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
p. 1. B. Describe the factors that impeded the achievement of the goals and priorities
Current Narrative:
LRS continues to be unable to obtain the full state match to access all of the federal funding available to the state. However, the most significant challenges have been with retention and hiring of sufficient staff to serve the population of individuals with disabilities in Louisiana. Due to the disparity in the rates of pay between private and public vocational rehabilitation counselors, LRS frequently has rehabilitation counselors who have been in their positions for one or two years leave LRS once they have gained enough experience to be hired in private rehabilitation positions paying more.
The lack of sufficient staff that are available to provide the outreach and services needed in the state impacts the morale of current staff who are stretched to provide coverage for multiple vacant positions in addition to their own.