Vocational Rehabilitation
Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs are run by each state with the
stated goal of assisting people to secure and maintain employment. Rules
vary in the various states, but VR services generally include the
provision of hearing aids if they are necessary to secure or
maintain employment.
July 2002 - Innovative Rehabilitation Interventions Regarding Employment
April 2005 - It looks like the current Vocational Rehabilitation system
is in for a shakeup, as the Federal government may soon be dismantling
important parts of the existing system. Here's a press
release from the National Association of the Deaf; it urges people to
fight the pending changes.
May 2005 - Here's an interesting article about a
Canadian approach to Vocational Rehabilitation.
April 2010 - Does Vocational Rehabilitation Work For
People with Hearing Loss?
Editor: Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) is a public program that is
largely untapped by members of the oral hearing loss (OHL) community.
While people with other disabilities (including large numbers of Deaf
people) regularly take advantages of VR services, many hard of hearing and
late-deafened folks are unaware of these services (which can include
providing hearing aids!)
So I guess it's little wonder that pending changes to VR law have
caused little concern among the OHL community. Our Deaf cousins are much
more aware and much more concerned, as this NAD press release
demonstrates.
If you have ANY employment issues (unemployed, underemployed, can't
afford new hearing aids that will help you retain employment, etc.), I
urge you to visit your local VR office while it's still there!
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Silver Spring, MD - The NAD is urging members to contact their
Congressional representatives and ask for a vote against a bill that would
weaken the Vocational Rehabilitation system. The NAD has closely monitored
activity in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate on
reauthorization of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The failure of Congress
to act in a timely manner during the 108th Congress distressed the NAD.
What has happened thus far this year, in the 109th Congress, is nearly as
disturbing.
In addition, the NAD has tracked administrative actions in the U.S.
Department of Education. Proposals have been made this spring that would
further degrade the nation's capacity to provide rehabilitation and
independent living services to Americans with disabilities.
"While far from perfect, the Rehabilitation Act has provided
much-needed employment training services for deaf and hard of hearing
Americans for many years," said NAD Chief Executive Officer Nancy J.
Bloch. "The current bill is a step backwards and should be voted
down. As it stands, the proposed bill will make it much harder for deaf
and hard of hearing individuals to obtain specialized employment training
and services."
The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are now
discussing proposals to consolidate/block grant VR folding it into other
employment training programs. This could well lead to much less
communication access for deaf and hard of hearing Americans.
In a related development, the U.S. Department of Education wants to
eliminate all regional offices of the Rehabilitation Services
Administration (RSA). These regional offices provide much-needed technical
assistance and compliance monitoring. There are 80 state VR agencies-far
too many to be helped/tracked from Washington, DC alone.
The Government Accounting Office (GAO) and the National Council on
Disability (NCD) both have stated that other employment training programs
often are not communication-accessible.
Concerned individuals can take action at: http://www.nad.org/opposerehabproposal
More information can be found at: http://www.nad.org/rehabact
The NAD website (http://www.nad.org) has a wealth of advocacy
information and resources.
Contact: Anita B. Farb
Director, Outreach and Communications
National Association of the Deaf
Email: nadinfo@nad.org
Voice: 301-587-1788 TTY: 301-587-1789 FAX: 301-587-1791
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May 2005
Editor: This article caught my eye for a number of reasons. One is
because I've heard really good things about the Canadian Hearing Society.
It seems to be one of those rare agencies that recognizes that being Deaf
and being hard of hearing people are two different disabilities, and that
an agency that serves both groups needs members of both on staff and on
the board. I'll be interested to follow the progress of this program.
I also really like the idea of a hearing loss agency providing
employment assistance to people with hearing loss. I know Deaf agencies
here in the US provide these types of services to Deaf clients, but I'm
not aware of similar programs for members of the oral hearing loss (OHL)
community. If you know of such a program in the US, please let me know -
and I don't mean programs by Deaf agencies that claim to serve the "DeafAndHardOfHearing"!
Another reason this article is particularly timely is because of the
pending reorganization of the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) system in the
US. The Canadian system seems to be very different from the US system, and
we may want to consider features of the Canadian system as we revise ours.
I expect the pending reorganization to be a big loss to the Deaf
community. I think the existing system has served them well over the years
and I share the concerns that the new system will not be nearly as
successful. I don't think it will have a large negative impact on the OHL
community, because a very small portion of that community uses VR
services. In fact, I think it presents a real opportunity to the OHL
community, because hard of hearing and late-deafened baby boomers may be
in positions to encourage outreach and service delivery to the very
underserved OHL community.
Now I'll step off my soapbox so you can (finally ;-) get to the press
release!
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PETERBOROUGH, ON - The Honourable Peter Adams, Parliamentary Secretary
to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Member of
Parliament for Peterborough, on behalf of the Honourable Lucienne
Robillard, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Minister of
Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of Human Resources and Skills
Development, today announced funding of $93,083 for an Employment
Assistance Services project targeted to help 65 unemployed individuals in
Peterborough. The organization that will receive this funding is the
Canadian Hearing Society.
"The Government of Canada is pleased to announce a project that
will help individuals facing barriers to employment," said Mr. Adams.
"Helping people in Peterborough to find and keep work benefits both
our community and local economy. The Canadian Hearing Society does great
work here."
Under the project, the Canadian Hearing Society will help 65 unemployed
individuals who are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing to access
specialized job search services. Clients will receive individual
employment counselling in job search techniques, career decisions, skills
enhancement and job maintenance. Employment counsellors will refer clients
as needed to other community agencies, co-ordinate services and training
opportunities, track client progress and collaborate with community
partners.
This project is being funded through Human Resources and Skills
Development Canada's Employment Assistance Services. The services under
this program help unemployed individuals to prepare for, find and keep
employment by providing them with services such as counselling, job search
techniques, and labour market information. These services are available to
all unemployed Canadians, whether or not they ever established a claim for
Employment Insurance.
Today's announcement is linked to Canada's Workplace Skills Strategy,
aimed at helping Canadians to acquire the skills they need to find and
keep meaningful and productive jobs. The Government of Canada recognizes
that Canada's future competitiveness depends on a highly skilled work
force and on high performance workplaces that focus on skills development.
It will work with business, unions, other levels of government, sector
councils and workers to ensure that all Canadians have the opportunity to
develop their skills and succeed, and employers' needs are met.
Funding for this project was provided for in the 2005 federal Budget.
This project has been reviewed to ensure compliance with the
Department's administration of its grant and contribution programs, and is
subject to review under the Financial Administration Act.
(c) 2005 CNW Group Ltd.
