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
f. Arrangements and Cooperative Agreements for the Provision of Supported Employment Services
Describe the designated State agency’s efforts to identify and make arrangements, including entering into cooperative agreements, with other State agencies and other appropriate entities in order to provide supported employment services and extended employment services, as applicable, to individuals with the most significant disabilities, including youth with the most significant disabilities.
Current Narrative:
The heart of supported employment is the coordination of the time limited and the on-going support services. The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) is working collaboratively with service providers and public agencies to coordinate funding sources and policies. These efforts are categorized into two areas: Formal Cooperative Agreements and Informal Cooperative Efforts within Agencies.
Formal Cooperative Arrangements.
The DVR has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Wyoming Department of Health, Division of Healthcare Financing (formerly Division of Developmental Disabilities) that addresses programmatic referrals, including extended supported employment services for each mutually eligible individual. The DVR is actively working to update this MOU.
The DVR does not have any other formal agreements with providers of supported employment services but would consider entering into any such agreements in the future. DVR provides services on a client-by-client basis and pays an appropriate market rate for the services provided. However, DVR recognizes that the goal of Wyoming’s supported employment program is to increase community integration, individual independence, and productivity of persons with the most significant disabilities. In support of this goal, DVR is actively working to:
- Increase training so staff can better identify clients with the most significant disabilities and their needs for supported employment services;
- Continue cooperative efforts with school districts and other rehabilitation entities to enhance supported employment programs statewide including the use of Transition Consultants and Independent Living Specialists;
- Encourage dedicated funding for long-term support needed by supported employment clients. This will include networking with the Division of Behavioral Health, Regional Service Providers in Wyoming, mental health centers, the Wyoming Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, state and local education programs, Social Security employment incentive, including Ticket To Work programs, training programs under WIOA, and private businesses; and
- Contact has been initiated with the Institute on Employment and Disability to get guidance and technical assistance on Supported Employment and customized employment needs and training for community providers.
There are still geographic, programmatic, and disability-related gaps in the capacities of community rehabilitation programs to provide the array of services the DVR needs for clients with the most significant disabilities. These gaps include:
- Services to persons with acquired brain injuries;
- State-of-the-art employment services for persons with severe and persistent mental illnesses are more widely available now than at the time of previous needs assessments, but such services still are not available to all communities; and
- The potential for community rehabilitation programs to play a more substantial role in preparing students with disabilities for the transition from school to employment have not been, but collaboration with DD waiver services have enhanced services and abilities of the DVR to be more effective in supported employment efforts.
Informal Cooperative arrangements with agencies.
DVR continually works collaboratively with its counterparts within the Department of Workforce Services on a day-to-day basis to better serve individuals with disabilities. The following are some of these efforts:
- 13 of the 16 DVR field offices are co-located with local Workforce Centers; and
- The DVR works closely with all partners identified in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to collaborate in continued efforts to implement the law. DVR staff serve on agency workgroups, task forces, Workforce Development Council, and in some areas, local Next Gen Workforce Committees.
There are currently four CRP's that provide Supported Employment services to individuals with Most Significant Disabilities in the form of job coaching and exploration until DVR can help the consumer obtain waiver services provided by the Wyoming Division of Health Care Financing. The DVR recognizes continued issues regarding the needs of individuals with the most significant disabilities, including their need for Supported Employment. As such, the DVR is actively working to:
- Continue to recruit Supported Employment providers to work in rural areas. This includes recruitment of individual service providers due to the lack of CRP’s in rural areas;
- Recruit CRP’s that are willing to apply for and become Employment Networks for the Social Security Administration’s Ticket to Work Program;
- Encourage parents and/or care providers to apply for Medicaid waiver services while their child is in high school;
- Implementing a team approach to Supported Employment by emphasizing a culture of everyone succeeding together;
- Provide means for training in Individualized Placement Services (IPS) and Customized Employment (CE) to increase the DVR’s ability to serve people with the most significant needs; and
- Develop cross-training across systems and providers on Supported Employment and specialized supports to increase services and outcomes.