Narrative: d. 1.

OVR works with many agencies to provide transition services and pre-employment transition services to students with disabilities. This is inclusive of the blind and visually impaired and the deaf and hard of hearing populations. All of the collaborations described below allow for transition and pre-employment transition services to be provided by either OVR or our partners.

OVR has assigned counselors to each of Kentucky’s 173 Local Education Agencies for the purpose of ensuring that all students with disabilities are served. The counselors work with referrals from special education and general education staff as well as the individual with the disability, their family, and other agencies who assist students with disabilities who are in need of transition. These counselors coordinate and authorize pre-employment transition services for students with disabilities, age 14-21, who are eligible or potentially eligible for VR services. The counselors also provide general coordination, information, and outreach activities about vocational rehabilitation services to the local education agency and student for use in transition planning.

Service coordination activities may also include resource information about vocational rehabilitation, presentations, handouts, and staff development. The counselor works in a collaborative team process along with the local education agency to develop the transition services section of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) and the Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) for transitioning students. Both the IEP and IPE will include, if appropriate, a statement of interagency responsibilities or any needed linkages by which the responsibilities of other entities are satisfied.

The student should be prepared to enter the competitive integrated workforce following the provision of necessary and needed services, as reflected in the IPE. The student should have ample opportunity to participate in Pre-employment transition services before they graduate.

The OVR counselor will engage in providing services that would be most beneficial to an individual in the early stages of employment exploration, such as counseling and self—advocacy training. These services are provided to students who are eligible or who are potentially eligible for VR services.

OVR partners with the public school districts, Department of Education and the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute to provide transition services and pre-employment transition services through the Community Work Transition Program (CWTP).  The CWTP is designed to provide pre-employment transition services to all students with disabilities and provide transition services to assist VR eligible students with the most significant disabilities in transitioning from high school to competitive integrated employment. Student employment coordinators, funded by the local education agency, refer students to OVR in order to provide pre—employment transition services during their final three years of school. The CWTP contracts with the individual school districts to hire employment specialists to provide students with employment exploration and experiences, community-based evaluation, work experience and job placement while in high school.

OVR has contracted with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System in the provision of pre-employment transition services that will provide opportunities for potentially eligible Kentucky students with disabilities to enhance their skills and readiness for post- secondary employment and training.

OVR has a contract with the Jobs for American’s Graduates (JAG) to provide pre-employment services to students with disabilities in the school system. JAG is a state-based national non-profit organization dedicated to preventing dropouts among young people who have serious barriers to graduation and/or employment.

Additionally, OVR has contractual agreements with each of the nine special education cooperatives in the provision of pre-employment Transition Services.

The office’s executive director and state transition coordinators work directly when needed, with the Kentucky Interagency Transition Council. These involvements help facilitate all of the partner’s understanding of the unique transition needs of students with disabilities and assists in understanding the educational process of Public Schools in the State.

 The Kentucky School for the Blind (KSB) serves students with visual disabilities from across the state. Students can live and attend classes at the school’s Louisville location, or receive outreach services while attending their local elementary, middle and high schools. Staff in specialized positions actively participates in the vocational planning and academic progress of all of these students through collaboration and assistance with KSB’s Community Based Instruction Program, and services such as vocational assessments, and annual Individual Education Plans. Staff collaborates on a variety of work-readiness and work-experience programs with KSB such as the Summer Work Program and The World of Work Program that provides work-based learning experiences in a competitive, integrated settings.

The Kentucky School for the Deaf (KSD) provides education to deaf and hard of hearing students from elementary through high school levels. It is a residential program in Danville, KY that also provides outreach services to students in their local schools. Vocational services include opportunities to prepare for work or continued education in the high school curriculum.  An OVR Rehabilitation Counselor for the Deaf is assigned to students on campus.

The Office of Vocational Rehabilitation has staff trained to understand about the different problems people with hearing loss may have. Rehabilitation Counselors for the Deaf are proficient in American Sign Language and serve persons who are deaf and hard of hearing and use this type of communication. Communication Specialists are trained about devices and ways to serve individuals who are hard of hearing or late deafened with auditory/oral communication. Rehabilitation Counselors for the Deaf and Communication Specialists are also skilled in serving people who have vision limitations in addition to a hearing loss or deafness.  Individuals who are deaf use American Sign Language are served by a Rehabilitation Counselors for the Deaf.  There are Rehabilitation Counselors for the Deaf statewide to provide OVR services.  

Examples of specialized services are and not limited to:

Information and counseling about jobs

Information and referral for other services

Assessment about job skills

Training programs with support services to learn job skills

Technology (including training) - for work related technology

Job placement assistance

Interpreting Services

The State Coordinator of Deaf-Blind Services (SCDB) works with, consults, and provides technical assistance to KY Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) staff including the Rehabilitation Counselors for the Blind (RCB), Rehabilitation Counselors for the Deaf (RCD), and Communication Specialists.  Other staff include Managers, Blind Services Division Staff, and various other administrators within OVR.  The SCDB also maintains relationships for service delivery with staff from the Helen Keller National Center (HKNC), Kentucky Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (KCDHH), The Kentucky Deaf-Blind Project, KY Mental Health Services for the Deaf and Deaf-Blind,  Kentucky Association of Deaf-Blind (KADB), and several other Community Resource Providers (CRP).  Kentucky has one of the largest Deaf-Blind census numbers with approximately 49,000 known individuals listed as being Deaf-Blind in the state.  The SCDB also coordinates, plans, and oversees training and support for staff that work with this population.

INSIGHT - Post-secondary Preparation Program for Students Who Are Blind or Significantly Visually Impaired is a collaborative project between the Kentucky Educational Development Corporation Special Education Cooperative, Kentucky School for the Blind, Kentucky School for the Blind Charitable Foundation, the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, MCP Orientation and Mobility Services, and Morehead State University. INSIGHT is a unique program designed to provide college bound students an opportunity to experience some of the challenges encountered when entering a university or community college. Participants gain an increased awareness of the educational, recreational, and social opportunities and challenges of the post-secondary environment.

Staff also participates with the Kentucky Deaf-Blind Project, which helps promote cooperative transition services for youth who are deaf-blind. OVR has a DeafBlind Coordinator who is responsible for helping to facilitate pre-employment transition services, including all the previously described work readiness and summer work experience programs, for this population of students.  OVR collaborates with the Kentucky Deaf-Blind Project to provide a weeklong summer camp for eight to nine students who are Deaf-Blind that addresses the five required Pre-Employment Transition Services.  This program is unique to Kentucky, and other Deaf-Blind Projects across the nation are interested in replicating it in their states. 

The PATH Program is a three-week Pre-employment Transition Services program held at the McDowell Center in Louisville, KY.  This program is conducted in collaboration with the University of Kentucky’s Teacher Preparation Program in Visual Impairments.  Through the University of Kentucky, practicum students from the teacher preparation program are able to assist with the providing the Pre-employment Transition Services to up to fifteen blind or visually impaired students from across the state.  The University of Kentucky also provides staff such as Orientation and Mobility Specialists that assist the McDowell Center staff provide the five required Pre-employment Transition Services.

Workforce Development Boards: OVR counselors actively participate on their local Workforce Development Board’s Youth and One Stop committees to enhance and make accessible the programs and services for transition age consumers.

Through Project CASE, a program developed from the use of Federal grant funding through the Rehabilitation Services Administration, OVR has stronger coordination and collaboration with the Youth Career Centers and other Kentucky Career Centers. Partnering with Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP) and KentuckianaWorks in the hiring of Career Pathway Coordinators, and in cross-agency training of staff on career pathways for students with disabilities, Project CASE will ensure sustained partnerships.

KY AHEAD is a professional organization whose purpose is to promote communication among professionals in post-secondary education in order to improve the development and implementation of services for persons with disabilities. Campus Disability Services Centers are an essential resource for students with disabilities attending post-secondary educational institutions. VR counselors maintain relationships with disability service center staff and strongly encourage college students to utilize the services available at the centers so that they can receive individualized accommodations for their coursework. Every effort is made to arrange for a student to meet with staff at the disability center prior to entry into a post-secondary program in assuring a smooth transition for the individuals.

The Kentucky Special Education Cooperative Network consists of nine special education cooperatives located across the state. These cooperatives were formed to better meet the needs of the multiple school systems across Kentucky’s 120 counties. All 173 local school districts, and the Kentucky Schools for the Blind and Deaf are members of a special education cooperative. Each cooperative has VI teachers and an AT specialist to assist students with visual needs. The school districts employ other specialty service providers such as Orientation and Mobility Specialists, Physical Therapists, and Speech Therapists. OVR works collaboratively with each cooperative network across the state in the provision of information and referral for students of all ages.