facilitating transition services, Pre-Apprenticeship is in its infancy and is currently being explored within the Maine Department of Labor (MDOL). Collaboration with the Maine Apprenticeship Program in BES is leading to increased access to employers.
The Progressive employment model has continued to increase access to business through tours, informational interviews, and career exploration activities, all leading to more employer engagement. Every client regardless of readiness is “ready for something” under this model, e.g., informational interview, tour, job shadow, work experience, OJT, etc. The benefit, of meeting the client where they are at and highly individualized planning, is the ability to “carve” out opportunities, and a system that encourages engagement driven by the client – as well as learning very early the strengths and areas to work on with the client. Another benefit is it allows employers to engage future employees in less formal, more inclusive ways, as well as exposure to a more diverse population. Both youth and adults have benefitted under this model.
DBVI’s Blindness Rehabilitation Specialists/Transition Consultants (BLRS/TC) are using the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) model and are utilizing Maine’s Business Enterprise Program to do more career exploration in the area of small business ownership, further enhancing the facilitation of opportunities of competitive integrated employment.