National Master's Rehabilitation Initiative with an Emphasis on Job Placement for Persons with Severe Disabilities in Rural Areas

National Master's Rehabilitation Training Initiative with an Emphasis on Job Placement for Persons with Severe Disabilities in Rural Areas The University of Kentucky (UK) proposes a five-year long-term training project that will provide a comprehensive distance education master's program for currently employed state rehabilitation counselors. The National Master's Rehabilitation Training Initiative (NMRTI) will place an emphasis on preparing rehabilitation counselors to provide comprehensive job placement services to persons with severe disabilities in rural settings. This training will assist the Rehabilitation Services Administration achieve the following goals outlined in the draft of the Strategic Performance Plan Goals, Objectives and Measures for 2008: to assist individuals with significant disabilities to achieve or maintain economic self-sufficiency; to assist individuals with significant disabilities who receive public support at application to increase earnings through employment, and to provide transition-age youths with services to prepare for and obtain employment. The C.O.R.E. accredited program at the University of Kentucky has a history of providing quality education and meeting the needs of state rehabilitation agencies through development of innovative educational programs. The NMRTI will utilize the available resources of the University of Kentucky Accelerated Distance Education Program to provide distance education instruction that is convenient and accessible to counselors who currently handle caseloads and work fulltime. The program can be completed in sixteen months without on-campus attendance and at in-state University of Kentucky tuition rates. In addition to regular Master's program curriculum, scholars will be required to take a Rural Rehabilitation course and complete a Practicum in Job Placement. The NMRTI will address the following objectives in an effort to combat the significant rehabilitation counselor personnel shortages currently experienced on a state, regional, and national basis: Objective 1: To assist the State VR agencies in achieving the CSPD-related goals of ensuring the quality of personnel who provide services by providing RSA Scholarships to counselors employed with the state VR agencies completing their graduate rehabilitation counseling coursework in the NMRTL This will be accomplished through recruiting and selecting, training, retaining, and graduating 45 master's level rehabilitation counselors. Objective 2: To actively involve the State VR agencies in the project activities including: the participation of State agency personnel on advisory committees; the requirement that students receiving scholarships complete their field work experiences with the State VR; State VR agency personnel will be involved in curriculum development, evaluation, and teaching; and the continued emphasis on a relationship between the program and the State VR agencies that encourage students to complete graduate degrees in rehabilitation. Objective 3: To provide a comprehensive program evaluation of student satisfaction, quality of instruction, and state agencies' needs in order to modify and deliver effective education which will promote counselor competencies as defined by the Council on Rehabilitation Education.