Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Vocational Rehabilitation (Blind)
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
- c. Cooperative Agreements with Agencies Not Carrying Out Activities Under the Statewide Workforce Development System
Describe interagency cooperation with and utilization of the services and facilities of agencies and programs that are not carrying out activities through the statewide workforce development system with respect to:
- c. Cooperative Agreements with Agencies Not Carrying Out Activities Under the Statewide Workforce Development System
c. 1. Federal, State, and local agencies and programs;
Current Narrative:
The Division of State Services for the Blind (DSB) cooperates with other WIOA partners and can make referrals for adult literacy, higher education, DHS programs, and other services as needed. DSB and ARS have shared cooperative agreements with the 33 Institutions of Higher Education. DSB works in close partnership with schools, especially the Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired to provide vocational rehabilitation services and Pre-ETS to students. DSB also coordinates with the Department of Education’s Educational Services for the Visually Impaired (ESVI) to serve high school students who are blind or visually impaired.
DSB has a cooperative agreement with the following DHS agencies DHS Division of Aging and Adult Services; DHS Division of Behavioral Health (DBHS); DHS Division of Children and Family Services; DHS Division of County Operations; DHS Division of Developmental Disabilities Services (DDS); and DHS Division of Youth Services. There are also the following interagency and non-profit agreements between Arkansas Rehabilitation Services (ARS), DDS, DBHS, Arkansas Department of Education Special Education Unit (ADE SEU), and DSB for increasing the number of individuals in competitive employment and expanding Supported Employment. An agreement between ADE SEU, ARS, and DSB regarding Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS).
DSB shares broadcast engineering services and uses facilities at the Arkansas Educational Television Network to provide DSB’s Arkansas Information Reading Services (AIRS) and Newsline. People who are blind or visually impaired can access AIRS broadcasts of news and other informational programming 24 hours a day via computers, smart phones, laptops, and live streaming. The signal is also broadcast on the secondary audio (MTS) of AETN-4, and is carried by many cable TV systems. Newsline enables people who are blind or visually impaired to access over 300 newspapers and magazines via phone, Internet, digital talking-book player and MP3 players.
DSB works cooperatively with service organizations and non-profits to raise awareness of blindness issues and promote the independence of people who are blind or visually impaired. These organizations include Arkansas Lions Clubs, the National Federation of the Blind Arkansas Chapter, the American Council of the Blind Arkansas Chapter. The Arkansas Lions Eye Bank and Laboratory at UAMS, Mid-South Sight and Hearing, the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) and the Arkansas Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.
Update PY2022-2023 DSB and ARS are working with the Helen Keller National Center (HKNC) and the Children and Youth with Sensory Impairments (CAYSI) on two Deafblind projects. DSB has also signed an MOU with the American Indian Center of Arkansas.