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. 6. Strategies to improve the performance of the State with respect to the performance accountability measures under section 116 of WIOA
Current Narrative:
DVR routinely monitors performance on the common performance accountability measures identified in section 116 of WIOA. DVR’s MIS team works to ensure availability of performance reporting information and DVR’s leadership team comes together on a regular basis to evaluate performance, identify trends, explore barriers, and develop strategies to improve performance.
As most performance measures have remained in baseline, DVR had not identified specific performance targets, aside from Measurable Skill Gains, prior the 2022-2023 State Plan Modification. Rather, DVR has focused on ensuring effective data collection and internal controls to support effective reporting. DVR continues to reinforce with staff the importance of accurate and timely documentation, particularly with appropriate validation of data reported. DVR’s Quality Assurance Specialist continues to refine procedures to incorporate this validation more directly into quality assurance reviews. Counselors often struggle to obtain timely documentation from program participants and/or partners to validate reported measurable skill gains or credentials. DVR will continue to explore strategies to ensure necessary documentation is received timely and measurable skill gains or credentials earned can be included in performance measures.
DVR believes success in employment and wages is directly connected to the nature of employment outcomes achieved by participants. Therefore, better use of labor market information to further promote employment outcomes in key industries in Colorado is a critical strategy to support performance accountability, with the expectation that employment in these industries will lead to higher earnings and prolonged employment for individuals with disabilities. As described elsewhere in the State Plan, the impact of employment on disability benefits repeatedly is cited by participants and partners as a limiting factor for individuals considering returning to work. DVR believes the focus on increasing the availability of benefits planning will lead to better performance when considering earnings and ongoing employment. 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.
DVR commits to continuing to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the six common performance measures.