Similarly, all existing grantees are required to document how they addressed the needs of individuals with disabilities from minority backgrounds. The Rehabilitation Services Administration, through an outside contractor, evaluated the Title III, Part B Special Projects to identify overall trends and results. Evaluation results indicated that almost 50 percent of the clients did improve their employment status through participation in a special project. In addition, it was recommended that State vocational rehabilitation agencies become involved in the planning of the project, along with the dissemination of project techniques and innovation. Recommendations from this team supported the need to establish a standardized reporting format and dissemination of project results to appropriate agencies and institutions.
Work continues on all recommendations.
For example, a project catalogue is being developed for distribution to State VR agencies, and RSA Regional Offices. A standardized reporting format has been developed and distributed to all agencies and the Department now routinely reminds grantees to send in final reports within 90 days after their funding expires. In addition, it requests that grantees send in abstracts of their projects on diskette so that eventually the abstracts can be made available to all computer bulletin board users. Sources of Information Program files. The 1992 Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act require the RSA Commissioner to conduct an evaluation of the Choice Projects to determine which of the strategies employed are most effective, and to assess potential for replication of the projects or components thereof, within the State VR system.