Comments Invited, A Bit of Heavy Reading for You!
By Steve Hoad

The following comes from the Rehabilitation Services Administration, the name, in itself is quite a mouth full! This may seem heavy and dull, and when you visit the web site linked below you're likely to think so, even more.

There is, however, a good reason to read this material. It is a draft of a plan to rework and provide assistance for our country's vocational rehabilitation system.

The Department of Education has been molding a new Rehabilitation Services Administration for more than two years now. This plan is just the latest set of ideas. Earlier, the Administration terminated many people with disabilities from regional office jobs around the country. Supposedly, these changes would make the system more efficient.

What's hiding in this plan? If we read it together, we'll find out.

On the web site, you'll find the data for Maine's various programs funded under the banner of the RSA. See what monies have come to Maine in the past. Then look at the newest plan and begin the comment process.

It is heavy reading, there's no doubt, but if we expect to have a system that will serve people with disabilities in their road to work, we should use our own experiences to understand and comment on what the government thinks it will do next.

Here's the announcement:

RSA is developing a Vocational Rehabilitation Strategic Performance Plan for the vocational rehabilitation (VR) program in order to ensure a long-term strategic focus on program performance, performance improvement, and outcomes for individuals with significant disabilities. RSA will use this plan to guide its administration of the VR program and address its basic challenges. By identifying goals and objectives linked to specific populations and high priority outcomes, the plan will assist RSA in monitoring progress of the VR program and provide appropriate, targeted support to state agencies toward the achievement of desired outcomes.

The plan will identify long-term performance goals and objectives that RSA will monitor in cooperation with the VR agencies. These goals and objectives and related performance measures will provide RSA with the foundation to begin documenting practices that lead to successful outcomes for individuals with significant disabilities and transitioning youths, identify factors that may inhibit success, and identify effective practices that help accomplish the program’s mission of providing high quality vocational rehabilitation services that are tailored to the needs of individuals with disabilities. RSA will use the plan to assist state VR agencies to focus their mandated planning activities on practices that will assure progress in providing high quality services for individuals with significant disabilities. Overall, the plan will promote results shaped by careful planning, monitoring of results, and implementation of strategies designed to improve performance.

You may access the website at
http://www.ed.gov/programs/rsabvrs/performance.html

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