Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Vocational Rehabilitation (Combined or General)
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
j. 1. C. Who have been unserved or underserved by the VR program;
Current Narrative:
- The SRC has a particular interest in assisting DVR to identify groups who have been unserved or underserved. They have focused initial efforts on better understanding the challenges of individuals who do not have safe and stable housing and those who are involved with the criminal justice system. The primary challenge in ensuring these individuals have access to vocational rehabilitation services is awareness. The majority of individuals experiencing homelessness, as well as those who were justice involved, reported they were not aware of DVR and had never considered seeking services, despite having disabilities. In fact, many partners who supported gathering information from these groups reported that even if aware of the support DVR could provide, they rarely considered making referrals. In some cases, this was simply due to other service needs taking priority or lack of ease in actually connecting individuals to the local DVR office. DVR has become increasingly aware of this challenge across a variety of community partners - partnership and awareness of what DVR can do is rarely evident among front line staff and these partnerships do not routinely result in referrals or active collaboration when coordinating services. This is particularly problematic when considering unserved or underserved populations, such as those who experience homelessness and those who are justice involved, but it highlights an opportunity for DVR to explore how to create more substantive partnerships with other community organizations to ensure all individuals with disabilities have access to necessary services to pursue competitive integrated employment.