Narrative: o. 5.

As described in Description J, DRS’ direct client services units located at DRS’ Nitro location will continue to be critical for DRS to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities identified under the unserved and underserved portion of this assessment, including individuals with disabilities who live in the rural part of the State, blind and visually impaired individuals, and the deaf and hard of hearing.  The DRS Environmental Modifications Unit provides consumer services to assure they have the highest level of independence in and around their home and work by providing evaluations, technical assistance, and modifications.  The continual maintenance and improvement of direct client services units located at DRS’ Nitro location will be necessary to maintain its operation in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible.

A large amount of the success that DRS has in its mission to enable and empower individuals with disabilities to work and to live independently hinges on its relationships with CRPs. In recent years, DRS has worked closely with CRPs across the state to increase the availability of Pre-ETS, including CEO summits. Because of the positive working relationship, DRS and CRPs were able to conduct CEO summits in 60 locations across the state. Improvements in efficiency of service delivery has also resulted in reduced costs for services while also expanding availability across the state.

In general, DRS has good working relationships with the various CRPs throughout the State. However, CSNA results suggest that improvements can be made, particularly in specific geographic areas. To facilitate this improvement, DRS has established a number of strategies to put into action:

• Continue to educate field staff, especially the new counselors, about CRPs and their services. Use of the new ‘CRP Locator’ tool (a web–based, user–friendly, vendor guide) and counselor CRP site visits will increase awareness of available service options, which will help to maintain collaborative relationships with CRPs and enhance the availability of services to DRS consumers.
• Continue to maintain regular communications between DRS and community providers in each district and at the state level. Each DRS district will continue to host joint meetings with DRS district and branch office staff and CRPs in those districts to provide opportunities for CRP representatives and DRS personnel to discuss local service needs of DRS consumers. Subsequent to each meeting, the local DRS office will be required to send a brief report to the CRP Program Manager. This process will allow all parties involved in the expansion of community–based services to be kept informed of progress and issues. The Division will continue to examine the information and recommendations collected from various meetings between CRP and DRS staff members.

Progress on communication will continue to be made as the Division acquires more understanding of the issues and barriers facing the CRP and DRS staff members in their service provision to persons with significant disabilities in WV. Ongoing communication activities with CRPs also will include:

• An e–mail list–serv with all current vendors that will be updated periodically and utilized to send out training opportunities, policy changes, and general updates when needed.
• DRS counselors in each district will continue to be assigned as liaisons to each CRP and will continue to be required to complete a monthly update regarding the CRP. They will collect this information by visits and/or phone calls. Having CRP liaisons that regularly discuss service–related issues specific to the local service area(s) will aid in maintaining collaborative working relationships and enhancing the availability of services to consumers.
• Two rehabilitation specialists covering all districts in the state will provide technical assistance to CRPs and DRS staff. They will make site visits to CRP and DRS district and branch offices. During these visits, they will provide technical assistance and schedule training and other meetings that need to occur. They will serve as a communication link when issues arise and make themselves available to attend the communication meetings and transition team meetings.
• Conduct site visits to ensure that community providers continue to meet DRS standards and requirements.
• Increase the service provision of acknowledged vendors and work with community providers to expand their service areas to enhance the availability of community services within needed areas.
• Continue to conduct Transition Team meetings at the district level with DRS, WV Department of Education, and CRP staff members. The meetings will be held to promote interagency collaboration by allowing staff from each agency/CRP to become familiar with the different eligibility requirements and service definitions across agencies.
• Continue to conduct cross training and face–to–face meetings with community partners at the local level.
• Continue to assign liaison responsibilities to staff members and provide them guidance about the purpose of DRS participation in community events.
• Monitor the DRS counselors/supervisors/managers’ perception of the quality of CRP services through a survey instrument.
• Monitor and assess the impact of the Quality Assurance unit on the counselor’s case management practices by using data generated from the quality assurance specialists’ review of cases.