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
k. 2. A. The VR Program;
Current Narrative:
DSB conducted annual estimates for Federal Fiscal Year 2021. Needs Assessment results suggest 38% of consumers served are of a racial/ethnic minority group, with 29% reporting as Black or African-American, 7% reporting as Hispanic/Latino, 1% reporting as a Mix of two or more races, and 1% reporting as Asian. Based on the internal reports that DSB prepares, DSB served 856 participants during the State Fiscal Year of which 390 were minorities or 45%. Therefore, DSB estimates it will serve a projected total of 1,000 participants of which it is projected that 400 or 40% will be minorities. Note: In addition to a growing Hispanic population, Arkansas has one of the highest Marshallese populations in the United States. In the 2010 Census count for Arkansas, 4,324 people identified themselves as Marshallese, placing the state as having the highest Marshallese population in the continental United States and the second highest overall (with Hawaii having 7,412). The Compact of Free Association (COFA), which allows the Marshallese to live and travel freely and at—will between the Marshall Islands and the United States, will end in 2023.
Update PY2022-2023: DSB's internal reports show that in State Fiscal Year 2021, DSB served 731 participants of which 362 were minorities or 49.5%. Therefore DSB estimates that it will serve a projected 800 participants of which 44% or 350 will be minorities in FFY2023.