U.S. Department of Education: Promoting Educational Excellence for all Americans

A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

State Vocational Rehabilitation Services and Supported Employment - 2004

CFDA Number: 84.126 - Rehabilitation Services_Vocational Rehabilitation Grants to States


Goal 8: Individuals with disabilities served by the Vocational Rehabilitaton State Grant program will achieve high quality employment.
Objective 8.1 of 2: ENSURE THAT INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES WHO ARE SERVED BY THE VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION (VR) STATE GRANT PROGRAM ACHIEVE EMPLOYMENT CONSISTENT WITH THEIR PARTICULAR STRENGTHS, RESOURCES, ABILITIES, CAPABILITIES, AND INTERESTS.
Indicator 8.1.1 of 4: Percentage of individuals obtaining employment: Increase the percentage of: (a) general and combined State VR agencies that assist at least 55.8% of individuals who receive services to achieve employment outcomes; and (b) State VR agencies for the blind that assist at least 68.9% of individuals who receive services to acheive employment outcomes.
Targets and Performance Data Assessment of Progress Sources and Data Quality
Percentage obtaining employment for general and combined VR agencies
Year Actual Performance Performance Targets
2002   78
2003   81
2004   83
2005   85

Percentage obtaining employment for VR agencies for the blind
Year Actual Performance Performance Targets
2002   78
2003   81
2004   83
2005   87


Explanation: This new indicator was developed to better measure RSA's efforts to provide assistance to raise the performance of State VR agencies. This indicator is derived from State VR agency performance on indicator 1.2, one of the indicators developed pursuant to Section 106 of the Rehabilitation Act. For each VR agency, RSA examines the percentage of individuals who achieve employment of all individuals whose cases were closed after receiving services. In order to pass this indicator, a general/combined agency must achieve a rate of 55.8 percent, while an agency for the blind must achieve a rate of 68.9 percent. In FY 2001, 75 percent of agencies achieved these rates. The FY 2005 targets were based on FY 2001 performance, the last year for which we have clean data. RSA's goal under GPRA is to increase the percentage of agencies that pass this indicator.   		Additional Source Information: RSA state agency data from the RSA-911.

Frequency: Annually.
Collection Period: 2002
Data Available: December 2003
Validated By: On-Site Monitoring By ED.
Verified by ED attestation process and ED Standards for Evaluating Program Performance Data.

Limitations: Accuracy/ consistency of reporting is contingent upon counselors' interpretations of definitions. Timeliness is dependent upon submittal of clean data from 80 grantees. Limited staff resources affect ability to check data for reasonableness and publish data quickly.

 
Indicator 8.1.2 of 4: Percentage of individuals obtaining competitive employment: Increase the percentage of: (a) general and combined State VR agencies that assist at least 72.6 percent of individuals with employment outcomes to achieve competitive employment; and (b) State VR agencies for the blind that assist at least 50 percent of individuals with employment outcomes to achieve competitive employment.
Targets and Performance Data Assessment of Progress Sources and Data Quality
Percentage obtaining competitive employment for general and combined VR agencies.
Year Actual Performance Performance Targets
2002   91
2003   92
2004   93
2005   94

Percentage obtaining competitive employment for VR agencies for the blind.
Year Actual Performance Performance Targets
2002   81
2003   83
2004   85
2005   87


Explanation: This new indicator was developed to better measure RSA's efforts to provide assistance to raise the performance of State VR agencies that are currently performing poorly. This indicator is derived from State VR agency performance on indicator 1.3, one of the indicators developed pursuant to Section 106 of the Rehabilitation Act. For each VR agency, RSA examines the percentage of individuals who achieve competitive employment of all individuals who achieve employment. In order to pass this indicator, a general/combined agency must achieve a rate of 72.6 percent, while an agency for the blind must achieve a rate of 35.4 percent. For purposes of this GPRA indicator, we felt that 35.4 percent was too low a target, and we therefore used 50 percent for the agencies for the blind instead. In FY 2001, 91 percent of general/combined agencies achieved the rate of 72.6 percent, while 79 percent of agencies for the blind achieved the rate of 50 percent. The FY 2005 targets were based on FY 2001 performance, the last year for which we have clean data. RSA's goal under GPRA is to increase the percentage of agencies that pass this indicator.   		Additional Source Information: RSA state agency data from the RSA-911.

Frequency: Annually.
Collection Period: 2002
Data Available: December 2003
Validated By: On-Site Monitoring By ED.
Verified by ED attestation process and ED Standards for Evaluating Program Performance Data.

Limitations: Accuracy/ consistency of reporting is contingent upon counselors' interpretations of definitions. Timeliness is dependent upon submittal of clean data from 80 grantees. Limited staff resources affect ability to check data for reasonableness and publish data quickly.

 
Indicator 8.1.3 of 4: Percentage of competitively employed individuals who have significant disabilities: Increase the percentage of: (a) general and combined State VR agencies for which at least 65 percent of the individuals achieving competitive employment have significant disabilities; and (b)State VR agencies for the blind for which at least 89 percent of the individuals achieving competitive employment have significant disabilities.
Targets and Performance Data Assessment of Progress Sources and Data Quality
Percentage with significant disabilities for general and combined VR agencies.
Year Actual Performance Performance Targets
2002   91
2003   92
2004   93
2005   94

Percentage with significant disabilities for VR agencies for the blind.
Year Actual Performance Performance Targets
2002   85
2003   87
2004   89
2005   91


Explanation: This new indicator was developed to better measure RSA's efforts to provide assistance to raise the performance of State VR agencies that are currently performing poorly. This indicator is derived from State VR agency performance on indicator 1.4, one of the indicators developed pursuant to Section 106 of the Rehabilitation Act. For each VR agency, RSA examines the percentage of individuals achieving competitive employment who have significant disabilities. In order to pass this indicator, a general/combined agency must achieve a rate of 62.4 percent, while an agency for the blind must achieve a rate of 89 percent. For purposes of this GPRA indicator, we felt that 62.4 percent was too low a target for general/combined agencies, and we therefore used 65 percent instead. In FY 2001, 91 percent of general/combined agencies achieved a rate of 65 percent, while 83 percent of agencies for the blind achieved a rate of 89 percent. The FY 2005 targets were based on FY 2001 performance, the last year for which we have clean data. RSA's goal under GPRA is to increase the percentage of agencies that pass this indicator.   		Additional Source Information: RSA state agency data from the RSA-911.

Frequency: Annually.
Collection Period: 2002
Data Available: December 2003
Validated By: On-Site Monitoring By ED.
Verified by ED attestation process and ED Standards for Evaluating Program Performance Data.

Limitations: Accuracy/ consistency of reporting is contingent upon counselors' interpretations of definitions. Timeliness is dependent upon submittal of clean data from 80 grantees. Limited staff resources affect ability to check data for reasonableness and publish data quickly.

 
Indicator 8.1.4 of 4: Percentage of individuals obtaining competitive employment (long-term): By 2008: (a) 75 percent of general and combined State VR agencies will assist at least 85 percent of individuals with employment outcomes to achieve competitive employment; and (b) 60 percent of State VR agencies for the blind will assist at least 65 percent of individuals with employment outcomes to achieve competitive employment.
Targets and Performance Data Assessment of Progress Sources and Data Quality
Percentage of general and combined State VR agencies assisting at least 85 percent of individuals to achieve competitive employment
Year Actual Performance Performance Targets
2002   63
2003   65
2004   67
2005   69
2006   71
2007   73
2008   75

Percentage of State VR agencies for the blind assisting at least 65 percent of individuals to achieve competitive employment
Year Actual Performance Performance Targets
2002   43
2003   45
2004   48
2005   51
2006   54
2007   57
2008   60


Explanation: This long-term indicator is derived from State VR agency performance on indicator 1.3, one of the indicators developed pursuant to Section 106 of the Rehabilitation Act. For each VR agency, RSA examines the percentage of individuals who achieve competitive employment of all individuals who achieve employment. In order to pass this indicator, a general/combined agency must achieve a rate of 72.6 percent, while an agency for the blind must achieve a rate of 35.4 percent. For purposes of this long-term GPRA indicator, we felt that these rates were too low. Therefore, we set a rate of 85 percent for general/combined agencies and 65 percent for agencies for the blind. In FY 2001, 62.5 percent of general/combined agencies achieved a rate of 85 percent, while 41.7 percent of agencies for the blind achieved a rate of 65 percent. The FY 2008 targets were based on FY 2001 performance, the last year for which we have clean data. RSA's goal under GPRA is to increase the percentage of agencies that perform well on this critical indicator.   		Additional Source Information: RSA state agency data from the RSA-911.

Frequency: Annually.
Collection Period: 2002
Data Available: December 2003
Validated By: On-Site Monitoring By ED.
Verified by ED attestation process and ED Standards for Evaluation Program Performance Data.

Limitations: Accuracy/ consistency of reporting is contingent upon counselors' interpretations of definitions. Timeliness is dependent upon submittal of clean data from 80 grantees. Limited staff resources affect ability to check data for reasonableness and publish data quickly.

 

Objective 8.2 of 2: INCREASE THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS WITH THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DISABILITIES WHO HAVE RECEIVED SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT SERVICES BUT ACHIEVE COMPETITIVE EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES.
Indicator 8.2.1 of 1: Percentage of individuals with a supported employment goal achieving competitive employment: The percentage of individuals with a supported employment goal who achieve a competitive employment outcome (including supported employment outcomes in which the individual receives the minimum wage or better) will continue to increase.
Targets and Performance Data Assessment of Progress Sources and Data Quality
Percentage of individuals with a supported employment goal who achieved a competitive employment outcome
Year Actual Performance Performance Targets
1997 69.60  
1998 69.10  
1999 73.30 71
2000 77.30 71.50
2001 79.20 77.40
2002   77.60
2003   77.80
2004   78
2005   80


Explanation: This indicator has been a GPRA indicator for a number of years. With this indicator, RSA examines State agency performance regarding supported employment for individuals with the most significant disabilities. Individuals in supported employment can achieve competitive employment (with wages at or above the minimum wage), although not all individuals in supported employment do achieve these competitive wages. RSA wants to encourage State agencies to help individuals with disabilities in supported employment to acheive these competitive employment outcomes. FY 2005 targets are based on FY 2001 performance, the last year for which we have clean data.   		Additional Source Information: RSA state agency data from the RSA-911.

Frequency: Annually.
Collection Period: 2002
Data Available: December 2003
Validated By: On-Site Monitoring By ED.
Verified by ED attestation process and ED Standards for Evaluating Program Performance Data.

Limitations: Accuracy/consistency of reporting is contingent upon counselors' interpretations of definitions. Timeliness is dependent upon submittal of clean data from 80 grantees. Limited staff resources affect ability to check data for reasonableness and publish data quickly.

 

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