	Vocational Rehabilitation Services Skill Development Training; Vocational Evaluation; Work adjustment; Job Development and Placement; Supported Employment; and Work Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-VOC 3: Vocational Assessment

Service recipients participate in the development of an individualized, strengths-based, culturally responsive vocational assessment that helps the individual to establish realistic training and vocational expectations.

Note: All agencies are expected to work with the individual to complete a vocational assessement that informs the vocational plan, regardless of the vocational rehabilitation services they provide.

PA-VOC 3.01

The vocational assessment should identify the individual’s disability and include:

vocational interests, preferences, and goals;
vocational history, experience, and training;
skills and aptitudes;
the need for accommodations or assistive technology;
level of functioning and relevent health, social, and behavioral factors;
the need for support services;
available community resources; and
individual strengths and resources.

Interpretation: Workplace accommodations might include accessible parking, public transportation stops close to the program site, elevators, reduced work hours or more frequent breaks, specially designed work stations, or office supply needs such as enlarged print, special lighting, or TDD.

Note: Refer to the Assessment Matrix for additional Comprehensive Basic Assessment criteria. The elements of the matrix can be tailored according to the needs of specific individuals or service design.

Research Note: Research shows that, despite the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), adults with disabilities who report a need for accommodations are still less likely to work than adults with disabilities who do not need accommodations. Therefore, recognizing accommodation needs during the initial assessment is an important part of developing an effective vocational plan that will minimize such barriers to placement.

PA-VOC 3.02

Personnel who conduct vocational assessments are qualified by training, skill, and experience and able to recognize service recipients with special needs.

PA-VOC 3.03

The information gathered for vocational assessments is comprehensive, directed at concerns identified in initial screenings, and limited to material pertinent for meeting service requests and objectives.

PA-VOC 3.04

Vocational assessments are conducted in a culturally responsive manner to identify resources that can increase service participation and support the achievement of agreed upon goals.

Interpretation: Culturally responsive vocational assessments can include attention to geographic location, language of choice, and the person’s religious, racial, ethnic, and cultural background. Other important factors that contribute to a responsive assessment include attention to age and sexual orientation.

PA-VOC 3.05

Vocational assessments are completed within timeframes established by the agency and are updated periodically.

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	PURPOSE: Individuals with disabilities who receive vocational rehabilitation services achieve increased community integration, social inclusion, and self-determination through the realization of their vocational goals.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	SERVICE RECIPIENT The individuals, groups, organizations, or communities that use, receive, or benefit from programs and services. Service recipients can include consumers, patients, family members, legal guardians, advocates, public/private organizations, employers, and purchasers. All are regarded as significant stakeholders served in a variety of agencies and practice settings.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY The commercial or custom-designed devices, modifications, accommodation strategies, and/or related technical services that help persons with disabilities increase, maintain, or improve their functional capabilities.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	RESEARCH For purposes of COA accreditation, all forms of internal or external research involving persons served except internal program evaluation and outcomes research, or educational projects performed by students and interns that are part of their professional training.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	SPECIAL NEEDS A designation used in reference to conditions or characteristics of a person that reflect a need for special care, services, or treatment. When the term is used in the context of adoption services, special needs refers to conditions that make a child harder to place for adoption. This includes children who are members of sibling groups, older children, children with disabilities, children of certain racial /ethnic backgrounds, etc. When the term is used in the context of foster care it refers to the need for a higher degree of specialized case services and attention due to mental and physical disabilities. When the term is used in the context of out-of-school time services, a child or youth may have special physical, behavioral, medical, emotional, or cognitive needs that should be addressed or accommodated. The term is also used in other contexts. See also DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.


	OBJECTIVE A sub-goal stated in operational terms, i.e., a statement that makes clear what expected results are to be measured or assessed.