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Job-Driven Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center (JDVRTAC)

The Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts, Boston in partnership with the University of Arkansas, the University of Washington, and Jobs for the Future was awarded the Job-Driven Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center (JDVRTAC) in October 2014.

Across the project's three years, JDVRTAC improved the capacity of state VR agencies and associated rehabilitation professionals to work with employers and training providers as they develop partnerships that lead to increased opportunities for individuals with disabilities to engage in competitive employment.
 
To meet these goals, the ICI and partners produced a series of knowledge development, technical assistance (TA), dissemination and coordination activities and developed and provided training and TA to state VR agency staff and related rehabilitation professionals, including service and training providers, on

  1. the use of labor market data
  2. service delivery to employers of people with disabilities
  3. building and maintaining relationships with employers
  4. service delivery to customized training providers

The JDVRTAC identified, adapted, embedded, and sustained job-driven practices that lead to improved employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Our center supported businesses to find and retain productive workers. The center created VR-specific sustainable models of job-driven practices.
 
Outcomes and strategies from the Job-Driven VRTAC developed a knowledge base on the four topic areas of labor market information, services to employers, building and maintaining employer relations, and services to training providers.

The project activities focused on:

  • Building state VR agencies’ capacity to improve and expand job-driven employment practices for consumers;
  • Using and building upon promising and emerging job-driven strategies;
  • Providing three types of technical assistance (TA): intensive TA, targeted/specialized TA, and universal/general TA; and
  • Disseminating materials pertaining to the use of job-driven strategies.

For more details and information, visit: ExploreVR.org

For more information on JDVRTAC, contact Laurie Ford, (425) 771-7428.