Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for State Vocational Rehabilitation (Combined or General)
The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services Portion of the Unified or Combined State Plan must include the following descriptions and estimates, as required by sections 101(a) and 606 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by title IV of WIOA.
a. 4. In accordance with the requirements in Section 101(a)(21)(A)(ii)(III) of the Rehabilitation Act, include a summary of the Council’s input (including how it was obtained) into the State Plan and any State Plan revisions, including recommendations from the Council's annual reports, the review and analysis of consumer satisfaction and other Council reports.
Current Narrative:
OF CONSUMER SATISFACTION AND OTHER COUNCIL REPORTS.
The VR Council meets six times each year, with meetings occurring every other month, regularly receiving updates from BRS leadership and providing feedback on many VR program initiatives and policies. The VR Council reviewed and discussed the draft state plan on September 8th, 2023 during a council meeting. Commission members were supportive of the goals and strategies outlined for the Performance Year (PY) 24-25 VR section of the State Plan. The Council stated that the goals and strategies seemed very comprehensive and aligned with current initiatives as well as identified areas of improvement. The VR Council made some recommendations for further enhancement of the goals. Recommendations are included in the next section.
The Council also reviewed highlights of performance on prior year state plan goals, order of selection data including a need to continue the order selection partway through PY24, annual estimates, and federal performance indicators including actual performance from PY20-23 as well as estimated performance targets for PY24 and PY25. The Council revisited section A during a public council meeting on March 14, 2025. BRS remained under an order of selection at the time the state plan was submitted in Spring, 2024, however all waitlists were opened in October of 2024. The Council voiced positive support to the reopening of all waiting lists and the end to the order of selection during several meetings, including the March 14, 2025 meeting where they acknowledged the administrative updates to the state plan to reflect the end to OOS.
Customer satisfaction survey results are presented to the VR Council at least twice per year, and council members have opportunity to ask questions and share feedback or suggestions. In July 2023, BRS proposed a modification to the survey process to shift to electronic survey collection and the commission was in support of this, along with the continued availability of alternative options for customers to complete the survey such as working individually with a BRS central office team member to complete the survey verbally or completing a paper survey with a self-addressed stamped return envelope.