Collaborative Relationships Between Vocational Rehabilitation and Other One-Stop Partners

Abstract

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) brought together federal job training and employment programs to create one comprehensive service system. Among WIA’s core tenets are streamlined services to be developed, designed, and implemented by a variety of mandated and nonmandated partners. The public Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agency is a mandated partner, and the only one that focuses on disability. Although the intention of WIA was mutual benefit and interaction, the exact nature of the VR partnership with the One-Stop varies. Using a longitudinal research design and case study method, collaborative relationships between other partners in the One-Stop and VR in six U.S. locations was explored. The findings uncovered four models of collaboration: full-time colocation of a few VR staff members, colocation in the same building complex, itinerant staffing, and limited itinerant staffing. There were a number of barriers to collaboration and strategies used in and among the various models to facilitate involvement of VR.

How Vocational Rehabilitation Transition Specialists Influence Curricula for Students With Severe Disabilities

“…The literature supports the notion that physical distance between two collaborating partners often contributes to a lack of collaboration (Timmons, Boeltzig, Cohen Hall, Hamner, & Fesko, 2009); thus, it is not surprising that participants in the current study believed that physical proximity enhanced their collaboration with school personnel. Jointly funded VR transition specialist positions were originally created to address factors necessary to facilitate collaboration, such as effective methods of communication and understanding the culture of collaborating agencies (Johnson, Zorn, Tam, Lamontagne, & Johnson, 2003).…”

Disability Specialist Staff in US One-Stop Career Centers and British Jobcentre Plus Offices: Roles, Responsibilities, and Evidence of Their Effectiveness

“…The majority of DPNs (an average of 89.4%) reported creating linkages and building relationships between mandated and nonmandated One-Stop partners, educating staff on disability issues (86.2%), and providing guidance to staff on how to assist job seekers with disabilities (81.4%; LHPDC, 2006). DPNs often functioned as a resource to One-Stop staff and partners providing informal advice, guidance, and education on disability-related issues (Cohen et al, 2004(Cohen et al, , 2005Emery & Bryan, 2006;Hall et al, 2007;LHPDC, 2006;Schartz et al, 2007;Schmeling & Morris, 2005;Timmons, Boeltzig, Hall, Hamner, & Fesko, 2008). Topics on which DPNs provided training included, for example, disabilityrelated issues, reducing employment barriers, retraining on assistive technology, interagency education and resources, effective customer service, job development strategies, and sharing strategies and success stories (LHPDC, 2006).…”