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:
In July 2019, DVR contracted with Washington State University, Social and Economic Studies Research Center, to assess the needs of individuals with disabilities who are unserved or underserved, including racial and ethnic minorities. The two-part study included a web-based survey, completed by 33 stakeholders, and follow-up phone interviews with 23 of the survey completers. The survey was designed to identify service needs and barriers to accessing services by populations that are not well-served by DVR. Interviews were held to gain insight into barriers to employment and ways to improve DVR services to underserved groups. Stakeholders were also asked about the appropriate roles of DVR and Washington’s broader workforce system in serving people with disabilities and ways to ensure DVR services are culturally competent and responsive to customers.
Service Needs: Core VR services of Job Placement, Job Retention, Transition Services for Youth, Job Exploration, and training or education ranked highest among the services most needed by unserved and underserved populations. The table below shows the top service needs, based on weighted rankings of stakeholders’ selection of their top three priorities.
| Service Needs | Overall Rank | % Ranked #1 | % Ranked #2 | % Ranked #3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job Placement | 1 | 34% | 14% | 20% |
| Job Retention | 2 | 2% | 25% | 17% |
| Transition Services for Youth | 3 | 13% | 8% | 9% |
| Job Exploration | 4 | 7% | 12% | 11% |
| Technical/Vocational Training | 5 | 10% | 4% | 5% |
| On-the-Job Supports or Coaching | 6 | 3% | 7% | 18% |
| Internships/Apprenticeships | 7 | 7% | 8% | 4% |
| Vocational Assessment | 8 | 3% | 11% | 3% |
| Restoration/Rehabilitation | 9 | 5% | 2% | 4% |
| Independent Living | 10 | 3% | 4% | 4% |
| Literacy/Basic Education | 11 | 4% | 2% | 2% |
| Assistive Technology | 12 | 2% | 2% | 1% |
| Post-Secondary Education | 13 | 0% | 2% | 3% |
Barriers to Access: Transportation to services, awareness of/understanding of service availability, language or cultural factors, and wait time for services were most frequently selected.
| Barriers to Access | Overall Rank | % Ranked #1 | % Ranked #2 | % Ranked #3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transportation to Services | 1 | 13% | 14% | 13% |
| Awareness/Understanding of Service Availability | 2 | 15% | 12% | 13% |
| Wait Time for Services | 3 | 10% | 10% | 13% |
| Language/Cultural Factors | 4 | 12% | 7% | 8% |
| Provider Lack of Expertise Related to Needed Services | 5 | 10% | 8% | 9% |
| Behavioral Health Factors | 6 | 3% | 14% | 6% |
| Location of Services | 7 | 8% | 4% | 9% |
| Provider Lack of Expertise Related to Disability Type | 8 | 5% | 6% | 4% |
| Criminal History | 9 | 5% | 6% | 4% |
| Homelessness/Housing Insecurity | 9 | 4% | 4% | 5% |
| Physical Accessibility of Services | 11 | 5% | 3% | 1% |
| Health Factors | 12 | 3% | 5% | 3% |
| Literacy/Educational Level | 13 | 1% | 6% | 4% |
| Assistive or Other Technology Needs | 14 | 0% | 3% | 3% |
| Cost of Services | 15 | 0% | 2% | 2% |
The following barriers to employment were most frequently identified by stakeholders:
Complexity of the Customer Context: A primary barrier to employment for groups that are not well-served is the inability of workforce system partners to recognize and address the complexity of the customer’s life context. These circumstances are often social and economic in nature, experienced especially by homeless people and ex-offenders. Issues such as transportation, housing, mental or physical health, and substance abuse, make it much more difficult for them to access DVR services or maintain employment. These types of obstacles are not typically considered or well-assessed when evaluating barriers to employment and eligibility for vocational rehabilitation services. Order of selection restricts DVR’s ability to serve these populations when the significance of their disability does not account for these types of limitations.
For racial and ethnic minorities, a general lack of cultural awareness among workforce system partners limits access to services. The system is designed to respond to people seeking assistance. However, some cultures rely more on families to care for people with disabilities and may not seek assistance. Stakeholders also identified a failure to recognize that diversity exists within cultures, for example subgroups within the Asian, African American, and the deaf community.
Accessing DVR: Access to DVR services was primarily described in terms of customer lack of awareness about services and DVR’s limited capacity to take new customers, which is intensified by order of selection. The most frequently identified racial and ethnic groups who lack awareness of DVR services and would benefit from outreach included Native Americans, sub-cultures in the broader Asian community, and East Africans. Others thought that DVR needs to engage students and youth at younger ages, indicating that they lack an orientation to planning for their future and understanding their options. Veterans and people living in rural areas were also thought to be in need of greater DVR outreach.
Order of selection was noted as a barrier to services since it excludes individuals whose disabilities are determined to be less severe. This has especially impacted deaf and deaf-blind populations and people with mental health disorders.
Timelines and Timeliness: Many stakeholders mentioned that more time is needed for some customers to be successful. For example, trusting relationships between ex-offenders and employers take time to develop. For other populations, it can take additional time to engage the customer, fully understand their needs, recognize their potential, and figure out the right resources for the individual.
Issues were also noted in relation to cultural differences in perception of time and timeliness. Cultural differences can affect a customer’s ability to keep to appointments and impact case progress timelines.
Strengths and Challenges of the Workforce System
Interview questions also addressed the strengths and challenges of DVR and the broader workforce system in meeting the vocational rehabilitation needs of people with disabilities. Changes to workforce system programs have emphasized stronger relationships and coordination across programs, with the goal of establishing a seamless service delivery network that enhances customer access to services. All workforce development programs are expected to be accessible to people with disabilities. At the same time, DVR services are more focused on assisting people with the most significant disabilities and youth in transition from school to work.
Better Partnerships: Stakeholders commented that DVR has been successful in building stronger partnerships with groups such as the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Developmental Disabilities Administration, Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation programs, and Economic Security Administration programs. Additionally, DVR has improved communications with workforce system partners and provided expertise on disability-informed approaches and making programs accessible to people with disabilities.
Customer Focus: Customer relationships and focus on individual needs were also identified as areas of DVR strength. Developing staff skills to address specific service needs, providing multiple vendor options to customers, and finding a good fit between employer and customer were noted areas of improvement. Counselors have good relationships with their customers and work closely with them to understand their vocational goals. Communications with customers on the waiting list have improved.
Community Impact: DVR has changed perceptions about people with disabilities working in a competitive setting, which has helped de-stigmatize disabilities.
Limited Capacity: In addition to Order of Selection, procedural bottlenecks (e.g., supervisor approval and data entry requirements), high caseloads, and understaffing contribute to long wait times for services and restrict DVR’s capacity to serve more people. However, emphasis on timeliness can act against a client-centered approach, which requires flexibility in response to customer circumstances.
Other Challenges: Location of services and customer access to transportation were also mentioned as issues.
Subject Matter Expertise: DVR’s disability expertise can benefit all partners in the workforce system. Value is provided at the customer level, by coordinating a comprehensive, individualized approach to service, and at the system level by training partners on disability matters and available resources.
Partnership and Advocacy: DVR can be the connector for customers, workforce system partners, and employers to ensure that resources throughout the system are available to people with disabilities. DVR also has an advocacy role with respect to initiating partnerships at all levels of operations and educating employers about the contributions that people with disabilities can bring to the workplace.
Improved Collaboration: Communications and information sharing among workforce system partners have improved, although data sharing remains an issue. Efforts have also been made to coordinate client referrals, develop job and retention services for people who need additional support, and provide more individualized services. Some Workforce Development Councils actively work with DVR to develop plans to address barriers to access.
Changing Attitudes: The WIOA mandate to make services accessible and available to underserved groups has challenged the system to improve services for people with significant disabilities. The combination of the policy directive and DVR’s outreach and education have led to more positive attitudes about people with disabilities and brought greater focus to underserved groups in the workforce system.
Lack of Experience with Disabilities: The broader workforce system lacks understanding about disability and is not equipped to provide the individualized services needed by people with significant disabilities. The system is oriented to market needs and priorities.
Workforce System Design: WorkSource centers are locally designed and host a variety of employment assistance programs offered by different agencies, which do not always work well with DVR. DVR is unable to develop a standardized approach to collaborating with WorkSource, due to local variations in design and operations of the WorkSource centers.
:Cultural humility training is needed for DVR staff at all levels of the organization, to better understand cultural differences and the cultural context of people of color, Native Americans, and migrant communitiesConnecting with groups that specialize in working with minority populations will better ensure that DVR decisions reflect the needs of their communities.
DVR can also help to ensure that services are culturally aware and responsive by hiring a diverse staff that reflects the populations served. In combination with training, engagement with a more diverse workforce will increase cultural awareness throughout DVR. Dedicating staff to address cultural humility issues would also be beneficial.
:Awareness training was recommended in relation to several populations, including homeless individuals, ex-offenders, students and youth, older adults, and veterans. This training would provide insights into how to interact with and help customers access resources, identify assumptions that enter into interactions with customers, and gain greater understanding of social stratification and power dynamics that characterize counselor-customer relationships.