Hispanic/Latino – 115 – 12% Asian – 19 – 2% Native–American/Pacific Islander – 9 – <1% Table 3: BESB VR Participants FY 2012 (footnote 19) POPULATION – NUMBER – PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL Total VR – 958 Minorities – 321 – 33.5% African–American – 184 – 19.2% Hispanic/Latino – 118 – 12.3% Asian – 19 – 2% Native–American/Pacific Islander – 5 – <1% Table 4: State of Connecticut Minority Statistics FY 2012 (footnote 20) POPULATION – NUMBER – PERCENTAGE Total Population – 3,591,765 – ˜ 1% of national Minority Population – 1,160,140 – 32.3% African–American – 402,278 – 11.2% Hispanic/Latino – 510,031 – 14.2% Asian – 150,854 – 4.2% Native American – 17,959 – 0.5% Pacific Islander – 3,592 – 0.1% Other – 75,427 – 2.1% Table 5: National Minority Statistics (2012) POPULATION – NUMBER – PERCENTAGE Total – 313,873,685 Minorities – 122,096,863 – 38.9%
African American – 41,117,453 – 13.1% Hispanic/Latino – 53,044,653 – 16.9% Asian – 16,007,558 – 5.1% Native American – 3,766,484 – 1.2% Pacific Islander – 627,747 – 0.2% Table 6: Comparison of Vocational Rehabilitation Employment Outcomes between BESB and States with Similar Grant Amounts FY 2012 (footnote 21) CT – OR – IA – SC – AR – NM Employment Rate: CT 88.8% – OR 78.13% – IA 77.88% – SC 77.88% – AR 73.99% – NM 50.9% Number Closed with Employment: CT 111 – OR 100 – IA 81 – SC 257 – AR 313 – NM 35 Percent Closed with Employment at 35 Hours Per Week or More: CT 39.2% – OR 18.75% – IA 41.35% – SC 31.21% – AR 38.53% – NM 12.1% Average Hourly Rate: CT 16.24 – OR 13.60 – IA 14.76 – SC 8.41 – AR 9.98 – NM 12.4 Average Time to Close Months with Employment: CT 28.5 – OR 38.6 – IA 28.0 – SC 17.3 – AR 22.1 – NM 63.9 Other 7,532,968 – 2.4% Table 7: Comparison of Vocational Rehabilitation Employment Outcomes between BESB and States Serving Similar Amounts of Individuals FY 2012 (footnote 22) CT – OR – IA – ID – MN Employment Rate: CT 88.8% – OR 78.13% – IA 77.88% – ID 75.47% – MN 50.94% Number Served: CT 125 – OR 128 – IA 104 – ID 106 – MN 159
Strategy: Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors and the Transition Coordinator working with the PETS clients provide timely information on available services and programs so that clients and their guardians can make informed decisions on attendance at programs, activities and related transition experiences of interest. Measure: Case record documentation of the services being authorized. Objective: The Vocational Rehabilitation Program develops and implements outreach and public education programs for potentially PETS eligible clients and their parents/guardians. Strategy: Vocational Rehabilitation Transition Coordinator designs and delivers outreach and public education programs to populations where PETS eligible clients are likely to be found, such as, but not limited to school districts. Measure: Documentation of the programs being provided. Objective: The Vocational Rehabilitation Program and the State Rehabilitation Council co–sponsor leadership development activities and camps for groups of PETS eligible clients. Strategy: The State Rehabilitation Council and the Vocational Rehabilitation Program provide co–sponsorship funding for the Youth Leadership Forum, and similar programs if available. Measure: Documentation of the funds committed. Goal C: Utilize Innovation and Expansion authority to engage in continuous improvement initiatives, to increase access to services and activities that can benefit groups of individuals with visual impairment or legal blindness, to increase access to career information, adaptive technology, and public awareness of the employment potential of individuals served by BESB. Objective: The Vocational Rehabilitation Program shall provide funding for electronic access to career and news information. Strategy: Funding provided to have NFB Newsline available to Vocational Rehabilitation clients. Measure: Documentation of purchase order for NFB Newsline. Objective: Provide access to the latest adaptive technology devices for clients to try out for assessment purposes. Strategy: Purchase new adaptive technology devices for the BESB Technology Lab and the Technology Lab at the Southeastern Connecticut Community Center of the Blind. Measure: Documentation of purchase order for technology devices. Objective: The State Rehabilitation Council utilizes an entity experienced in administering consumer satisfaction surveys to conduct the fiscal year 2016 Consumer Satisfaction Survey and the results are used to develop continuous improvement initiatives. Strategy: The State Rehabilitation Council selects a vendor, reviews the results of the survey, and works with Program staff to implement strategies that address the results and trends identified in the survey. advocacy,