Overview:

I recently had the opportunity to attend the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) conference in San Diego! The week kicked off with a Leadership Forum for state agency directors and senior-level staff.

Did you know that every state, U.S. territory, and the District of Columbia has at least one federally-mandated vocational rehabilitation agency that provides disabled people with the training and tools to find employment and live independently? (Within many states with large tribal populations, each VR agency has a separate and distinct program for tribal nations.)

VR agencies operate under three structural models:

1. Combined agencies – Serve people with all disabilities under one umbrella. An example is the California Department of Rehabilitation.

2. General agencies and Blind agencies – In 22 states, there are two distinct agencies:
•   The General agency serves people with all disabilities except blindness or low vision. An example is Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services.
•   The Blind agency serves people who are blind or low vision. This is the type of agency we are at the Iowa Department for the Blind.

(Separate Blind agencies exist because blind people need a more comprehensive, intensive, and specialized level of training in order to be ready for the workforce. Learning braille and cane travel, for example, often take months of daily instruction to achieve mastery, which is well outside the scope of General VR programs.)

Highlights from the Week:

During the week, I participated in the New Directors Cohort meeting, joining other newly appointed state agency directors from across the country for a morning of helpful and relevant training and discussion. Kudos to CSAVR for creating this cohort to support new state agency leaders!

We also had the Directors Forum, which brought together VR agency directors from every state and territory. I was so inspired by the knowledge, passion, and commitment of those who have been serving in this field for decades.

The programming on Saturday and Sunday was designed specifically for agency directors, and today marks the first day of general sessions and breakout seminars for a variety of VR agency leadership staff—including directors, program administrators, and finance and accounting staff.