In 2023, OSERS Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) provided nearly $200 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.
84.315C | Activities for Underserved Populations
Section 21 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended by WIOA, requires RSA to reserve one percent of funds appropriated each year for programs under titles III, VI and VII to provide grant, contract or cooperative agreement awards to:
- Minority entities and Indian tribes to carry out activities under the Rehabilitation Act;
- Minority entities and Indian tribes to conduct research, training, technical assistance, or a related activity, to improve services provided under this Act, especially services provided to individuals from minority backgrounds; or
- State or public or private nonprofit agencies or organizations to provide outreach and technical assistance to minority entities and American Indian tribes to promote their participation in activities under the Rehabilitation Act.
Read more about the Activities for Underserved Populations program.
RISE-UP is designed to address the needs of the population in all phases of the VR process from outreach to outcomes.
| Organization | Location | FY23 Funding Amount |
Five-Year Funding Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rehabilitation Improvements in Services and Employment for Underserved Populations (RISE-UP) — San Diego State University-Interwork Institute | San Diego, CA | $901,490 | $4,543,450 |
| Total | $901,490 | $4,543,450 |
84.421E | Disability Innovation Fund — Pathways to Partnerships
The purpose of the Disability Innovation Fund (DIF) Program is to support innovative (as defined in the notice) activities aimed at increasing competitive integrated employment (CIE) for youth and other individuals with disabilities.
Pathways to Partnerships, part of the Disability Innovation Fund program aimed at increasing for youth and other individuals with disabilities, serves as a step to improving economic self-sufficiency and decreasing the unemployment disparity between youth without disabilities and youth with disabilities.
| State | Agency | FY23 Funding Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Alaska Department of Education and Early Development | $10,000,000 |
| Arkansas | Arkansas Department of Education / Division of Elementary and Secondary Education | $9,913,236 |
| Colorado | Colorado Labor & Employment, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation | $14,116,234.89 |
| Connecticut | Connecticut Department of Aging and Disability Services / Bureau of Rehabilitation Services | $10,000,000 |
| Georgia | Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency | $10,588,912 |
| Idaho | Idaho State Department of Education/Special Education | $9,798,372.94 |
| Illinois | Illinois Department of Human Services / Division of Rehabilitation Services | $10,000,000 |
| Kansas | Kansas Department of Education / Division of Learning Services | $8,442,101 |
| Kentucky | Kentucky Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Early Learning | $9,942,934 |
| Louisiana | Louisiana Department of Education | $10,000,000 |
| Maine | Maine Division of Vocational Rehabilitation | $7,632,256 |
| Maryland | Maryland State Department of Education / Rehabilitation Services | $9,989,423 |
| New Jersey | New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Special Education | $8,667,855 |
| New Mexico | New Mexico Public Education Department, Office of Inclusive Education | $9,943,500 |
| Nevada | Nevada Department of Education / Office of Inclusive Education | $9,964,894.81 |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma State Department of Education | $9,992,898 |
| Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry / Office of Vocational Rehabilitation | $9,990,688.97 |
| South Carolina | South Carolina Department of Education | $9,992,013 |
| Vermont | Vermont Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living / Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired | $10,000,000 |
| Wyoming | Wyoming Division of Vocational Rehabilitation | $10,000,000.29 |
| Total | $198,975,319.90 |
