In 2022, OSERS Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) provided over $182 million to fund programs that help to assist state and other agencies in providing vocational rehabilitation (VR) and other services to individuals with disabilities to maximize their employment, independence and integration into the community and the competitive labor market.
Please read about these programs below.
84.250 | American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS)
The American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS) program provides grants to the governing bodies of Indian Tribes to develop or to increase their capacity to provide a program of vocational rehabilitation services, in a culturally relevant manner, to American Indians with disabilities residing on or near federal or state reservations.
| Name | Location | FY 2022 Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon | Oregon | $357,418.00 |
| Rosebud Sioux Tribe | South Dakota | $517,583.20 |
| Northern Cheyenne Tribe | Montanna | $450,000.00 |
| Comanche Nation | Oklahoma | $400,943.57 |
| Standing Rock Sioux Tribe | North Dakota | $546,156.00 |
| Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska | Nebraska | $108,803.00 |
| Total | $2,380,903.77 |
84.421D | Disability Innovation Fund — Subminimum Wage to Competitive Integrated Employment (SWTCIE)
The Disability Innovation Fund (DIF) Program, as provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. 116-260), supports innovative activities aimed at increasing Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE) as defined in section 7 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for youth and other individuals with disabilities. Subminimum Wage to Competitive Integrated Employment (SWTCIE) demonstration projects awarded to 14 state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies. The purpose of these grants is to decrease the use of subminimum wages and increase access to competitive integrated employment for people with disabilities.
The figures below are for the full five-year grant awards.
| Name | Location | Five-Year Amount |
|---|---|---|
| California Department of Rehabilitation | California | $13,943,946.00 |
| Connecticut State Department of Aging and Disability Service, Bureau of Rehabilitation Services | Connecticut | $13,943,946.00 |
| Florida Department of Education: Vocational Rehabilitation | Florida | $13,151,555.99 |
| Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency: Vocational Rehabilitation | Georgia | $3,729,740.00 |
| Illinois Department of Human Services | Illinois | $13,943,946.00 |
| Indiana Family and Social Services Administration: Disability and Rehabilitation Services | Indiana | $13,935,839.00 |
| Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services | Iowa | $13,875,048.55 |
| Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development: Vocational Rehabilitation Services | Minnesota | $13,000,000.00 |
| New York State Education Department, Adult Career and Continuing Education Services, Vocational Rehabilitation | New York | $13,943,946.00 |
| North Carolina Division of Vocational Rehabilitation | North Carolina | $13,852,567.00 |
| Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities: Vocational Rehabilitation | Ohio | $8,973,845.79 |
| Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation | Pennsylvania | $13,943,300.47 |
| Texas Workforce Commission: Vocational Rehabilitation | Texas | $13,341,599.00 |
| Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services | Virginia | $13,829,686.58 |
| Total | $177,408,966.38 |
84.427 | Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research — Community Projects
PRIDE Industries
PRIDE Industries has created the Virtual Pre-Employment Transition Services Pilot Project to build upon recent advances in virtual programs and expand access to vocational rehabilitation services, such as workplace readiness training and work-based learning experiences, to 200 students with disabilities (ages 16-21) throughout Northern California. Through this project’s virtual platform, students will be able to obtain virtual workplace readiness training, vocational planning, self-advocacy, counseling on post-secondary educational opportunities, remote work-based learning opportunities, and peer support activities.
| Name | Location | FY 2022 Amount |
|---|---|---|
| PRIDE Industries | CA | $500,000.00 |
| Total | $500,000.00 |
Project SEARCH at Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities
To start 4 Adult Project SEARCH sites and 4 hybrid sites to add adults to existing sites all across Georgia. This project will expand the Project SEARCH model to accommodate individuals with IDD who are no longer eligible for high school because they have received their diplomas, aged out of the system, or dropped out of school.
With this funding, Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) will work with partner organizations to implement 4 new Project SEARCH program sites that will serve out-of-school youth (aged 18–22) and older adults with IDD, and will expand 4 existing sites to include this population alongside High School-aged transition students.
| Name | Location | FY 2022 Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities | GA | $1,225,000.00 |
| Total | $1,225,000.00 |
