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
- i. Comprehensive System of Personnel Development; Data System on Personnel and Personnel Development
Describe the designated State agency's procedures and activities to establish and maintain a comprehensive system of personnel development designed to ensure an adequate supply of qualified State rehabilitation professional and paraprofessional personnel for the designated State unit, including the following:
- 1. System on Personnel and Personnel Development
- B. Personnel Development
Describe the development and maintenance of a system for collecting and analyzing on an annual basis data on personnel development with respect to:
- B. Personnel Development
- 1. System on Personnel and Personnel Development
- i. Comprehensive System of Personnel Development; Data System on Personnel and Personnel Development
i. 1. B. i. A list of the institutions of higher education in the State that are preparing VR professionals, by type of program;
Current Narrative:
The Staff Development Coordinator maintains contact with the institutions of higher education and gathers data. The Coordinator reports this data to the Field Services Administrator and the Assistant Director. Below is the most recent information available from the institutions of higher education that have programs preparing vocational rehabilitation professionals:
The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (U of A) offers a Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling through the Rehabilitation Education and Research Program housed in the Department of Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders. The Spring 2018-2019 has 26 students enrolled, there are 23 full—time students, 3 part—time students, and 20 students who graduated.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) offers a Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling Education (RCE) with an Emphasis in Rehabilitation Counseling. The Masters in Rehabilitation Teaching (MRT) program has been dissolved, but the Orientation and Mobility (O&M) program will continue. Both the RCE and O&M programs are housed in the Counseling, Adult and Rehabilitation Education (CARE) degree Master of Arts. The Spring 2018-2019 has 80 students enrolled. Of these students there are 78 full—time students, 2 part—time students, and 32 graduates.
The University of Wisconsin-Stout Department of Counseling Psychology is primarily a graduate department, offers a master’s degree (M.S.) in counseling specializing in community counseling. The department emphasizes the integration of multiculturalism and diversity into counseling psychology and is committed to multiculturalism broadly-defined in teaching, research, practice, and service. The Spring 2018-2019 has 38 students enrolled, there are 27 full—time students, 11 part—time students, and 19 graduates.
Update PY2022-2023
The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (U of A) offers a Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling through the Rehabilitation Education and Research Program housed in the Department of Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders. The Spring 2020-2021 23 has students enrolled, 5 students who graduated.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) offers a Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling Education (RCE) with an Emphasis in Rehabilitation Counseling. The Masters in Rehabilitation Teaching (MRT) program has been dissolved, but the Orientation and Mobility (O&M) program will continue. Both the RCE and O&M programs are housed in the Counseling, Adult and Rehabilitation Education (CARE) degree Master of Arts. The Spring 2021-2022 semester has 53 students enrolled, and 20 students graduated.
The University of Wisconsin-Stout Department of Counseling Psychology is primarily a graduate department, offers a master’s degree (M.S.) in counseling specializing in community counseling. The department emphasizes the integration of multiculturalism and diversity into counseling psychology and is committed to multiculturalism broadly defined in teaching, research, practice, and service. The Spring 2021-2022 has 67 students enrolled, and 26 graduates.
DSB has 5 students enrolled, and 3 who have graduated online at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR). DSB has 1 student who graduated at the University of Wisconsin-Stout through Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) grant received in 2021 with the agreement UNT would fund a limited number of VR Counselors outside of Texas. However, DSB does not currently have any counselors enrolled in the UNT program.