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
- o. State's Strategies
Describe the required strategies and how the agency will use these strategies to achieve its goals and priorities, support innovation and expansion activities, and overcome any barriers to accessing the VR and the Supported Employment programs (See sections 101(a)(15)(D) and (18)(B) of the Rehabilitation Act and section 427 of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA)):
- o. State's Strategies
o. 5. If applicable, plans for establishing, developing, or improving community rehabilitation programs within the State
Current Narrative:
DVR has a Vendor Relations Specialist who coordinates a committee that works to effectively determine rates and provider standards for goods and services that vendors provide to address vendor related concerns and to improve the overall quality of vendors purchased from various community providers. This committee is tasked with evaluating service rates and provider standards on an ongoing basis to support the availability of high quality providers. Additionally, DVR staff across the state continually work to recruit new qualified vendors to increase client choice of service providers. DVR has code of ethics vendors agree to follow, which also supports quality service delivery.
In 2016, legislation in Colorado was passed requiring DVR and HCPF to establish a minimum provider standard for supported employment service providers. Supported employment providers must complete nationally recognized supported employment training or a nationally recognized supported employment certification by July 1, 2024. Beginning July 1, 2024, new supported employment providers who are not fully qualified must receive supervision by a fully qualified provider and must become fully qualified within two years. The legislation included an appropriation enabling providers to be reimbursed for associated training and/or certification costs during this transition period. DVR continues to partner with HCPF to ensure ongoing communication with providers regarding the requirements and barriers to completing training and/or certification timely.
In 2019, DVR implemented a Customized Employment pilot in partnership with WINTAC. This partnership provided for training in Customized Employment, including Discovery and Systematic Instruction, through Marc Gold & Associates for DVR staff, supported employment providers, education partners, and others. Service providers had an opportunity to obtain certification. Additionally, in response to EFAP recommendations, funding was appropriated to DVR to expand Customized Employment training. DVR will utilize this funding to research, develop, and implement a sustainable approach to training providers and staff on Customized Employment strategies, with the intention of ensuring there are trained providers statewide able to provide customized employment services.
Particularly with supported employment services, various stakeholders, including the SRC and EFAP, have suggested systemic barriers with the fee structure for these services limiting access to qualified providers for individuals in need of these services. While the details of this work are unknown as of yet, it is expected that DVR will engage with providers, partners, recipients of services, and other relevant parties to consider how fee structures can better align with the cost of providing these services to ensure availability of high quality service providers.
Benefits counseling has also been identified as a service lacking sufficient qualified providers. DVR counselors are able to purchase benefits counseling services from a variety of providers, and provider qualifications were recently expanded to support increased provider capacity and improve access for providers to complete necessary training to provide this service.
Given findings from the 2021 CSNA and other strategic planning activities, DVR plans to add a Vendor Coordinator position focused on evaluating the effectiveness of services, training, and vendor recruitment. Increasing staff resources in this area is expected to support consistent procedures across the state and ensure that vendors are better prepared to provide high quality services.