State Plan Attachment 4.2(c):

Summary of Input and Recommendations of the State Rehabilitation Council; Response of the Designated State Unit; and Explanations for Rejection of Input or Recommendations

Approved by the PA Rehabilitation Council February 8, 2006.

This attachment is the Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Council's (PA-RC) input to the State Plan. It includes the following, which was compiled from:

Recommendations from the PA-RC's annual report (FFY 2005)
Reports prepared by the Council
Review of items in last year's Attachment
Consumer comments from the PA-RC Public Forum reports for the past year
Consumer Advisory Committee(CAC) comments

I. Relationship of the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board (WIB), OVR and PA-RC.

Recommendations:

1. Continued reports from the Workforce Investment Board (WIB) to the PA-RC regarding their plans to provide equal employment services to individuals with disabilities.

2. That the WIB report to the PA-RC on any issues that may impact the WIB's ability to provide services to individuals with disabilities in Pennsylvania, so that the PA-RC can provide its input before final decisions are made.

3. The PA-RC has requested that a person with a disability be part of the compliance review team and sensitivity training be part of CareerLink staff development.

4. The PA-RC requests that the Director of the Bureau of Workforce Investment or the Deputy Director participate in the Council's Ad-Hoc CareerLink Accessibility committee meetings.

II. Development of plans, policies, procedures and reports.

Recommendations:

1. The PA-RC requests that OVR continue to consult with the CACs and the PA-RC, to develop written plans at the district level to increase attendance at public meetings in the areas of the state that have not been well represented. This can be accomplished by reviewing specific demographic statistics and increasing outreach in those specific areas.

2. The PA-RC will continue to have a representative from the council attend OVR board meetings to provide a report to the Board, for mutual sharing of information, discussion of issues and concerns, and to generate discussion with the Board on areas of common concern.

3. The PA-RC will continue their effort to get input from the local CACs into the State Plan Attachment through their quarterly CAC calls.

III. Customer Satisfaction

A. Surveys:

Recommendations:

1. A customer Satisfaction survey has not been completed since 2000. The PA-RC strongly recommends that a survey be completed in FY 2006 to receive customer input.

2. That any customer satisfaction survey jointly completed by OVR, PaRC and other stakeholder groups be sent to all OVR applicants, customers and former customers. Surveys should not be limited to those individuals who have received a successful closure.

B. Public Forums:

Based on comments from the two public forums held this year, the PA-RC makes the following recommendations to OVR:

Consumers need to be educated on all OVR services and policies upon entering the system in order to make informed choices
Increase public relations/education about OVR services to the general public
Hire more counselors with disabilities
Increase pre-employment experience to consumers by expanding internship and supported employment programs
Increase entrepreneurial opportunities to consumers
Support consumer efforts to get automobile manufactures to comply with the ADA in manufacturing vehicles that can be converted more easily
Support consumer efforts to evaluate current driver's training programs and then take steps to improve quality of these services
Provide ongoing support to employed individuals with disabilities
Provide counselors with more training in additional resources, disability specific assistive technology and the labor market

C. Consumer Advisory Committee Comments:

Efforts need to be made to involve more consumers in participating in the State Plan for OVR. Too many decisions are being made without adequate consumer input.
More financial and staff resources are needed to meet the needs of a growing blind and visually impaired population.
Children continue to receive meager services compared to their needs, especially for training in blindness and deaf skills which are not adequately being met by the educational system. More efforts must be made for outreach and collaborative funding with other governmental agencies.

D. Impartial Hearings:

Recommendations:

1. The PA-RC receives quarterly reports regarding requests for Impartial Hearings, the status of each request and the customer satisfaction with the overall impartial hearing process.

2. The PA-RC recommends that, as in the past, customers who participated in the impartial hearing process receive satisfaction surveys regarding the hearing process, and that the results of those surveys be reported to the PA-RC. Currently, customers no longer receive such surveys.

IV. Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD)

Recommendation:

1. It is evident that OVR has put forth effort in recruiting qualified staff. The PA-RC requests that OVR continue to provide regular reports on the recruitment efforts and outcomes of hiring qualified rehabilitation candidates, particularly the recruitment of people with disabilities, and to bring the status of current staff into compliance to meet CSPD requirements.

V. Statewide Needs Assessment

Recommendation:

1. The PA-RC requests an update on the status of the development of the Statewide Needs Assessment.

VI. Emerging Concerns about Accessibility

Recommendation:

1. The PA-RC recommends that OVR continue to work with Workforce Development to improve one-stop (CareerLink) accessibility for persons with disabilities in Pennsylvania.

VII. Increasing Employment Opportunities for OVR Customers

A. Partnership with OVR and other Stakeholder group

Recommendation:

1. The PaRC currently has the following goals in place related to marketing and public relations:

Developing a common message while working with other stakeholder groups in marketing OVR to employers and customers
The PaRC recommends that the PA Office of Vocational Rehabilitation becomes an active participant with the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) in their initiative, to develop a partnership with the national business community.
Advocate with legislators through position papers, letters and visits (state and federal)
Involvement/collaboration with local and state workforce investment boards
Preparation and distribution of the annual report
Maintain the PaRC website
Increase public awareness about OVR services by providing educational presentations to community organizations across the state
Continue to liaison with other stakeholder groups and provide feedback at Full Council meetings

Posted: March 8, 2006

Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Council
1902 Market Street Camp Hill, PA 17011
voice:717-975-2004
tollfree:888-250-5175
fax: 888-524-9282
tty: 888-559-2658
email: racucpca@parac.org