Current streamlining strategies: Restructuring vocational rehabilitation's vision into the twenty-first century

Abstract

Streamlining is an attempt to make an organizational process increase its efficiency. The 1992 Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 defined changes within the service delivery system of the Public State/Federal Vocational Rehabilitation (PS/FVR) Program, that appeared to suggest that streamlining was a new requirement from Congress. However, Congress, Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) and/or Council of State Administrators for Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) did not mandate streamlining for the Public State/Federal Vocational Rehabilitation (PS/FVR) Program. Training on streamlining was designated to the Regional Rehabilitation Continuing Education Programs (RRCEP). The RRCEP programs exist in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to provide continuing education to employees of the PS/FVR Program, This studies literature review revealed Streamlining has resulted in inconsistent implementation approaches across state agencies and/or federal regions. Currently there is no data and/or consistent approaches to streamlining in the PS/FVR Program. Because of inconsistency in implementing streamlining, the RRCEP's ability to develop appropriate in-service training curriculum that is sensitive to the new needs and issues is jeopardized. The lack of a consistent methodology for streamlining implementation creates problems in planning pre-service academic rehabilitation counseling programs. The study utilized a Chi-Square analysis design due to the small sample size. However, while the sample size was small, the data were global in nature because each number analyzed represents thousands of individual Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) cases. Streamlining was developed to impact the success markers in a positive direction, i.e, clients with severe disabilities would obtain successful employment with higher wages after their employment, an increased number of individuals with severe disabilities would be served, and the VR counselor would spend less money to accomplish the employment goals. Each of the results examining these variables in this study was statistically significant in the states that had implemented streamlining. The study gave support to the premise that streamlining has a positive impact on the vocational rehabilitation process in increased wages for PS/FVR clients, reduced time in service, and decreased case service dollars spent.