Fiscal Year 2007 Monitoring Report on the Vocational Rehabilitation and Independent Living Programs in the State of Wyoming
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services
Rehabilitation Services Administration
October 5, 2007
CONTENTS
Page
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
introduction 5
.
CHAPTER 1: RSA’s rEVIEW pROCESS 7
cHAPTER 2: WYOMING dIVISION OF VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION: VOCATIONAL rEHABILITATION AND sUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS 9
CHAPTER 3: wyoming division of vocational rehabilitation: fiscal Review 22
cHAPTER 4: iNDEPENDENT lIVING pROGRAM 26
cHAPTER 5: INDEPENDENT LIVING Program FOR oLDER Individuals Who Are BLIND 29
cHAPTER 6: Wyoming division of vocational Rehabilitation: STATUS OF ISSUES RAISED IN PREVIOUS REVieWS 31
cHAPTER 7: SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS 32
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 Wyoming (WY):
· the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services Program, established under Title I;
· the Supported Employment Services (SE) Program, established under Title VI, Part B;
· the Independent Living (IL) Services Program, 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.
In WY, the Wyoming Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (WDVR) is responsible for administering the VR, SE, and OIB programs. WDVR and the Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) jointly administer the IL program under Title VII, Part B.
RSA’s review began in the fall of 2006 and ended in the summer of 2007. During this time, RSA’s WY state team:
· gathered and reviewed information regarding each programs performance;
· identified a wide range of VR and IL stakeholders and invited them to provide input into the review process;
· conducted two on-site visits, and held multiple discussions with state agency staff, WDVR’s State Rehabilitation Council (SRC) members, Client Assistance Program (CAP) staff, SILC members, and stakeholders to share information and to identify promising practices and areas for improvement;
· provided technical assistance (TA);
· worked with WDVR and stakeholders to develop goals, strategies, and evaluation methods to address performance issues; and
· identified the TA that RSA would provide to help improve program performance.
As a result of the review, RSA:
· identified promising practices;
· identified performance issues;
· worked with WDVR to develop performance goals and strategies related to selected issues;
· identified the TA 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 WDVR and RSA did not agree on issues; and
· identified potential issues for further review.
The following is a summary of WDVR’s strengths and challenges in the VR, SE, IL, and OIB programs:
Historically, WDVR has been performing well on the VR program standards and indicators and has enjoyed the support and respect from the majority of its stakeholders. The management team appears poised to undertake the numerous challenges facing WDVR as the baby boom employees begin to retire and the disability demographics in the state begin to change.
WDVR has a strong commitment to fulfilling the requirements of the Act in a manner that promotes the achievement of the goals of the VR and IL programs. WDVR staff members are well qualified and dedicated to the agency’s mission and goals. The agency has established or is in the process of establishing interagency agreements with the numerous social service programs and employment agencies that will assist WDVR to effectively provide services in a large and sparsely populated state. WDVR has demonstrated its partnership with one-stop career centers by co-locating staff and serving as the resident disability experts in the centers.
WDVR faces challenges posed by individuals with complex rehabilitation needs, such as youths with disabilities, individuals with severe and persistent mental illness, American Indians with disabilities, individuals with acquired brain injuries, and individuals participating in the SSI and SSDI programs. There are pockets of excellence in service delivery in WY, and it will be important for WDVR to replicate these promising practices throughout the state as much as possible. WDVR has a number of new employees as the result of normal staff attrition. WDVR is investing in training personnel and in promoting secession planning. WDVR is also reaching out to other social service agencies in order to maximize resources.
Introduction
Section 107 of the Act requires the Commissioner of RSA to conduct annual reviews and periodic on-site monitoring of programs authorized under Title I of the Act to determine whether a state 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 state plan supplement for SE under Title VI of the Act and the degree to which 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 IL outcomes;
· develops, jointly with the state agency, performance and compliance goals as well as strategies to achieve those goals; and
· provides 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 performance of the following programs of the Act:
· the VR program, established under Title I;
· the SE program, established under Title VI, Part B;
· the IL program, authorized under Title VII, Part B; and
· the OIB program, established under Title VII, Chapter 2.
In addition, RSA also reviewed WDVR’s progress on:
· the agency’s Corrective Action Plan that was established as a result of findings from RSA’s fiscal year (FY) 2004 Section 107 monitoring review.
WY Administration of the VR, SE, IL, and OIB Programs
In WY, WDVR is the designated state unit (DSU) responsible for administering the VR, SE, IL and OIB programs. WDVR is located within the WY Department of Workforce Services (WDWS), which is the designated state agency (DSA).
For the four programs listed above, this report describes RSA’s review of WDVR, provides information on the agency’s performance, identifies promising practices, identifies performance issues, and identifies the related goals, strategies, and TA that RSA will provide to WDVR to address each of the issues identified during the review.
Appreciation
RSA wishes to express appreciation to the representatives of the WDVR and WDWS; the SRC and SILC; the CAP; the WY Department of Education (WDE); and the stakeholders who assisted the RSA monitoring team in the review of WDVR.
Chapter 1: RSA’s Review Process
Data Used During the Review
RSA’s review of WDVR 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 WY state team:
· gathered and reviewed information regarding WDVR’s performance;
· identified a wide range of VR and IL stakeholders and invited them to provide input into the review process;
· conducted two on-site visits, and held multiple discussions with state agency staff, SRC members, CAP staff, SILC members, and stakeholders to share information, identify promising practices and areas for improvement;
· provided TA to WDVR during the review;
· worked with WDVR to develop goals, strategies, and evaluation methods to address performance issues;
· reviewed the goals and strategies developed with WDVR at an on-site SRC meeting;
· made recommendations to WDVR in those instances when WDVR and RSA did not agree on issues;
· identified potential issues for further review; and
· identified the TA that RSA would provide to help WDVR improve its performance.
RSA WY State Team Review Participants
Members of RSA’s WY state team included representatives from each of RSA’s State Monitoring and Program Improvement Division’s (SMPID) five functional units. The RSA WY state team was led by Charles Sadler (TA Unit), and included the following members: David Wachter (VR Unit); Yann-Yann Shieh (Data Unit); Regina Luster (Fiscal Unit); and Thomas Kelley (IL Unit).
Information Gathering
During FY 2007, RSA began its review of WDVR by analyzing information including, but not limited to, RSA’s various data collections, WDVR’s VR and IL state plans, and WDVR’s SRC’s annual report. After completing its internal review, the RSA team carried out the following information gathering activities with WDVR and its stakeholders in order to gain a greater understanding of WDVR’s strengths and challenges:
· conducted an initial teleconference with the WDVR management to identify issues to be reviewed;
· conducted an initial teleconference with the chairpersons of the SRC and the SILC to identify issues to be reviewed;
· held two teleconference with stakeholders to gather input on the performance of WDVR’s VR and IL programs;
· conducted a series of individual teleconferences with both WDVR’s management team as well as stakeholders, particularly those stakeholders who were unable to participate in the two teleconferences;
· reviewed the drafts of the WDVR VR state plan and talked to management about the linkage between monitoring goals and state plan goals;
· reviewed the draft interagency agreement between WDVR and the WY Department of Behavioral Health (WDBH) and recommended revisions in order to improve the provision of VR and SE services within the state;
· conducted two on-site monitoring visits: the first monitoring visit was conducted from March 27-29, 2007, and the second from May 21-25, 2007; and
· conducted teleconferences with the WY IL constituency, including members of the SILC, and staff from the centers for independent living (CILs), OIB program, and WDVR.
Chapter 2: Vocational Rehabilitation and Supported Employment Programs
Program Organization
WDVR is located within the WY Department of Workforce Services. WDVR’s administration is centralized in its Cheyenne office and consists of the following three components: Fiscal, Field Services, and Resource Development. The Field Services section is divided into five regions, each of which is managed by an Area Manager. There are 29 VR counselors who provide services to eligible individuals with disabilities in 16 district and 20 satellite offices.
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
WDVR Performance Measures by Year: FYs 2002-2006
WYOMING / 2002 / 2003 / 2004 / 2005 / 2006 /Total funds used / $9,147,862 / $9,525,203 / $9,856,933 / $10,003,769 / $10,786,084
Individuals served during year / 2,505 / 2,549 / 2,305 / 2,348 / 2,313
Applicants / 1,965 / 2,065 / 1,914 / 1,889 / 1,921
Closed after receiving services / 972 / 1,038 / 812 / 981 / 921
Closed with employment outcomes / 727 / 727 / 507 / 664 / 670
Employment outcomes without supports in an integrated setting / 557 / 594 / 413 / 534 / 553
Average cost per individual served / $3,651.84 / $3,736.84 / $4,276.33 / $4,260.55 / $4,663.24
Average cost per employment outcome / $12,583.03 / $13,102.07 / $19,441.68 / $15,065.92 / $16,098.63
Employment outcomes per $million spent / 79.47 / 76.32 / 51.44 / 66.37 / 62.12
Competitive employment outcomes per $million spent / 76.63 / 74.12 / 50.42 / 65.58 / 61.28
Average hourly earnings for paid employment outcomes / $8.27 / $8.47 / $8.89 / $9.40 / $10.28
Average state hourly earnings / $13.93 / $14.38 / $14.84 / $15.64 / $17.13
Average hours worked per week for paid employment outcomes / 30.97 / 30.28 / 30.54 / 31.40 / 31.56
Percent of transition age served to total served / 17.49 / 17.44 / 16.75 / 16.92 / 16.61
Employment rate for transition age served / 75.29 / 69.61 / 63.97 / 65.66 / 71.24
Average time between application and closure (in months) for individuals with successful paid employment outcomes / 21.30 / 22.70 / 21.40 / 21.70 / 24.90
Average number of individuals served per total staff / 41.75 / 43.20 / 39.07 / 38.49 / 37.92
Table 2 illustrates WDVR’s five-year performance on the VR program’s standards and indicators. WDVR’s performance has been fairly consistent in meeting the standards and indicators over this period of time, with the exception of not meeting indicator 1.1 in FY 2004.
Table 2
WDVR Five-Year Performance on the VR Program Standards and Indicators
Standards and Indicators / FY 2002 / FY 2003 / FY 2004 / FY 2005 / FY 2006Standard 1 Met? / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes
1.1 Employment outcome change / Met / Met / Not Met / Met / Met
RSA Criterion: >= 0 / 1 / 0 / -220 / 157 / 6
1.2 Percent achieved employment outcome (Primary) / Met / Met / Met / Met / Met
RSA Criterion: >=55.8% / 74.79% / 70.04% / 62.44% / 67.69% / 72.75%
1.3 Percent achieved competitive employment outcome (Primary) / Met / Met / Met / Met / Met
RSA Criterion: >= 72.6% / 96.42% / 97.11% / 98.03% / 98.80% / 98.66%
1.4 Percent of significant disability with employment outcome (Primary) / Met / Met / Met / Met / Met
RSA Criterion: >= 62.4% / 73.61% / 68.56% / 67.61% / 71.95% / 67.32%
1.5 Ratio of the average hourly wage of competitive
employment vs. total employment (Primary) / Met / Met / Met / Met / Met
RSA Criterion: >= .52 / 0.60 / 0.60 / 0.61 / 0.61 / 0.61
1.6 Primary income of competitive employment outcome with
significant disability / Met / Met / Met / Met / Met
RSA Criterion: >= 53.0 / 58.63 / 71.39 / 72.64 / 65.85 / 64.90
Standard 2 Met? / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes
2.1 Ratio of the minority population served / Met / Met / Met / Met / Met
RSA Criterion: >= .80 / 1.02 / 1.01 / 0.86 / 0.93 / 0.88
Provision of TA to the VR and SE Programs During the Review Process