Jason Caputo: Hello and welcome you are listening to the Alaska department of labor and workforce development podcast series where you'll hear all about how the department helps Alaskan workers, job seekers, businesses and communities. Today we're talking about the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, an agency that helps Alaskans with disabilities get and keep good jobs. I'm Jason Caputo. My guest is Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Director Duane Mayes. Jason Caputo: Director Mayes, thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. Duane Mayes: Yes, thank you very much. Jason Caputo: So I think with a name like Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, that's quite a mouthful. Can you just start out, what exactly is, and let's refer to it DVR, the initials of that. What exactly is DVR? Duane Mayes: You bet. So it's a public vocational rehabilitation program, and it exists here in Alaska, what's important to note, it really exists throughout the country. So every state has a public VR program, and we've been around since 1920. And so last year, in 2020, we celebrated 100 years, our anniversary. So there was a lot of emotion and getting the word out to the citizens of Alaska that we have been here for 100 years. And the same thing happened in the Lower 48 with all the other states to include our national trade association the council and state administrators for vocational rehabilitation. They did the same thing. So I've stated that every state has a vocation rehabilitation agency, and it's designed to help people with their individual disabilities meet their employment goals. That's what it's all about. Ultimately it's about competitive and integrated employment. To qualify for the program you're either out of work or you may be employed but you're struggling because something about your disability is really impacting your ability to sustain that work. So we are a public VR program. Jason Caputo: Great. Yes and so we are under, obviously, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development here in Alaska. It's obviously an incredibly important field to help people who are struggling with health and disability issues. What brought you into this field of helping people with disabilities? Duane Mayes: Well I would start by saying, let's keep it in the family. So before I get to the meat of that question, my older brother and my younger sister and I all went to the same college, got our bachelor's degree and master's degree in vocational rehabilitation. And I married an Italian who spent here in Alaska forever. She did 33 years with the Alaska Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, so she, too, is a vocational rehabilitation counselor, so I can kind of keep it in the family. One might ask the question, 'Well how did that happen? How did you, your brother and your sister?' I think it has to do with our upbringing. My parents are disabled. My mom and dad are deaf, and they have since passed on, but they communicated through American Sign Language. So my first language is really ASL, American Sign Language. My dad when he was 18 years old was stricken with polio, so as a result of that he had some significant disabilities. And so we as a group, as a family, we're always helping out. We are always extending to help my dad. My parents had tremendous work ethic. They worked very hard all their lives, but at times they needed a little bit of help. So I would step up and do that, my brother would step up and do that. And so it was ingrained into us to really be on a social services type of industry to help others in need. So I think that the one thing that stands out for me, and I'll share this with you, my mom and dad worked in the pots and pans factory, and they were terrified that they were going to maybe one day get the contact from HR that 'You have been terminated.' And so my mom would always go to work sick. You know she came down with a cold or she had the flu. Didn't matter, she would go to work. And so one day that that HR person from the factory called and said, 'Can you talk to your parents, because I've tried, and I'm not I'm not sure they really understand. Can you talk to your parents about the importance of staying home when they're sick?' And so my sister and I sat down with my parents to articulate that they both worked in the same factory. And they both just refused. They just said, 'We're not going to do that. You know, this is too important for us.' So when I think about the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, I think about how we are all about competitive and integrated employment for people with disabilities. It's what drives us. And so I share that story with you, because it's ingrained into me that we need to do what we can to help a lot of Alaskans who all want to be independent and work. Jason Caputo: That's like a perfect, you couldn't ask for a more perfect example of what DVR is all about. You know, you saw firsthand, you lived the experience of: Someone can be independent they can contribute to the economy, their community, but they may just need a little help. But that little bit of help, that little bit investment makes a huge difference between someone not being independent and someone being independent. So we're helping people with disabilities, and you touched on this a little bit, but let's make sure that people understand: Is anyone with a disability eligible or are there certain requirements? Duane Mayes: That's a good question not everybody with a disability can qualify for our program, can be determined eligible. So in order to be eligible for VR services, our federal regulations state that you must be an individual with a disability, whether it's physical or it's mental. And so when that individual comes into the office, they need to provide documentation that they have a disability. So that's front and center. And so the second part of that is if those disabilities result a barrier to employment. They've tried on their own to get a job, but they keep encountering, they're frustrated, and for whatever reason they are unable to find equitable employment. That also bodes well for determining eligibility within our division. And then the third is that it cannot benefit them. And so you may be a person with a significant, your disability is so substantial, that the benefits of us helping them may not materialize into competitive and integrated employment. So we have people that will walk through the door and apply for services that are on SSI, Social Security Income, and then SSDI, which is Social Security Disability Insurance. That's a long one. But neither SSI or SSDI. So we can assume that they are eligible because they met that through those components and so their disability is that significant. They're enthusiastic, 'We want to go to work,' and so we may be able to help them. But if they're so disabled, it may be that they're not going to benefit from our program and our services. Jason Caputo: Yeah, thank you for clarifying that. And I know that if someone's unsure, if you think you might qualify but you're unsure, you can contact us and DVR will help you determine whether you qualify, which is great. And to let you know, we are going to put a link to DVR services on how to apply in the description of this video, so if you feel that this is talking to you, click that link and DVR will help you figure out if you're eligible and what to do next. So if someone comes in, they are eligible, they work with us and they get services what does a successful outcome look like? What has DVR done for people who've come in with disabilities and need that help? Duane Mayes: Well I think what I'm going to do is give you an example to make it really real so that hopefully it will resonate with the audience. So I've been with the within the state system for close to 32 years, but I've actually worked for the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation around 20 years.,And the first half of that, the first 10 years, I was a rehabilitation counselor that served deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf blindly, deaf adults, because of my fluency in American Sign Language. I remembered individual, a female, a young deaf woman who came to Alaska, and she came into our division applying for services and expressed an interest in wanting to go to work. So you know that was front and center. 'I want to go to work.' So she provided the documentation of her disability, she was found eligible, and then we began the process of guidance counseling to determine what would be her interests. What are some of her existing skills that maybe she developed in the past, weather was through in high school or what have you done. So through that process we identified that she had a really strong interest and she had some skill in accounting. And she actually expressed that, and so this was way back when so you know some of this might be a little bit unclear for me. So what I did is I sent her to vocational program, and she was able to get a diploma. It was a one-year diploma in office technology. We set up all of the accommodations, her being deaf and communicating through American Sign Language. So she was able to get through that program. She graduated with flying colors, and as her counselor trying to provide her support to make sure that during rough times, you know, that we help we help her to kind of work through that. So she graduates with his diploma, and now she's ready, but she's really never worked before so we have to talk about what do you need to do in order to hold on to a job, job-keeping skills. We had many counseling sessions around that. And then we identified two employers, one in the state, one in the private sector. She applied for both, and in the private sector they offered her the job. So we set up a sign language interpreter, put her into that position. I was there from time to time, and we provided her support to make sure that she was successful. And so after a period of 60 days at that time we closed out her case because she didn't anymore support. She was in that position for 10 years. But the self-confidence, feeling like she was giving back, able to afford a vehicle, pay for her own rent, all those things that we do from day to day just to live independently, she could do that. And I still know her to this day. I still see her on the street. She's still working. You know, 30 years or 25 years later she's still here. So when I say vocational training I want to give a plug for AVTEC, the Alaska Vocational Technical Center down in Seward. This administration understands the power and the value of vocational training, and they have a program down there referred to as Business and Office Technology. If I had known that back then, if that program was existing back in the 80s I probably would have centered down there, because they are part of the Department of Labor. We want to support AVTEC, because AVTEC is going to help us in terms of recovering from the pandemic, the economy, the struggles that we're at right now. So just to give you an example of somebody that I worked with in the past. Jason Caputo: That's great. Yeah and that was someone who had a hearing impairment, and of course we've got our DVR has specialists who work with also the blind and counselors who have a lot of experience, I know, working with all kinds of disabilities right. So if someone comes in and they have a disability, is there a good chance that a counselor has already worked with someone who may have a similar disability? Duane Mayes: Yes, absolutely. And I'm glad you brought that up, Jason, because it's important to note that you know we serve all people with disabilities, but there are particular disabilities that require a certain set of skills. So working with the blind and visually impaired in terms of just the technology that goes into providing that support for that individual, being able to work on the job independently. So you have to have a counselor that really understands that very well. So we have those specialists. Well obviously, if you're going to be working with the deaf community, and they communicate through American Sign Language, you would want a counselor who is fluent in ASL. And so not only do we have a counselor that is fluent in ASL, she is actually deaf. So we walk our talk as a division. Jason Caputo: Excellent. So when people with disabilities are coming to the division they're working with people who are in that world, know that world, live that world. That is very important. And the success that you outlined, it's meeting with that person, helping to figure out a plan, get the supports to get that plan, and then get the job, keep the job. How does DVR specifically, if we can get into some of the details, how does DVR help make that happen? I understand it involves a special planning process. Duane Mayes: It does. So, you know, a person walks through the front door, applies for services, and we have an application process that we go through to really develop a profile of that individual, a lot of information about their past and so forth, so you have that. Provide medical records, document disability. Either they have that on them or we're going to have to have. We will either sign releases to get that information or we'll set up a medical appointment to determine if they have that disability, whatever they report. But we determine eligibility, now they are into the system. Within our division we have you know we have assessment processes and programs that exist through all of our different regions. So we can use that process to identify what their interests are. We can look at a previous skills and then address that. We can have just one-on-one interaction with them as to what they, you know, verbally desire, but we have a variety of tools that can help the counselor to kind of create that profile of that individual. So with that information they can sit down and they can start talking about that goal. What is the goal that would best fit you? We want to make sure that when we develop that plan it's just one plan, not 8 plans. You know, it's a plan that's going to work. And that requires a lot of upfront thorough guidance and counseling to identify whatever that goal might be for that individual. All that goes into a plan, called an Individualized Plan for Employment, and then the service coordination, all the services are in there so that AVTEC, that I was telling you about, or vocational training, that could be part of that. And so off they to go to school to get that training. So there's a lot of support that we provide to that individual so that they are successful in graduating from that program whatever that might be. So once they complete that training, then we assist them in finding a job. They find that job, and then we support them to make sure that they're successful with that job. So that's a real quick way of describing from application to eligibility, from the plan, to finding that job, they maintain that job for a period of 90 days, and then we close our case. Jason Caputo: And I want to highlight that it seems very important that it's a plan, it's one plan that's going to work, not 8 plans were 7 of them failed and the last one worked. So I guess that's one of the things that when someone is coming to us, you're saying they've already tried to work, they've already had some difficulties there, and so DVR is doing this planning to make sure that they don't have another failure or burnt bridge or whatever. So that seems like that's going to be a big change for a lot of people. Duane Mayes: We take our time. You know, some might be thinking OK well you're talked about taking your time, but take our time to make sure we get it right the first time. And so we take pride in letting the community know that we are planning agencies. So sometimes you may have somebody will come to us and say, 'Hey I have this individual that needs help, and you need to help them now.' And we understand that that sense of urgency, but we want to make sure we get it right. So we don't want to be rolling dice every other day. Jason Caputo: Yeah, you get it right. You help them now and it's a failure, that doesn't work because you didn't have some piece of information. That's really not helping anybody. You make sure that you have all the info so you have a good plan. So that makes perfect sense, of course. It's a planning process it's about the individual, their particular needs, their skills, their goals. And they work with this counselor to put together this plan and implement this plan. But now obviously we're living in this time of the pandemic. Is DVR even still able to provide services? And if so, what do things look like now? Are they different than they were pre-pandemic? Duane Mayes: You bet. That's a good question. So we've been living in this pandemic for what 12 months now, so here we are we're in close to mid-March, and I remember you know the virus came here to Alaska back in February of 2020. And so, as the state division we work together to move our staff, and it was probably, I think it was mid-March, moved our staff into their homes. We closed down all of our offices, so we're not physically in person seeing individual disabilities. And to this day we're still not doing that, so all of our offices have been closed from that perspective. However, we're still open for business virtually. So we created that platform. We use multiple platforms to work with our consumers. The counselor is at home for the most part, and they have a laptop, and they have a phone, and they're able to make connection with the client, the consumer, virtually through zoom or whatever other platform that might exist. We're pretty comfortable with that because even prior to the pandemic we have a statewide responsibility, and so we have rural factors that we have to attend to. And one of our requirements is to make sure that the counselor assigned to a certain rural area of the state needs to go into that community at least once or twice a year. But in between those appointments in person they're on the phone with them. So the basic, yes, we have this virtual world, but we can use the phone, too, to be able to communicate with our clients. It's not as effective as an in person or visually seeing one another. As you might imagine me, I grew up in a deaf household so I like to see the person in front of me. That's important. It's a cultural aspect of the deaf community. So we have all that. Now over time, anybody who's applying for services now during this pandemic can do so online. So we have, you go to our state website at the Alaska Division of Vocational Rehabilitation there is a link to start an application. So we have been promoting and encouraging and letting people know, 'Here's our new platform.' Now it hasn't been easy. I'll just be up front say that. You know, the pandemic has really had an impact on the number of people that we have served over the last 12 months, but that is starting to pick up. There's an uptick in the number of applications coming into the division, so that's a good sign. But it's an online application. It's right there. It hits you right in the face. You click on that and there's going to be a list of things that you have to follow. There's an orientation video that you watch so you better understand the program, and then there's an application that you can pull up, downloaded into your system, fill it out and then send it back to us. The other piece of that, we're a statewide program so someone fills out an application but they're located in a certain part of the state, which office will they be assigned to? Well there's a link that says, 'Find an office that serves your community.' If you just pull up that community, it'll tell you which office you need to get in touch with. So it's pretty good, but we continue to evolve, we continue to improve it, you know. Should never settle for what you have. You know, should be the best, so we live in a virtual world, and we're not seeing people in the office, but there will come a time where that will happen. Jason Caputo: Right, so you just listed a whole number of ways to communicate ' phone, video conference, email, texting, through our website. Yeah, so it sounds like any way that someone needs to contact us, we're probably on that platform, and we can make it happen. And again you'll have that link to those listening, you'll have a link to the website. And I've also heard that, if you have any trouble, if people listening have any trouble with any of those getting in contact with us which number to call, it should be clear on the website. If it's not you can just call any number you find for DVR, and they will get you to the right place. So don't worry about if it's a little confusing. Or email any email address. There's several on the website, and you'll get to the right place. So clearly this is obviously a very valuable service for Alaskans with disabilities who need help getting or keeping a good job, but I understand DVR plays a broader role in Alaska's economic recovery, well economic success, but also the recovery from COVID as well. Is that right? Can you talk a little about that? Duane Mayes: Sure. Well it definitely is quite an honor to serve within this administration, because when I talk about the importance that the plan that has been, that's currently being worked on, the governor is taking the lead to make sure that that occurs so that we recover from this pandemic should include people with disabilities. So he clearly gets that, and I often will say when I'm doing presentations that whether it's at the national level, regional level, or even at the local level, that we cannot forget people with disabilities. We do not want them to be an afterthought, so we developed this robust plan of recovery, and we just happen to forget about people with disabilities. And so then we're scrambling. That's not going to happen. So the governor has surrounded himself with really good people, and we will be taking the lead role to work with other divisions in our community partners to make sure that that plan of recovery will factor in people with disabilities, Alaskans with disabilities. Jason Caputo: Excellent. Yes that's wonderful. So it's not going to be something we forget. After we develop the plan the governor is open to having that right in the roots of developing that plan for recovery. The people with disabilities will be well served. So that has covered a huge part of one part a DVR, and we know there's also a whole bunch of services that Alaskan businesses can take advantage of from DVR as well, from hiring to training, so we want to be sure to have you back, Director Mayes, on a future episode to talk about those. But thank you so much for taking the time to tell us about these services for people with disabilities. Is there anything else you want to add before we end this show? Duane Mayes: No. I just thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be able to communicate to whoever's listening to this podcast going forward. I can't tell you how important it is for me you know just personally growing up, as I shared with you. I feel like I'm here and I want to do what I can to make a difference, so thank you. Jason Caputo: Thank you. This is been the Alaska department of Labor and Workforce Development podcast. Thank you, Director Mayes, for talking about the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation with us today, and thank you listeners for joining us as well. We hope you found the show informative and that you'll join us for our next podcast.