Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation LMI Staff Survey and Training

As part of their JD-VRTAC intensive TA project, Pennsylvania OVR surveyed and trained all staff who work with consumers or businesses on using and integrating LMI in the VR process. These staff included VR Counselors, Business Services Counselors, Business Services Representatives, Early Reach Coordinators, Supervisors, Managers, and District Administrators. OVR believes that incorporating LMI into VR practice is everyone’s responsibility. 

Many SVRAs used Pennsylvania OVR’s LMI staff survey as a model for their staff surveys.

As part of training development, OVR reviewed LMI products available on Pennsylvania’s state LMI statistics agency, the Center for Workforce Information and Analysis’s (CWIA) website. OVR identified 10 LMI tools on the CWIA site to include in this training. Next, OVR surveyed staff to measure their awareness of LMI and to learn how they were already using LMI in their work.

One main objective of this training was to help staff think of how to apply LMI and the CWIA tools with consumers and businesses. OVR training staff delivered this training via video conference to all offices in the state. This training included examples of how staff can use LMI in their specific roles.

• VR counselors might use LMI one-on-one with a consumer to explore career goals.
• Business Services Representatives might use LMI to learn about the market in their region to know what types of employers to target for outreach.
• District Administrators might use LMI to learn about unemployment rates so that they can learn where VR might need to strengthen relationships with job centers.

The training included time for staff to explore the CWIA site and LMI tools. Each LMI product was also included as part of a downloadable packet for staff to reference.

After the training, VR staff completed post-surveys. OVR training staff analyzed pre- and post-survey results to help inform future staff training.