Preparing for the future: Vocational rehabilitation and research partnerships for innovation

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) represents the chief administrators of the 78 vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies in every state, territory, and the District of Columbia. In anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the public VR program, CSAVR launched its Vision 2020 goals with an express interest in innovation. CSAVR recognizes that research is important to provide the data that VR agencies need to continually improve their outcomes and services. OBJECTIVE: The authors make a case for why researcher-VR partnerships are an important strategy for innovation and provide suggestions for strengthening those partnerships. METHODS: The authors describe CSAVR’s investment in research and provide data from a survey of state VR agencies on research participation. RESULTS: Researchers can increase state VR agency participation in their projects by involving the agency in study design, minimizing the time and resource burden on the agency, and demonstrating that the proposed research will yield products that benefit customers and improve staff competency. CONCLUSION: VR agencies are motivated to engage in research that will clearly add value and improve operations with minimal burden. It is hoped that greater agency participation in research will yield better data to guide agencies in the future.