RSA and its partners, through their programs, projects and activities, develop a wide range of publications and other printed material to serve individuals with disabilities, their families and their communities. You can find many of these publications and products listed below.

• Monitoring Reports on the Vocational Rehabilitation and Independent Living Programs

• Promising Practices

• RSA Annual Report

• State Plans Preprints

• Reuse Your AT

• Annual Review Reports of Each State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency

• Functional Limitations of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Consumers — Final Report

• Longitudinal Study of the Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program

Section 107 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Act), requires the commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to conduct annual reviews and periodic on-site monitoring of programs authorized under Title I of the Act to determine whether a state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agency is complying substantially with the provisions of its state plan under Section 101 of the Act and with the Evaluation Standards and Performance Indicators established under Section 106. In addition, this monitoring process assists the commissioner in assessing the degree to which programs offered under Title VI of the Act are substantially complying with their respective state plan assurances and program requirements. In order to achieve this purpose, RSA collects and analyzes information related to performance and compliance. RSA has posted the FY 2008 monitoring reports.

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), as part its monitoring of state vocational rehabilitation and independent living programs funded under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, together with state vocational rehabilitation agencies and their stakeholders, have identified promising practices. These are practices developed and implemented in each state for the purpose of enhancing employment and independent living outcomes for individuals with disabilities. These practices provide useful samples of programs and services and each practice is unique, based on the needs and resources available in that state.

The RSA Annual Report provides a description of the activities of RSA. RSA is the principal agency for carrying out Titles I, III, VI and VII, as well as specified portions of Title V of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. RSA is responsible for preparing and submitting this report to the President and Congress under Section 13 of the Act.

• Fiscal Year 2004 Annual Report

• Fiscal Year 2003 Annual Report

• Fiscal Year 2002 Annual Report

• Fiscal Year 2001 Annual Report

• Fiscal Year 2000 Annual Report

• Fiscal Year 1998-1999 Annual Report

On Feb. 2, 2007, RSA issued Information Memorandum 07–02, which transmits the State Plan for Vocational Rehabilitation Services (Plan) and Supplement for Supported Employment Services and provides state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies with instructions for the completion and submission of the Plan for fiscal year 2008. A brief description of the changes in the Plan and the instructions for its submission can be found here, along with information concerning trainings that RSA will be conducting for the staff of state VR agencies and members of State Rehabilitation Councils to assist them with this process.

• Download the State Plans Preprints for the Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program and State Plan Supplement for the Supported Employment Services Program.

Over many years, the OSERS has supported research in assistive technology, as well as making assistive technology (AT) more available to people with disabilities. More recently, OSERS has supported a number of activities to encourage and support AT reuse under the Assistive Technology Act. OSERS is now taking the lead on a national level to promote and encourage AT reuse through its sponsorship of a national conference on this issue, as well as through grants to state agencies, non-profit organizations and other entities to support AT reuse (see www.passitoncenter.org for grant information).

• Download the Reuse Your AT pamphlet.

In order to provide state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies, disability advocates, VR consumers and service providers, and other VR stakeholders with information on the performance of the federal/state VR program, OSERS' Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) has published the Annual Review Reports for each of the 80 state VR agencies beginning with fiscal year 2005. Published online through RSA's Management Information System, these reports contains the following information about each state VR agency:

• State goals and priorities.
• Individuals in the VR program.
• Program outcomes.
• Agency staffing patterns.
• Financial data.
• Compliance with standards and indicators.
• State policies and procedures and also guidance materials that were issued by the agency.
• Activities conducted by the State Rehabilitation Council or Independent Commission.
• Status of appeals.

The reports are written in non-technical language for the general public and contain two appendixes that include statutory and regulatory definitions and reporting requirements and a guide for technical users on how to find the source data for the tables in this report.

In response to a request from RSA, the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) conducted a study to examine the feasibility of developing functional status measures for planning and implementing services to consumers in the state-federal Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services Program.

To investigate this issue, RTI used the 1994-95 National Health Interview Survey—Disability Followback (NHIS-D) and data available from the ongoing longitudinal study of the VR services program to develop composite measures of functional status in three areas:

1. gross motor function;
2. personal care function; and
3. cognitive function.

RTI then conducted analyses to address the study's questions regarding the robustness of these measures in comparison with traditional definitions of "significance of disability" for describing VR consumers' status and predicting outcomes of VR services.

Download:
MS Word (1.4 MB) | PDF (784 KB)

The Longitudinal Study of the Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program was initiated in 1992 and is being conducted by Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International. The study's broad purpose is to assess the performance of the vocational rehabilitation (VR) program in assisting eligible individuals to achieve positive, sustainable economic and non-economic outcomes as a result of their receipt of VR services. This study, which tracks VR participation and post-VR experiences (for up to three years) of approximately 8,500 participants, is designed to answer questions associated with consumers' outcomes. The study also examines the environments in which services are provided and seeks to identify the affect these environments have on the program outcomes.

To date, the study has issued three of four final reports, three interim reports and one special sub-study. The most recent report released, third final report (MS Word (785K) | PDF (771K)), was issued in September 2005. This report concentrates on the context of VR services, including the local environment and local offices in which VR counselors and other staff arrange for or deliver services to VR consumers. The report also analyzes the influence of the environment and organizational characteristics of VR offices on the outcomes that VR consumers achieve as a result of VR services.

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