Members also visited 26 State legislators on May 20th and delivered their State position papers.
The State Board of Vocational Rehabilitation is mandated by State Law to be the policy making body that shapes, and is responsible for, the overall success of the vocational rehabilitation program in Pennsylvania. The Board is appointed by the Governor and consists of ten members. The Secretary of Labor and Industry is the Chairperson.
The Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Council (PaRC) is mandated by the Rehabilitation Act of 1998, as amended, to review, analyze, and advise the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) regarding the performance of its responsibilities, particularly those related to eligibility (including order of selection); the extent, and scope and effectiveness of services provided; and the functions performed by State agencies that affect the ability of individuals with disabilities in achieving employment outcomes under Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services.
Members are appointed by the Governor to the PaRC for their expertise related to specific categories of representation, as required in the Rehabilitation Act.
One of the goals of the State Board and the PaRC's Legislative Committee, is to educate and advocate for legislation to meet the needs of persons with disabilities, as related to training and employment in the state of Pennsylvania.
With this is mind, the State Board of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Council's legislative committee respectfully submits the following position paper for your review and consideration.
Respectfully submitted,
The Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Council's Legislative Committee
The State Board of Vocational Rehabilitation
The Commonwealth must match Federal Title I funding awarded to OVR by 21.3%. These funds are used to provide administrative and operational support to OVR, the Hiram G. Andrews Center and to provide services to OVR customers in the 21 district offices, which includes six offices in the Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services (BBVS).
OVR continues to draw down and utilize all available Federal Funds despite the lack of adequate state match. OVR is able to accomplish this because of the staggered State and Federal Fiscal years.
The State Fiscal Year (SFY) begins in July and the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) begins in October. Since the State and Federal fiscal years are not concurrent, OVR is able to draw more state match from the new SFY. For example, in the first quarter of the SFY, only 25% of the match should be used for the last quarter of the FFY. However, OVR is drawing 50% of the SFY funds to match the last quarter of the FFY to make up for the shortfall in the previous SFY.
Continuing this practice will, sometime in the future, result in delays in payments to service providers as well as delays in authorizing services for clients and could eventually result in the return of Federal Funds. Without adequate state match, the problem only escalates. Providing OVR with an additional $5 million to match federal funds can solve this problem.