Attachment 4.12(d)

Policy, State Plan and Strategic Plan Changes;

Methods to Expand and Improve Services to Individuals with the Most Severe Disabilities; Analysis of the Characteristics of Individuals Determined to be Ineligible and the Reasons for those Determinations.

The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program of the Department for the Visually Handicapped (DVH) in FY '98 will emphasize addressing the needs of those individuals with the most severe disabilities. Policies, the State Plan and the Strategic Plan will reflect the agency's commitment to serve persons with the most severe disabilities. DVH projects to serve 1,234 individuals of whom 1,170 are expected to be severely visually impaired and 54 visually impaired. In FY '98 approximately 95 percent of the customers served by the program will meet the federal definition of severely disabled. Therefore, the vast majority of services and programs will be geared toward serving individuals who are severely disabled.

I. Policy, State Plan and Strategic Plan changes

Policies, the State and Strategic plans will be revised to reflect changes in response to public meetings, needs assessments, and recommendations from the Vocational Rehabilitation Advisory Council (VRAC). These changes include:

1. In order to increase supported employment opportunities for deafblind individuals, the agency changed its policy to allow the two deafblind specialists (State funded positions) to provide extended services for deafblind individuals.
2. VR policy was changed to allow the purchase of low vision aids in status 10 to enable the individual to maximize the use of vision during the assessment to determine the scope of services needed to achieve an employment outcome.
3. Changed VR policy to require part-time college students to complete an Associate degree in three and one-half years, and a Bachelor's degree must be completed in seven years by part-time students.
4. The Strategic plan allows for computer adaptive equipment to be purchased for high school students at the end of the junior year, if it can be established that the equipment will be needed for training and/or employment after high school.
5. The Strategic plan allowed for the establishment of a technology resource technician position to increase the agency's ability to respond to inquiries regarding adaptive technology. A toll-free line will also be installed to make this technology service available statewide.
6. The VR program changed its policy regarding self employment. A formal business plan is no longer required if the investment by the agency is less than $1,500.
7. In response to the widely identified need for training in adaptive technology, the agency is implementing an on-site training program. A fee has been established and local trainers throughout the Commonwealth are being certified to provide training in the community.

II. Methods to Expand and improve services to Individuals with the Most Severe Disabilities

1. Referral and Outreach Services
   During FY '98 DVH will continue to educate staff regarding the availability of services in the community. Staff will also be required to inform applicants and customers of the availability of those services. During FY '98 cooperative agreements will continue to be reviewed with the objective of strengthening those agreements regarding the referral to and utilization of services provided by other agencies.
2. Assessments to Determine VR Eligibility and the Scope of Services
   VR assessment and exploration will continue to be a priority with the VR program during FY '98. The VR program will refer work-bound customers who are in need of a work evaluation or assessment to the Virginia Rehabilitation Center for the Blind (VRCB). An individual not referred to VRCB for such an evaluation may receive a comparable evaluation provided in his/her home community arranged by the VR counselor. A preliminary assessment tool is completed by the VR counselor prior to the eligibility determination.
3. Services to Deafblind Individuals
   The VR program will continue to place emphasis on screening, evaluation, training, and job placement for deafblind customers. The deafblind program director and the deafblind specialist provide services to this population on a statewide basis. They provide comprehensive community-based transition and VR services; promote deafblind advocacy and awareness within the rehabilitation community and various publics; provide technical assistance and consultation to field staff; and develop and monitor interagency cooperative efforts on behalf of people who have a combined loss of vision and hearing.
   Plans and activities for FY '98 include:
   1. Formalize and strengthen the DVH Deafblind Resource Team. The team will include at least one representative from each regional office and VRCB. The team will include at least: one VR counselor; one rehabilitation teacher, one education coordinator, one representative of VRCB, the deafblind specialist in the state's western region, the deafblind program director, one orientation and mobility instructor, a representative from the Virginia Industries for the Blind (VIB), and the low vision program director. The team will meet at least three times a year to provide an internal focal point for agency services, development of new programs, and vendors for customers who are dual sensory impaired. The team will provide ongoing review of current agency service areas to ensure integration for dual sensory impaired customers.
   2. Enhance supported employment services for individuals who are deafblind. Serve as a resource, provide information and referral, and network with employment services organizations regarding services to deafblind customers.
   3. Facilitate training opportunities and provide technical assistance to DVH staff in how to work with individuals who are dual sensory impaired.
   4. Collaborate with Virginia Community College System (VCCS) to increase interpreter training programs throughout the state. Provide information and technical assistance to the VCCS regarding the interpreter needs of individuals who are deafblind. A shortage of qualified interpreters statewide affects the integration of deafblind customers into training and employment opportunities.
   5. Assess service delivery to individuals who are deafblind. The assessment will include accessibility of regional offices, analysis of RSA-911 data regarding coding of deafblind customers, random statewide case reviews, and policy analysis. Submit findings and recommendations to agency management.
   6. Collaborate with families, local school systems and the TOGETHER WE CAN (project for integration of children who are deafblind) to ensure adequate transition planning for individuals who are deafblind. Assist the customer in participating in vocational/career assessments, career fairs, meeting people in community, site visits, or special youth business and leadership programs.
   7. Conduct a transition weekend for deafblind youth, age 14 -21, and their families. Activities to include: introduction to the VR system; understanding of vision and hearing loss, self empowerment and advocacy training, post-secondary education opportunities, job readiness skills, career awareness, and an introduction to personal futures planning.
4. Services with Emphasis on Placement
   1. DVH will continue to emphasize job development and placement with its field staff during FY '98. Responsibilities of employers and rights of individuals with disabilities, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), will be emphasized as a component of DVH's placement activities. Workshops will be conducted to provide information and assistance to employees regarding how to implement the ADA.
   2. Each of the six regional offices will continue to emphasize those activities unique to the respective region needed to enhance employment outcomes. Some of the regional activities that will be undertaken in FY '98 will include:
      1. Employer Seminars
      2. Surveys of Prospective Employers
      3. Job Fairs
      4. Recognition of Outstanding Employers of Individuals who are Blind
   3. In late FY '95, DVH's managers met and one of the major topics discussed was job placement. Managers reviewed the results of the FY '95 needs assessment, which assessed the needs of DVH staff. Many of those needs related to improving employment opportunities for DVH customers. Emphasis will continue to be placed on increasing the number and quality of employment outcomes for DVH customers. The initiative to streamline the vocational process focused on outcomes instead of process.
   4. During FY '98, the Virginia Employment Commission's Automated Labor Exchange (ALEX) will continue to be used in each of the six regional offices to enable VR counselors and customers to have immediate access to job openings via computers.
   5. During the last quarter of FY '92, DVH established a rehabilitation technology specialist position. This position was so successful that a second rehabilitation technology specialist position was established in FY '96. The assistance of the rehabilitation technology specialists will continue to broaden employment opportunities for individuals who are blind in today's high-tech job market.
   6. Adaptive technology services have been further expanded with the employment of a part-time resource specialist who is available to respond to telephone inquiries and provide resource information. In late FY '97 a toll-free number will be installed to make this resource more accessible to customers throughout the Commonwealth.
   7. In FY '94, the agency designated a staff person in each of its six regional offices to become a part-time rehabilitation technology resource specialist. Necessary training of these staff began in FY '94. The rehabilitation technology specialist provides training to other staff in the regional offices.
   8. During FY '95 and FY '96, the Strategic Plan made funds available to develop mini-technical centers in the regional offices. These centers will enable employers and DVH customers quick accessibility to adaptive equipment for job placement or vocational exploration. Additional funds were used in FY '97 to expand those centers. During FY '98 funds will continue to be used on an as needed basis to expand or upgrade those centers.
   9. During FY '97, DVH initiated the statewide network of trainers for adaptive computer hardware and software equipment. This network of service providers and the staff in the regional offices with their enhanced knowledge of adaptive technology should enhance job placement opportunities for persons with visual disabilities. The network will continue to be expanded during FY '98.
5. Utilization of Facilities
   • The VR program will continue to utilize services provided by VRCB during FY '98. The VIB, the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center (WWRC), and other public and private facilities will be utilized to provide evaluations, vocational training, and job placement services for blind and visually impaired VR customers. The Randolph-Sheppard program will continue to provide training and job placement opportunities for individuals who are blind or visually impaired during FY '98.
   • A Customer Service Representative Training program has been established at VRCB to train visually impaired customers in computer adaptation and customer service skills. VRCB also trains service representatives for employment at the federal General Services Administration (GSA) through a contract with VIB. VIB plans to develop additional contracts in FY '98, and VRCB will be called on to assist in training customers for those positions.
6. Services to Groups of Severely Disabled Individuals
   During FY '98 the VR program will continue to emphasize services provided to groups of individuals. The VR program director will be responsible for initiating these services. The following VR services are identified as those services that will be provided to groups of individuals.
   1. Mobility canes will be purchased and distributed to those blind and visually impaired individuals who demonstrate a need for such aids. The long cane is an essential tool for independent travel and should be readily available to be given to those customers who are in need of it for safe and independent travel while participating in the rehabilitation program. The orientation and mobility instructors will also use the canes for evaluation and training.
   2. The VR program will continue to purchase adaptive equipment and other materials when they are needed for evaluation, training or employment, and when the purchase is not being made for an individual.
   3. Rehabilitation technology is another service that may be charged to groups of individuals when such service is necessary, and it will benefit more than one individual in a training or employment situation.
   4. Training activities will be charged to groups of individuals when they benefit a group and cannot be charged to an individual. Such activities may include job seeking skills and career seminars when a specific cost cannot be charged to an individual.
   5. Equipment will be purchased during FY '98 for the purpose of evaluating and adapting job sites by the rehabilitation technology specialists.
   6. During FY '98 loaner equipment will also be bought for regional offices that will be available on a short-term loan basis to different customers to ensure that training and/or employment opportunities are not interrupted due to the delay in purchase of the equipment or equipment breakdown. During FY '95 DVH decentralized its purchasing process for computer and other equipment which should also make equipment more available for customers who need it for vocational training and/or employment.
   7. Services to groups of individuals will be used to provide printed materials in an alternative format during FY '98.
   8. Services to groups of individuals will be used to provide transportation for customers when more than one individual is being transported and the cost cannot be charged to an individual.
   9. DVH will utilize Section 110 funds to help establish the Newsline reading service. This service makes immediate access to newspapers for persons who are blind via telephone.
   10. VR funds will be utilized at the VIB, when the expenditure of those funds will result in additional employment opportunities for blind persons.
7. Program Planning and Evaluation, including Statewide Studies
   1. During FY '98 LANs will be operational in the regional offices.
   2. Statewide electronic mail will be available in all six regional offices in early FY '98.
   3. A VR customer management information system will be implemented during FY '98. The customer management system will be a part of the Department of Rehabilitative Services' (DRS) Vocational Rehabilitation Information System (VRIS). DVH's customer information will be tracked and reported separately.
   The above activities will increase DVH's capacity to retrieve and utilize VR program data for evaluation and planning purposes.
8. In-Service Training
   The In-Service Training Grant's objective is to strengthen the competencies of the VR unit staff while reducing its deficiencies. Also, set forth in the training grant are the training priorities of the federal government, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and DVH. This training will lead to the provision of enhanced services for blind and visually impaired individuals. The training grant activities for FY '98 will be based on the training needs identified by all levels of the VR staff. The grant's training officer works closely with the Department of Rehabilitative Services (DRS) Personnel Department and the DRS In-Service Training Grant officer in the development of the training activities.
   
   Staff training for FY '98 will focus on enabling DVH staff to better serve the most severely disabled individuals. The highlights of the In-Service Training Grant and the resources for training activities during FY '98 are:
   1. Recruitment and retention of qualified personnel
   2. Americans with Disabilities Act and the Virginians with Disabilities Act
   3. Marketing and job placement
   4. Special populations (deafblind, disabled youth in transition, etc.)
   5. Adaptive equipment for individuals who are blind
   6. Human resource development
   7. Computer technology
   8. Training in customer services
   9. Implementation of the 1992 amendments to the Rehabilitation Act
   10. Caseload management
   11. Streamlining activities
9. Maintaining the Employment of Visually Impaired Workers
   One increasing area of job retention services is that of technological intervention. VRCB will increase its provision of consultation and evaluation services to employers and visually impaired employees, where feasible, in the use of communications technology (low vision aids, low tech solutions, and voice/image enlargement/braille computer technology). This service is to assist employers in hiring qualified blind applicants and retaining visually impaired employees who are experiencing job difficulties due to decreasing vision or changes in the job and who need the services in order to retain employment. The rehabilitation technology specialist at VRCB will be responsible for coordinating these activities.
   
   The rehabilitation technology specialist will also be available to provide consultations and other assistance to ensure job retention for persons with visual disabilities who are in danger of losing their jobs due to rapidly changing technology in the workplace.

III. Analysis of the Characteristics of Individuals Determined to be Ineligible and the Reasons for those Determinations

During FY '96 the VR program served 1400 individuals (status 00 through 30). Minorities represented 29% of the cases served. Those closed successfully rehabilitated (status 26) were also 29% minorities. Minorities represented 34% of the 155 cases closed ineligible (status 08, 28 and 30). Those severely disabled represented 89% of the ineligible closures. Females represented 48% of the ineligible closures.