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. 3. If the SRC is not meeting the composition requirements in Section 105(b) of the Rehabilitation Act and/or is not meeting quarterly as required in Section 105(f) of the Rehabilitation Act, provide the steps that the VR agency is taking to ensure it meets those requirements.
Current Narrative:
The Louisiana Rehabilitation Council meets on a quarterly basis as required, reviews applications for membership when received, and makes recommendations to the Governor’s Office of Boards and Commissions for appointments that are aligned with membership composition requirements. As determined by a newly elected Governor in January 2024, one seat specifically designated for an individual from the area of Rehabilitation Technologies has been eliminated from the membership composition. The Governor has also un-appointed 6 members from the Council who were appointed by the previous Administration.
During the July 2023 meeting, the Council provided a draft membership recruitment flyer and requested it be distributed to all LRS offices for display and to be shared publicly as a means to increase awareness and recruitment for applications. After approvals were granted by Louisiana Workforce Commission’s (LWC) Public Relations Office of the Council's drafted document (since the State seal and official LWC logo were being used), LRS fulfilled this request in October 2023.
There are currently 17 appointed members (including 2 ex-officio) and 8 vacant seats. The Council has submitted recommendations to the Governor to appoint three of these vacant seats, including one seat for the Community Rehabilitation Program representative and two individuals with disabilities. Not considering the 2 ex-officio seats, the LRC is meeting composition requirements with the remaining appointed members.
The LRC recruitment flyer and application continues to be shared with the Council members and with various disability organizations. Past members have expressed interest in serving again, and new applications have been sent to them for completion. There have been several applications received by the Executive Committee that have not been recommended because the applicants either did not meet the criteria for a vacant seat or did not have a disability to count toward the majority requirement.