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.
- i. Comprehensive System of Personnel Development.
In accordance with the requirements in Section 101(a)(7) of the Rehabilitation Act, the VR agency must develop and maintain annually a description (consistent with the purposes of the Rehabilitation Act) of the VR agency’s comprehensive system of personnel development, which shall include a description of the procedures and activities the State VR agency will undertake to ensure it has an adequate supply of qualified State rehabilitation professionals and paraprofessionals that provides the following:
- i. Comprehensive System of Personnel Development.
i. 4. Method(s) the VR agency uses to ensure that personnel are able to communicate in appropriate modes of communication with or in the native language of applicants or eligible individuals who have limited English speaking ability.
Current Narrative:
Personnel to Address Individual Communication Needs
DSHS/DVR continues to assure full communication access for all individuals with limited English proficiency. In addition to bilingual DSHS/DVR staff, contracted interpreter and translation services are available. DSHS/DVR forms and publications are available in Cambodian, Chinese, Korean, Laotian, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Somali. Translations are available in other languages when needed.
DSHS/DVR has staff who act as the Language Access Advisor and Language Access Coordinator to ensure the division is adhering to the department’s Language Access Plan. These staff serve as subject matter experts and support field staff in obtaining effective translation and interpretation services.
Individuals who are Deaf or hard of hearing may communicate with DSHS/DVR staff at all locations via video phone, video relay, voice relay, American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters, real-time captioning, augmented listening devices, and UbiDuo devices. DSHS/DVR’s Rehabilitation Counselors for the Deaf (RCDs) provide effective and culturally competent services for customers who are Deaf.
All DSHS/DVR-sponsored trainings include an invitation for potential attendees to request accommodations as part of the registration process. When an accommodation is requested, training staff follow up to assure the accommodation is arranged. Individual staff members may also request accommodations such at Dragon Naturally Speaking or other dictation software through an HR disability accommodation request to ensure they are able to complete their work and participate in training activities.