Vocational Rehabilitation Program

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1 January 2005 LOUISIANA REHABILITATION SERVICES (LRS) Vocational Rehabilitation Program Quarterly Report OCTOBER DECEMBER 2004 The Vocational Rehabilitation Program (VR) is an employment program for persons with disabilities and is the flagship program of LRS. LRS Mission Statement... To assist persons with disabilities in their desire to obtain or maintain employment and/or to achieve independence in their community by providing rehabilitation services and by working cooperatively with business and other community services. Philosophy Statement... To fulfill the mission of LRS by increasing public awareness and by using existing resources and developing innovative strategies to identify and meet the needs of persons with disabilities and providing individualized, flexible, and timely services consistent with informed choice.

.. To assist persons with disabilities in their desire to obtain or maintain employment and/or to achieve independence in their community by providing rehabilitation services and by working

2 DURING SECOND QUARTER OF STATE FISCAL YEAR 2005 LRS SERVED Number of Applicants Number Determined Eligible Number of Employment Plans Developed Number Successfully Rehabilitated 3,777 2,862 1, CHARACTERISTICS OF CONSUMERS WHO RECEIVED COST SERVICES DISABILITY Number of Consumers Blindness 209 Other Visual Impairment 179 Deafness, Primary Communicative/Visual 171 Deafness, Primary Communicative/Auditory 39 Hearing Loss, Primary Communicative/Visual 44 Hearing Loss, Primary Communicative/Auditory 309 Other Hearing Impairments 7 Deaf-Blindness 11 Communicative Impairment (Expressive/Receptive) 35 Mobility Orthopedic/Neurological Impairment 489 Manipulation/Dexterity Orthopedic/Neurological 166 Mobility & Manipulation/Dexterity Orthopedic/Neurological 349 Other Orthopedic Impairments 360 Respiratory Impairments 83 General Physical Debilitation 305 Other Physical Impairments 449 Cognitive Impairments 1,371 Psychosocial Impairments 1,487 Other Mental Impairments 451 No Disability/No Impairments * 680 TOTAL 7,194 *Note: Applicants provided diagnostic services and determined ineligible.

Communicative/Auditory 39 Hearing Loss, Primary Communicative/Visual 44 Hearing Loss, Primary Communicative/Auditory 309 Other Hearing Impairments 7 Deaf-Blindness 11 Communicative Impairment

3 VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION SERVICES Types of Services Provided Number of Consumers Assistive Technology Devices/Services 324 Books & Supplies 1,585 Childcare 67 College 1,709 Diagnostic Services 3,929 Home/Vehicle Modifications 42 Occupational Exam, License, Equipment 8 Other Training 108 Physical Restoration 105 Proprietary Schools 112 Room/Board/Transportation 141 Small Business Enterprise 7 Supported Employment 836 Support Services 27 TOTAL *7,194 *NOTE: Some consumers may have received more than one cost service. Region CASELOAD OVERVIEW Number of Active Cases (Status 02, 06, 10-24, and 32) New Orleans 3,005 Baton Rouge 4,281 Houma 878 Lafayette 1,880 Lake Charles 555 Alexandria 716 Shreveport 2,155 Monroe 1,115 STATEWIDE 14,585

Small Business Enterprise 7 Supported Employment 836 Support Services 27 TOTAL *7,194 *NOTE: Some consumers may have received more than one cost service.

4 CONSUMERS PROVIDED COST SERVICES PER PARISH Parish Consumers No. Parish Served 1 Acadia 67 2 Allen 22 3 Ascension Assumption 49 5 Avoyelles 27 6 Beauregard 41 7 Bienville 22 8 Bossier Caddo Calcasieu Caldwell Cameron 3 13 Catahoula 7 14 Claiborne Concordia DeSoto East Baton Rouge 1, East Carroll 4 19 East Feliciana Evangeline Franklin Grant Iberia Iberville Jackson Jefferson Jeff Davis Lafayette Lafourche LaSalle Lincoln Livingston Madison 11 Parish No. Parish Consumers Served 34 Morehouse Natchitoches Orleans Ouachita Plaquemines Pointe Coupee Rapides Red River 3 42 Richland Sabine St. Bernard St. Charles St. Helena St. James St. John the Baptist St. Landry St. Martin St. Mary St. Tammany Tangipahoa Tensas 1 55 Terrebonne Union Vermillion Vernon Washington Webster West Baton Rouge West Carroll West Feliciana Winn 19 STATEWIDE TOTAL 7,194

7 14 Claiborne 35 15 Concordia 19 16 DeSoto 18 17 East Baton Rouge 1,159 18 East Carroll 4 19 East Feliciana 34 20 Evangeline 33 21 Franklin 27 22 Grant 22 23 Iberia 91 24 Iberville 82 25 Jackson 29

5 VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION PROGRAM 2004 ACCOMPLISHMENTS Below are a few of Louisiana Rehabilitation Services Vocational Rehabilitation Program accomplishments for State Fiscal Year : For SFY , LRS Vocational Rehabilitation Program achieved the following: 22,191 individuals with disabilities were served statewide 8,036 were new applicants 1776 persons with disabilities were successfully employed after receiving vocational rehabilitation services. Average weekly earnings of individuals with disabilities at acceptance into the program were $ and increased to $ at successful closure. In an effort to meet communication needs of rehabilitation consumers with hearing loss, LRS has developed a Rehabilitation Counselor Mentoring Program. This program is designed to increase and enhance the Rehabilitation Counselor s communication skills and knowledge of Deaf culture to more effectively meet consumer s rehabilitation needs. Counselors for the Deaf insure that rehabilitation services are accessible to deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing individuals statewide. LRS continues to meet its commitment and response to meeting the accommodation needs of employees with disabilities. From September 28 October 1, 2004, LRS partnered with Freedom Scientific to conduct training for the agency s employees who are blind or visually impaired. This 4-day training provided comprehensive instruction on the use of the speech reading software program JAWS. This training has empowered our employees with disabilities to further develop and enhance their skills by providing them with the tools they need to do their job effectively as the business world continually moves to embrace technology in the workplace. LRS recently implemented a new automated evaluation program, Careerscope, to perform quality vocational assessments for Vocational Rehabilitation consumers. Careerscope, developed by the Vocational Research Institute, is a proven career assessment and reporting system. The assessment was designed to be self-administered system and measures both aptitude and interest through valid and reliable assessment tasks. The results are instrumental in helping the consumer begin the career planning process. Twenty LRS staff attended a 2-day training for instruction in the use of Careerscope. As part of the Ticket To Work and Work Incentive Improvement Act of 1999, 214,292 Tickets have been mailed to Social Security (SSI/SSDI) recipients throughout the state. These "Tickets" allow recipients to pick organizations to assist them in finding employment. Statewide, Louisiana has 2,008 Tickets assigned to individuals with disabilities, of which 1,930 are assigned to Louisiana Rehabilitation Services Vocational Rehabilitation Program. This ranks Louisiana s assignment of tickets first in Region VI of the Rehabilitation Services Administration, and third in Phase II states that have mailed tickets to recipients.

successfully employed after receiving vocational rehabilitation services. Average weekly earnings of individuals with disabilities at acceptance into the program were $101.85 and increased to $403.

6 Contact Us: Office hours are Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. All office numbers are TDD equipped for persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired. Each office also has a Louisiana toll free number. LRS State Office 8225 Florida Blvd. Baton Rouge, LA (225) (V/TDD) (In State) REGION 1 New Orleans Regional Office 3500 Canal Street, 2nd Floor New Orleans, LA (504) (V/TDD) (In State) REGION 2 Baton Rouge Regional Office 3651 Cedarcrest Avenue Baton Rouge, LA (225) (V/TDD) (In State) REGION 3 Houma Regional Office 1198 Barrow Street Houma, LA (985) (V/TDD) (In State) REGION 4 Lafayette Regional Office Brandywine VI, Suite Kaliste Saloom Road Lafayette, LA (337) (V/TDD) (In State) REGION 5 Lake Charles Regional Office 3616 Kirkman Street Lake Charles, LA (337) (V/TDD) (In State) REGION 6 Alexandria Regional Office 900 Murray Street, Room H-100 Alexandria, LA (318) (V/TDD) (In State) REGION 7 Shreveport Regional Office 1525 Fairfield, Suite 708 Shreveport, LA (318) (V/TDD) (In State) REGION 8 Monroe Regional Office State Office Bldg., Room St. John Street Monroe, LA (318) (V/TDD) (In State) Visit our website at:

Baton Rouge, LA 70806 (225) 925-4131 (V/TDD) 1-800-737-2598 (In State) REGION 1 New Orleans Regional Office 3500 Canal Street, 2nd Floor New Orleans, LA 70119-6019 (504) 483-4709 (V/TDD)

A Journey through LOUISIANA REHABILITATION SERVICES (LRS) Programs and Services

A Journey through LOUISIANA REHABILITATION SERVICES (LRS) Programs and Services LRS under the umbrella of LOUISIANA WORKFORCE COMMISSION (LWC) Louisiana Rehabilitation Services Programs... Vocational Rehabilitation