Narrative: g. 1.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Rehabilitation Act), provides states with considerable flexibility in the organization of the agency or agencies responsible for the administration of the vocational rehabilitation (VR) program. States may choose to designate one agency to provide VR services to persons with all types of disabilities (known as a “combined” agency), or two distinct agencies, one to serve individuals who are blind and visually impaired and another to serve individuals with all other disabilities (known as “blind” and “general” agencies, respectively) (section 101(a)(2) of the Rehabilitation Act). Missouri is fortunate to be one of 24 states that have both a general VR agency (Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation-General) and services for the blind VR agency (Rehabilitation Services for the Blind) as core and equal partners for the vocational rehabilitation program. Research indicates that separate blind agencies, when compared to general/combined agencies, show higher quality services specific to the population, resulting in better trained clients ready for the 21st century workforce, higher competitive placement rates, and higher incomes at closure leading toward self-sufficiency for those individuals. This organizational structure provides greater effectiveness and efficiency in working with clients and employers in the provision of vocational rehabilitation services and meeting the vision and requirements of WIOA.

RSB works with employers through a variety of activities at the local level to identify competitive integrated employment and career exploration opportunities to facilitate the provision of VR services and transition services, including transition services for students and youth with disabilities and pre-employment transition services for students with disabilities. District offices engage in outreach activities meeting directly with employers to identify employment needs and educate employers about the services RSB can offer for existing and new employees. Each district office and the Prevention of Blindness program have a tonometer to screen for the early signs of glaucoma as a service to employers and to promote VR services. Outreach activities are extended to employer health fairs, job fairs, chamber of commerce events, and participating in local Workforce Development Boards. RSB has developed relationships with several employers across the state communicating directly with HR staff on employment needs, identify customized employment opportunities, and provide disability/blindness awareness and sensitivity training. Outreach activities have resulted in competitive integrated employment outcomes and work experience opportunities, both paid and unpaid, for youth and students with disabilities and adult clients.

RSB has one Job Development Specialist that works directly with employers to develop relationships and identify clients from various offices to meet employer needs. This position serves on several committees including the St. Louis Deafblind Taskforce, St. Louis County Disability Resource Committee, Employment Liaison Committee, Employment Working Group for Immigrants and refugees, St. Louis Transition Council, St. Louis Special School District Agency Collaborative, and the Urban League. This position receives and distributes job postings to VR staff and assists clients in the development of business plans required for self-employment vocational goals.

RSB participates in the National Employment Team (NET), a one-company approach to serving a variety of businesses through the national network of VR programs.  The NET’s vision is to create a coordinated approach to serving business customers through a national VR team that specializes in employer development, business consulting and corporate relations. The NET supports a dual customer base, meeting the employment needs of qualified applicants and support services provided by the VR program. This offers VR agencies a national system for sharing employment resources, best practices, and provides business connections. The point of contact from each VR agency is invited to participate in phone conferences to learn more about a specific company’s business, their hiring needs and trends, discuss accessibility and accommodations, and their success with VR services in other states. The result is that businesses have a direct access to a pool of qualified applicants and the support services offered by RSB, and RSB clients have access to national and local employment opportunities and career development resources.

The Talent Acquisition Portal (TAP) was built for VR and businesses to work together for the success of hiring individuals with ABILITIES. TAP is an online system, which includes both a national talent pool of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) candidates looking for employment and a job posting system for businesses looking to hire individuals with disabilities. TAP is led by the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation and the National Employment Team (NET) in partnership with disABLEDperson, Inc., and TAP is supported by the NET, which includes VR Business Consultants in every state, the territories and D.C. who can partner and can provide support services to businesses at the national, state and local level.

TAP services to businesses includes:

• Post Jobs that will reach all 80 Agencies in 50 States, Territories, and DC

• Voluntary Self-Disclosure of Candidates

• Résumé searching and Geographic Availability of Candidates

• Job Reporting Metrics

• Compliance Reports

• Preliminary Interview Capability

• Online Job Fairs • Printable Transcripts

• Partnership opportunities through The NET

• Manual or Automated Job Postings through their API

Every RSB counselor and district supervisor has access to TAP and can invite any VR client to enter their information into the system. Counselors can help the client enter information, edit résumés, and send job leads to clients.

RSB’s clients are able to access jobs.mo.gov, a web-based employment resource for clients and employers maintained by the Division of Workforce Development. This site offers clients career planning and job exploration, self-assessment, and wage and trend data to analyze careers, trends and growing occupations in Missouri. Clients are able to search for job orders and referral information from employers for job openings that meet their qualifications. Clients can access other job portals through this system, expanding the search outside of Missouri. Employers can also perform a job search for available applicants that match the skills for their specific employment needs and can access information on incentives, business resources, and recruitment.