Fiscal Year 2007 Monitoring Report on the Vocational Rehabilitation and Independent Living Programs in the State of Hawaii

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services

Rehabilitation Services Administration

September 7, 2007

contents

Page

eXECUTIVE SUMMARY………………………………………………………………….3

introduction…………………………………………………………………………...5

cHAPTER 1: rsa’S rEVIEW pROCESS………………………………………..7

cHAPTER 2: vOCATIONAL rEHABILITATION AND sUPPORTED

EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS…………………………………….9

cHAPTER 3: Fiscal review of the vr program…….………………..19

cHAPTER 4: il program………………………………………………………23

cHAPTER 5: OLder individuals who are blind (oib) program…27

cHAPTER 6: Progress on Issues Raised in Previous Reviews.………………………………………………………………...…….….29

cHAPTER 7: SUMMARY CONCLUSION.………………………………….….30

Executive Summary

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) reviewed the performance of the following programs of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (the Act) in the state of Hawaii (HI):

·  The vocational rehabilitation (VR) program, established under Title I;

·  The supported employment (SE) program, established under Title VI, Part B;

·  The independent living (IL) programs, authorized under Title VII, Part B; and

·  The Independent Living Services Program for Older Individuals Who Are Blind (OIB), established under Title VII, Chapter 2.

The Hawaii vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Division (VRSBD) is the agency that is responsible for the administration of the four programs cited above.

RSA’s review of VRSBD began in the fall of 2006 and ended in the summer of 2007. During this time, RSA’s Hawaii state team:

·  gathered and reviewed information regarding VRSBD’s performance;

·  identified a wide range of VR and IL stakeholders and invited them to provide input into the review process;

·  conducted an on-site visit, and held multiple discussions with state agency staff, SRC members, SILC members, and stakeholders to share information, to identify promising practices and areas for improvement;

·  provided technical assistance to VRSBD;

·  worked with VRSBD and stakeholders to develop goals, strategies, and evaluation methods to address performance and compliance issues; and

·  identified the technical assistance that RSA would provide to help VRSBD improve its performance.

As a result of the review, RSA:

·  identified promising practices;

·  identified performance and compliance issues; and

·  VRSBD developed performance and compliance goals and strategies related to selected issues;

·  identified the technical assistance that it would provide to assist the agency to achieve the goals identified as a result of the review;

·  made recommendations in those instances when VRSBD and RSA did not agree on issues; and

·  identified potential issues for further review.

Strengths and Challenges:

The VR program is engaging in self-analysis that will lead to stronger performance and higher quality outcomes for Hawaii's disabled population. The fiscal management of the program is working to identify one-time expenditures to spend down the surplus carryover funds. This will enhance VRSBD's ability to pursue its primary goal of improving services to individual consumers.

One of the greatest challenges to the agency in the coming year will be achieving buy-in at all levels on the new focus on quality outcomes. VRSBD will need to institute concrete measures to ensure VR counselors and staff in all offices that this effort reflects the true values of the program. The high degree of autonomy among the branch offices will also be a challenge to ensuring unity of message and consistency of policy implementation across the islands.

Introduction

Section 107 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Act), requires the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to conduct annual reviews and periodic on-site monitoring of programs authorized under Title I of the Act to determine whether a state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agency is complying substantially with the provisions of its State Plan under section 101 of the Act and with the evaluation standards and performance indicators established under section 106. In addition, the Commissioner must assess the degree to which VR agencies are complying with the assurances made in the Supplement for Supported Employment under Title VI of the Act and programs offered under Title VII of the Act are substantially complying with their respective state plan assurances and program requirements.

In order to fulfill its monitoring responsibilities, RSA:

·  reviews the state agency’s performance in assisting eligible individuals with disabilities to achieve high-quality employment and independent living outcomes;

·  develops, jointly with the state agency, performance and compliance goals as well as strategies to achieve those goals; and

·  provides technical assistance (TA) to the state agency in order to improve its performance, meet its goals, and fulfill its state plan assurances.

Scope of the Review

RSA reviewed the Hawaii Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Division’s (VRSBD's) performance and compliance in administering the following programs of the Act:

·  the VR program, established under Title I;

·  the supported employment (SE) program, established under Title VI, Part B;

·  the independent living (IL) programs, authorized under Title VII, Part B; and

·  the Independent Living Services Program for Older Individuals Who Are Blind (OIB), established under Title VII, Chapter 2.

Hawaii Administration of the VR, SE, IL, and OIB Programs

The Title I basic support formula grant for vocational rehabilitation services is administered in Hawaii by the Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Division (VRSBD), which is housed in the Department of Human Services under the directorship of Ms. Lillian Koller. VRSBD is the only dedicated VR agency in Hawaii and provides services to all eligible individuals with disabilities in the state. There are branch offices on each of the four main islands and administrative offices in Kapolei. There is a Deaf Services office in Honolulu and a Services for the Blind division that operates the Ho'opono adjustment to blindness training center on Oahu. The Title VI chapter II grant for older individuals who are blind is administered by VRSBD and services are provided by the Ho'opono training center for the Blind.

In addition, RSA also reviewed VRSBD’s progress on:

·  the agency’s Corrective Action Plan that was established as a result of findings from RSA’s FY 2004 Section 107 monitoring review; and

·  the assurances that VRSBD made to RSA in conjunction with its FY 2007 state plan.

For the four programs listed above, this report describes RSA’s review of VRSBD, provides information on the agency’s performance, identifies promising practices, identifies performance and compliance issues, and identifies the related goals, the strategies, and the technical assistance that RSA will provide to VRSBD to address each of the issues identified during the review.

Appreciation

RSA wishes to express appreciation to the representatives of the VRSBD, the SRC, the SILC, and the stakeholders who assisted the RSA monitoring team in the review of VRSBD.

Chapter I: RSA’s Review Process

Data Used During the Review

RSA’s review of VRSBD began in the fall of 2006 and ended in the summer of 2007. RSA’s data collections are finalized and available at different times throughout the year. During this review, RSA and the state agency used the most recent data that was available from the FY 2005 and FY 2006 collections. As a result, this report cites data from FY 2005 and FY 2006.

Review Process Activities

During the review process RSA’s Hawaii state team:

·  gathered and reviewed information regarding VRSBD’s performance;

·  reviewed state visit reports and prior years’ Sec. 107 reports to identify outstanding issues;

·  identified a wide range of VR and IL stakeholders, and invited them to provide input into the review process;

·  conducted on-site review activities during the week of May 28-June 2, 2007 at which time RSA held multiple discussions with state agency staff, SRC members, SILC members, and stakeholders to share information, identify promising practices, and identify areas for improvement;

·  provided technical assistance to VRSBD on both program and fiscal matters; and

·  verified VRSBD 911 data by reviewing 36 case records of individuals who exited the VR program.

RSA Hawaii State Team Review Participants

The RSA review team consisted of at least one representative from each of the five functional units of the State Monitoring and Program Improvement Division (SMPID) of RSA. The review team was led by RSA’s state liaison to Hawaii, Brian Miller (Vocational Rehabilitation Unit), and also included the following individuals: Regina Luster (Fiscal Unit), Darryl Glover (Fiscal Unit), Pamela Hodge (Independent Living Unit), Thomas Dolan (Technical Assistance Unit), Joan Ward (Data Unit), and Padma Soundararajan, who provided reader services.

Information Gathering

During FY 2007, RSA began its review of VRSBD by analyzing information including, but not limited to, data submitted by VRSBD to RSA, internally generated RSA performance summaries, the RSA state visit report from FY 2006, prior 107 monitoring reports, audit results, Hawaii’s VR and IL state plans, and VRSBD’s State Rehabilitation Council’s (SRC’s) Annual Report. After completing its internal review, the RSA team carried out the following information gathering activities with VRSBD and other stakeholders in order to gain a greater understanding of VRSBD’s strengths and challenges:

·  the RSA Hawaii state liaison conducted a series of individual teleconferences with the VRSBD administrator and his deputy administrators between November 2006, and May 2007;

·  the RSA Hawaii state team conducted multiple teleconferences with the VRSBD management between December 2006 and May 2007;

·  the Hawaii state liaison conducted a teleconference with the Hawaii client assistance program (CAP) manager in February;

·  the RSA Hawaii state team conducted a teleconference with the SRC executive committee in March;

·  the RSA Hawaii state liaison met with the VRSBD administrator and the SRC chair in April at the CSAVR conference in Bethesda Maryland to discuss proposed on-site monitoring activities and to identify final focus areas for the review;

·  the RSA VR and IL state team specialists participated in several teleconferences with the Hawaii statewide independent living council (SILC) to introduce the monitoring process and solicit input;

·  met with VR counselors and staff from all four branch offices while on-site in May 2007 – with many participating via video teleconference; and

·  the RSA Hawaii state team solicited and received input from a variety of disability consumer groups, through e-mail, teleconferences, and individual phone calls.


Chapter 2: Vocational Rehabilitation and Supported Employment Programs

Program Organization

The Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Division (VRSBD) is the sole designated state unit (DSU) in Hawaii to administer the Title I VR basic support formula grant. The DSU provides services through its four branch offices, one each on the four main islands. The VRSBD staff serves Molokai and Lenai from the Maui branch office. At the time of the review, there were approximately 119 total staff across all the island offices, and approximately 45 VR counselors to provide VR services directly to clients. VRSBD served more than 5,300 individuals in FY 2006 under the Title I program, with 667 individuals exiting the program with an employment outcome.

VRSBD is not under an order of selection, and is able to provide services to all individuals determined eligible.

VRSBD has contracts with community rehabilitation programs (CRPs) to provide vocational rehabilitation, supported employment, and assistive technology needs to over 700 individuals with supported employment needs each year.

Table 1 provides fiscal and program data for fiscal years 2002 through 2006. These data provide an overview of the VR program’s costs, outcomes, and efficiency. The table identifies the amount of funds used by the agency, the number of individuals who applied, and the number who received services. It also provides information about the quality of the agency’s employment outcomes and its transition services.

Table 1

FY 2005 and FY 2006 VRSBD VR and SE Program Highlights

HAWAII / 2002 / 2003 / 2004 / 2005 / 2006
Total funds used / $10,995,890 / $11,915,535 / $13,172,739 / $12,871,498 / $14,392,917
Individuals served during year / 4,243 / 4,635 / 5,061 / 5,124 / 5,399
Applicants / 2,380 / 2,501 / 2,707 / 2,863 / 2,730
Closed after receiving services / 1,004 / 1,003 / 1,463 / 1,187 / 1,332
Closed with employment outcomes / 491 / 579 / 738 / 695 / 667
Employment outcomes without supports in an integrated setting / 425 / 530 / 687 / 656 / 626
Average cost per individual served / $2,591.54 / $2,570.77 / $2,602.79 / $2,512.00 / $2,665.85
HAWAII / 2002 / 2003 / 2004 / 2005 / 2006
Average cost per employment outcome / $22,394.89 / $20,579.51 / $17,849.24 / $18,520.14 / $21,578.59
Employment outcomes per $million spent / 44.65 / 48.59 / 56.02 / 54.00 / 46.34
Competitive employment outcomes per $million spent / 43.20 / 46.58 / 54.96 / 52.75 / 45.16
Average hourly earnings for paid employment outcomes / $9.56 / $9.59 / $9.87 / $9.86 / $11.02
Average state hourly earnings / $15.71 / $16.22 / $16.64 / $17.39 / $18.01
Average hours worked per week for paid employment outcomes / 28.32 / 28.16 / 29.74 / 31.33 / 31.72
Percent of transition age served to total served / 28.09 / 29.01 / 27.20 / 25.53 / 28.23
Employment rate for transition age served / 47.52 / 52.58 / 42.21 / 57.10 / 43.62
Average time between application and closure (in months) for individuals with successful paid employment outcomes / 33.00 / 28.60 / 25.00 / 24.30 / 26.20
Average number of individuals served per total staff / 39.65 / 44.57 / 48.66 / 49.27 / 52.93


Provision of Technical Assistance During the Review Process

RSA provided the following technical assistance to VRSBD in a number of VR and SE program areas during the review process:

·  verified the agency’s RSA 911 case record data for FY 2004, FY 2005, and FY 2006;

·  provided input to the VRSBD data specialist on case management systems including RSA data submission requirements, cost effectiveness, usability by counselors and staff, and implementation issues;

·  assisted the VRSBD state plan coordinator with questions regarding the submission of the FY 2008 state plan;

·  provided suggestions for how to improve program income while on-site in Honolulu; and

·  demonstrated the RSA MIS (Management Information System). The demonstration included how to locate the RSA-113/RSA-2 monitoring tables, RSA-911 monitoring tables, the standard and indicators, agency report cards, and the underlying report card tables; and