Alaska Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services SARAH: Driving the services at voc rehab are four general guidelines… One, the services provided are individualized —what works for someone else may not work for you. Two, all services must be employment or disability related. Three, the services must be jointly developed and agreed upon by you and your counselor. In other words, nothing is forced on you—voc rehab calls this “informed choice”. And four, services are time-limited. Your rehabilitation plan is designed with an end in mind—securing employment! (SHE PICKS A BROCHURE UP OFF HER LAP) This sentence from one of voc rehab’s brochures says it pretty well. (READS) “Voc Rehab identifies and provides services consistent with an individual’s (SLOW) strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities interests and informed choices.” That takes a lot into consideration! The Voc rehab services fall into six broad categories… The first is evaluation and assessment. This includes all types of medical, physical, psychological, educational, or work evaluations…whatever’s necessary to help the counselor determine your unique capabilities and needs. To me, maybe the most important voc rehab service was vocational guidance and counseling. During my second appointment, I took some “interest testing” right on their computers. Interest testing helps you figure out what kind of work you might be best suited for, or you would enjoy doing. That’s how we confirmed that my job had to involve people-contact, something I really need as a person. I like helping people and that’s why I belong in health care. Once you and your counselor pin-point possible career choices, voc rehab helps you check out the job market. You know, they’re part of the Alaska Job Center Network, and if you don’t think that helps… Looking at the job market helps you judge how quickly you might be able to find a job, and where, and what the expected pay range would be. My counselor helped me develop my Individualized Plan for Employment, or IPE—something I fondly called my “roadmap to success”! The plan includes: - Your specific job goal and when you expect to reach it. - A list of the services needed to reach your job goal, who the service providers will be, the starting and projected ending dates of the service, and funding arrangements. This includes services and benefits from other programs, other than voc rehab, that will help you reach your goal. - The IPE also outlines the tasks and responsibilities you need to accomplish. After all, it’s a two-way street! My plan said I was responsible for completing my required coursework, among other things. - In addition, the plan describes ways you and your counselor will measure progress towards achieving your job goal. My progress was measured every time I got my course grades; and then later, each time I completed a job interview. - Finally, your Individualized Plan for Employment includes what part of the services you would pay for, if any. Voc Rehab determines if you have financial resources to help pay for services such as training. Before providing certain services, your counselor will see if another source, such as medical insurance or Medicaid, can pay for the service. There are certain voc rehab services available to all eligible individuals, regardless of their financial resources. They are: - Assessments to determine eligibility and rehabilitation needs, - Vocational counseling, guidance and referral services, and - Job search and placement services. Training is another major service offered by voc rehab. For my new vocation, I needed to go to school to learn how to draw blood for different lab tests. Voc rehab training can also take place on the job, or through job coaching, or job mentoring. I met the neatest “high school student” and his mom while I was at the voc rehab office. He got “OJT”— that stands for on-the-job training. Voc rehab started working with Adam while he was still in high school. His mom told me he has a learning disability in reading, along with an attention deficit disorder when it comes to listening. Needless to say, Adam didn’t do well in lecture classes in high school. He did get good reports from teachers in art and mechanic classes, but Adam didn’t want to be an artist or a mechanic! Voc rehab did some interest and aptitude testing, and what almost identically matched Adam’s interest and abilities was “dental lab technician”. Voc rehab contacted a dental lab in Adam’s hometown, and the owner agreed to have him come in and do some work. The rest is history! Adam is now earning about eleven dollars an hour making crowns and bridges that are shipped to dentists’ offices all over the U.S. When it comes to training and other voc rehab services, there might be some things you think you need but voc rehab won’t necessarily provide. For example, you might prefer to train at a school in New York. But if the same training or degree is available in Alaska, voc rehab would financially support you to attend school here. Sure, you could go to New York, but you would need to pay the difference. Voc rehab also provides Employment Services. I needed a lot of help in this area. I hadn’t written a resume before, and they showed me how. Plus, I did a number of “mock” job interviews within the safe confines of the voc rehab office before my first real interview. Voc rehab does a lot of job referral, placement, and follow-up work too. Voc rehab also provides services in the area of Accommodations. Adaptive aids, assistive technology, and accessibility and work site evaluations are available. I met Olaf at Voc Rehab. He’s amazing, he’s 83 years old and still working! He and his wife work together at a café that is the site for senior meals and services. The couple’s job is to put together meals for delivery to local homebound residents. Olaf had become legally blind and it was getting harder and harder for him to complete his work properly. Voc rehab arranged for instruction in adaptive techniques—for Olaf--things like labeling food containers with extra large letters, using a magnifier, recipes in large print and several other things. Today, Olaf’s happy to be working and making a contribution to his community! I hope I’m doing that when I’m 83! The sixth and final major classification of services offered by voc rehab is called restoration. This could be medical or psychological and might include such things as treatment, or what they call orthotic or prosthetic devices like special braces and supports. Voc rehab helped me get back therapy; I learned some stretching exercises that help prevent me from re-injuring my back. That covers most of the services of voc rehab. There’s others too, like interpreter services, reader services, and post-employment services. Whatever it takes to help you achieve your employment goal! You and your counselor will choose just the right combination of services based on your capabilities and needs. Remember, having a disability doesn’t mean you lack abilities. Voc rehab helps you put those abilities to work for you!