1. Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Melissa Deletetsky
Standards Development & Performance Measurement
September 2006
(A) Hello, my name is Melissa Deletetsky and I am a standards associate at the Council on Accreditation. I would like to welcome you to this self-paced webinar, designed to let you view the session at your convenience, and move as quickly or slowly through the material as you like.
The presentation time is listed in the upper left hand corner of your screen. When you are finished viewing the slide presentation, you will receive instructions for how to print the slide show, if desired.

2. Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VOC) Purpose Statement
Individuals with disabilities who receive vocational rehabilitation services achieve increased community integration, social inclusion, and self-determination, through the realization of their vocational goals.
(B) The section we will be discussing in this session is Vocational Rehabilitation Services or VOC. VOC is one of COA’s service sections. These standards used to be known as “S” standards, which stood for “service,” and carried a number, in this case, S34. As you can see, that system has been replaced with an easy to remember abbreviation.
(C) The stated purpose of vocational rehabilitation services is “Individuals with disabilities who receive vocational rehabilitation services achieve increased community integration, social inclusion, and self-determination, through the realization of their vocational goals .” By stating this purpose, COA is guiding the organization to consider to what extent its workforce development program supports the achievement of identified positive outcomes such as increased community integration, social inclusion, and self-determination.
June 18
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3. What services will be reviewed using VOC
Previously reviewed under S34, Employment and Vocational Services
Population: Persons with disabilities
Services: Counseling, career planning, training, support services, and job placement
Outcomes: Community integration, social inclusion, self determination
NAs in section for each vocational service
While previous editions of COA’s standards accredited all employment programs under a single Employment and Vocational Services section, in the 8th edition vocational rehabilitation comprises its own independent section.  This distinction strengthens the focus of the section by targeting specific service populations and appropriate service outcomes.   Vocational rehabilitation standards are used to review programs directed at persons with disabilities that provide counseling, career planning, training, support services, and job placement to achieve community integration, social inclusion, and self determination for the individual.
There are a variety of vocational rehabilitation services that can be reviewed using VOC. They are listed in the title of the section and include, skill development training, vocational evaluation, work adjustment, job development and placement, supported employment, and work services. NAs have been written into the standards for an organization that does not provide any of these identified services. This allows an agency that doesn’t provide supported employment, for example, to be successfully reviewed using VOC.
June 18
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4. What are indicators of a Strong VOC Program?
Individualized Placements
Extensive vocational Assessment (VOC 3.01)
Personalized Vocational Plan based on Assessment (VOC 4.02)
Plan developed with individual (VOC 4.01)
Requires continuous involvement of the individual (e.g. VOC 7.01, 8.01, 10.01, etc.)
Strong vocational rehabilitation programs will identify placements that meet the goals of the service recipient. Vocational assessments must cover the information presented in VOC 3.01 such as vocational interests, preferences, goals, history, experience, and training as well as level of functioning and relevant health, social, and behavioral factors. Vocational planning standards such as VOC 4.01 and 4.02 require that the individual be involved in the development of the vocational plan and that the vocational plan be based on the assessment. This ensures that vocational placements or arrangements are appropriate, which encourages job retention, critical for the achievement of identified service outcomes. Each vocational rehabilitation service requires that the individual or a legal guardian participate in treatment decisions.
June 18
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5. Protection against Exploitation (strong indicators cont.)
VOC 5
The program is guided by a service philosophy that…prohibits the exploitation of service recipients.
Interpretation: Exploitation can include excessive work hours, poor working conditions, or inappropriate compensation. Service recipients should be treated in compliance with all applicable legal requirements and in the same manner as any other employee of a similar work environment.
It is the organization’s responsibility to ensure that service recipients are not being exploited by their employers. This is such a critical issue that it has been incorporated into stand alone standard, VOC 5, a portion of which is shown here. Examples of exploitation may include excessive work hours, poor working conditions, or inappropriate compensation. The organization must ensure that the employer is in compliance with all legal requirements. For example, they should not be hiring volunteers to fulfill positions for which they would typically offer monetary compensation.
June 18
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6. Core Concept Highlights
Service Delivery Integration:
G8, Intake Assessment and Service Planning
G9, Service Delivery
Access to Services (VOC 1), Screening (VOC 2), Vocational Assessment (VOC 3), Individualized Vocational Planning (VOC 4), Service Philosophy (VOC 5), Case Closing (VOC 12), and Aftercare (VOC 13)
In the revision process, 7th edition standards that were previously found in G8, intake assessment and service planning; and G9, Service Delivery, were incorporated into the service sections. This integration was an opportunity to tailor these standards to fit individual services and include only those standards that were applicable to the particular service. Seven of the core concepts in VOC came from G8 and G9 and the standards have been significantly modified to match vocational rehabilitation design. These sections are Access to services, Screening, Vocational Assessment, Individualized Vocational Planning, Service Philosophy, Case Closing, and Aftercare.
June 18
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7. © Council on Accreditation 2005 All Rights Reserved
Core Concepts cont.
VOC 6: Skill development training
VOC 7: Vocational Evaluation Services
VOC 8: Work Adjustment Services
VOC 9: Job Development and placement
VOC 10: Supported Employment
VOC 11: Work Services
VOC 14: Personnel
I have already mentioned those standards that came from the SD integration. I will now introduce the final seven core concepts from the vocational rehabilitation section, which include specific vocational rehabilitation services as well as personnel requirements. VOC 6, Skill-Development Training, focuses on helping individuals to acquire the skills they need to fulfill their employment objectives. VOC 7, Vocational Evaluation Services, provides the individual with a written evaluation highlighting their skills, aptitudes, preferences, abilities, and special needs. VOC 8, Work adjustment Services, offer the individual a supervised employment opportunity to help them progress towards the restoration of basic work skills, aptitudes, and habits. VOC 9, Job development and placement, help the individual to find and retain employment as well as provide assistance to employers who employ individuals with special needs. VOC 10, Supported Employment, facilitates the integration of service recipients into the competitive labor market. VOC 11, Work services, are a structured work environment, designed to facilitate movement towards community employment. Finally, VOC 14, is vocational rehabilitation’s personnel section and it focuses on demonstrated competency and ongoing training for direct service providers rather than a particular degree requirement. As I mentioned before, VOC 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 all offer NA options for agencies that don’t provide that particular service.
June 18
© Council on Accreditation 2005 All Rights Reserved

8. Fundamental Practice Standards
VOC and 14.03
Essential to Practice
Must be implemented to achieve accreditation
See Accreditation Guidelines for more information regarding Fundamental Practice Standards
VOC has 2 Fundamental practice standards that must be implemented to achieve accreditation. These two standards are essential to practice and demonstrate the importance of meeting the oral and communication needs of clients when providing them with important client rights information and the importance of training staff to recognize and provide services to people with health, mental health, and substance use conditions.
June 18
© Council on Accreditation 2005 All Rights Reserved

9. Evidence of Implementation
Pre-site
Procedures
Service descriptions
Standardized Assessment Tools
Training Curricula
On-site
Job Descriptions
Interviews
(G) Once you have familiarized yourself with the content of the VOC standards, you will begin to focus on standards implementation. The organization will want to develop strong procedures for everything from screening, assessment, and employment planning to community collaboration, and procedures for evaluating the employment needs and progress of service recipients. With such a variety of vocational rehabilitation services included in the section, it will be important that the organization be able to provide detailed descriptions of the services in the Service Narrative. The organization will also want to develop standardized assessment tools, procedures for developing employment plans, and training curricula.
When the peer site team visits the organization they will be interested in looking at assessment tools, training documents, and job descriptions for positions filled by service recipients in the community or in sheltered work environments. They will also be interested in interviewing staff at all levels and service recipients. Full information about pre-site documents and onsite activities is contained in the table of evidence.
June 18
© Council on Accreditation 2005 All Rights Reserved

10. © Council on Accreditation 2005 All Rights Reserved
Thank you!
Council on Accreditation
120 Wall Street, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10005
(I) I would now like to welcome you to any questions you may have to myself or Alexis Cohen at the addresses shown. If you would like to print the slide show, click on the word “attachments” in the upper right hand corner and select the slide presentation.  Thank you for your interest in the new 8th Edition Vocational Rehabilitation Services standards.
June 18
© Council on Accreditation 2005 All Rights Reserved