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
j. 3. Include an assessment of the needs of individuals with disabilities for transition career services and pre-employment transition services, and the extent to which such services are coordinated with transition services provided under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Current Narrative:
Since the passage of WIOA and promulgation of final rules, DVR has worked closely with the Maine Department of Education to understand the numbers of students with disabilities in Maine who are eligible for Pre-Employment Transition Services. At the local education agency level, this has played out as VR counselors have worked with individual school districts to determine what services are already being provided in the school, what other service providers are involved, and how the LEA can partner with DVR to jointly deliver Pre-Employment Transition Services. Education and outreach to LEA’s has focused on the value of starting early, at age 14, with Pre-Employment Transition Services. Maine Department of Education’s Special Services IDEA monitoring team has reinforced this message by providing VR materials during monitoring visits along with examples of how Pre-Employment Transition Services can inform the Individualized Education Program (IEP).
With partners at the Institute for Community Inclusion and the American Institutes for Research, Maine DVR is undertaking an evaluation of the impact of delivery of Pre-Employment Transition Services on eventual application and eligibility for DVR Transition Services. It is anticipated that by providing a rich array of Pre-Employment Transition Services earlier in students’ high school careers, that some students with disabilities may not need individualized transition services through DVR. It is possible, however, that with increased awareness of VR services – through exposure to Pre-Employment Transition Services some students will not need Vocational Rehabilitation services.
Maine DVR continues in its efforts to fully and properly implement of WIOA, working cooperatively with agencies that have the most impact on transition–age students and prepare them well for post-secondary education and employment success.
Maine DVR has assigned a Transition VR Counselor to every high school in the state. Students are offered Pre-Employment Transition Services in conjunction with the LEA on an individualized district by district plan. DVR has developed and made available statewide tools like the Transition Career Exploration Workshop https://www.maine.gov/rehab/73422/maine_cew/cew_transition/index.html and the Financial Literacy Guide for Transition Age Youth https://www.maine.gov/rehab/dvr/youth_transition.shtml. Over 300 transition age youth participated in Paid Work Experiences during 2019. For additional information see https://www.maine.gov/rehab/dvr/stateplan/
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