How do early process milestones vary before a state vocational rehabilitation agency expands waitlist categories under order of selection? Evidence from Florida

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

State vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies that lack the resources to serve all eligible applicants are required to place applicants with less significant disabilities on waitlists for services. This system for prioritizing applicants is called order of selection (OOS). OOS status changes might motivate VR counselors and applicants to adjust their behavior in important ways.

OBJECTIVE:

Examine how early milestones in the VR process—including eligibility determinations, determinations of disability significance, and signings of Individualized Plans for Employment (IPEs)—vary around an OOS status change.

METHODS:

We used case-level data from the 2006–2014 RSA-911 files to investigate a 2008 OOS status change at Florida’s general VR agency.

RESULTS:

Our results are consistent with systematic changes in how VR counselors make eligibility and disability-significance determinations, although we cannot rule out unmeasured changes over time in the types of people who apply for VR services. We also found that the likelihood of receiving an IPE before an OOS status change varies with key characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS:

If leaders want to adjust how counselors prioritize IPE completions as an OOS status change approaches, these leaders might consider changing the performance incentives facing their counselors.