Launching and supporting the SGA Project in Kentucky and Minnesota: Experiences and perspectives of the Senior Technical Assistance Team

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The SGA Project tested a rapid coordinated team approach in Kentucky and Minnesota. OBJECTIVE: The authors are members of a five-person Senior Technical Assistance (TA) Team that supported Kentucky and Minnesota as host sites in a l randomized controlled trial. METHODS: The TA team participated in a planning and implementation phase over the course of three years. At closeout, the TA team interviewed SVRA personnel on participation, recommendations, and challenges. RESULTS: TA was adapted to the needs of each state vocational rehabilitation agency to identify solutions to capacity challenges, staff training, concerns about randomization, and team approaches. In both Kentucky and Minnesota, the dedicated TA team balanced the fidelity of the model with the need to align solutions with agency priorities, goals, and culture. CONCLUSIONS: Provision of intensive TA to support state vocational rehabilitation agencies to participate in a research intervention requires a focus on counselor skills and expectations, attention to competing priorities and interests of State VR Agencies, and an ability to build relationships at multiple levels of the agency.