Program Office: Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)

CFDA Number: 84.129, 84.160, 84.246, 84.263, 84.264

Program Type: Discretionary/Competitive Grants

Grants and contracts are awarded to states and to public and private nonprofit agencies and organizations, including institutions of higher education, to pay part of the cost of conducting training programs. Awards can be made in any of thirty rehabilitation long-term training fields, in addition to awards made for innovative rehabilitation training, rehabilitation short-term training, and training of interpreters for individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and individuals who are deaf-blind. These training programs vary in terms of content, methodology, and audience. Together, these grants support the public rehabilitation system through recruiting and training well-qualified staff and maintaining and upgrading their skills once they begin working within the system.

The Rehabilitation Training Program authority requires recipients of grants under the Rehabilitation Long-Term Training Program to build closer relationships between training institutions and VR state agencies, promote careers in the public vocational rehabilitation program, identify potential employers who would meet the student’s payback requirements, and assure that data on the employment of students are accurate. Training of statewide workforce systems personnel is authorized under the Training Program, and such training may be jointly funded by the Department of Labor. Statewide workforce systems personnel may be trained in evaluative skills to determine whether an individual with a disability may be served by the VR state grants program or another component of the statewide workforce system. Additional information about specific activities may be found on Programs & Projects in RSA: Rehabilitation Training Program.

A Request for Information (RFI) on the Future Direction of the Rehabilitation Training Program was posted in the Federal Register on May 4, 2018. The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is requesting input on the portfolio of grants supported under the Rehabilitation Training Program, specifically those supported under the Rehabilitation Long-Term Training, Rehabilitation Short-Term Training, and Innovative Rehabilitation Training authorities to determine whether the activities funded under the Rehabilitation Training Program are aligned with the goals of the Department and the needs of State vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies. We will use the information gathered in response to this request for information (RFI) to determine whether any changes are needed in designing and implementing grant activities under this program, including the specific mix of activities supported each year.