Vocational rehabilitation services for hearing impaired individuals in Tennessee

Vocational Rehabilitation in Tennessee and Nationwide: Rising or Consistent?

Hearing loss and impairment causes many Americans around the country to be negatively affected. Millions of adults are forced to have to live in a world where the individuals around them can hear, giving them a huge advantage compared to those with hearing loss and impairment. Vocational Rehabilitation is a service which aims to better adjust individuals with hearing loss and impairment through training, job placement, and counseling services. Recent case loads have increased in Tennessee, as well as the nation, as the average number of hearing impaired increase especially in the younger, future working demographics.

Vocational Rehabilitation is a service which aims to help individuals become engaged and active citizens within the world around them. The programs are run by the Tennessee Department of Human Services. Services for specifically deaf and hearing impaired individuals are handled by the Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The primary goal of the programs is to provide "vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with vision or hearing loss" (Tennessee Department of Human Services, 2011, p 8). Vocational training involves preparing individuals to be able to find and keep employment, despite the disability that may have held them back from finding similar opportunities on their own. As such, the research explains that "vocational evaluation, employee development, and employment services are designed to assist the client with identifying an appropriate vocational goal and assisting them with attaining essential work behaviors to achieve and maintain employment" (Tennessee Department of Human Services, 2011, p 9). The state of Tennessee provides counseling, vocational training and placement, interpretive services, and a wide variety of other. Unfortunately, deaf and hearing impaired individuals often have less chances of being hired and have limited job advancement opportunities (Watson et al., 2008). Such programs focus on providing a way for deaf and hearing impaired individuals to enjoy the same working environment as people without individuals.

Numbers of cases working with such programs in Tennessee seem to be on the rise. The VR program provides services to around 30,000 individuals, the disabled and those who work closely with them (Downing & Harrison, 2010). Approximately 29,747 people benefited from programs, with more and more individuals participating each year. There have been a number of new cases opened in just the past few years compared to previous decades. In 2010, there were 8,393 new applicants to the program, many of those suffering from hearing impairment (Downing & Harrison, 2010). The research shows that 1,176 individuals worked with Tennessee VR services, "in primary service programs, mobile off-campus services, and special assessments" (Tennessee Department of Human Services, 2011, p 12). Thus, not all individuals work with the programs in the same fashion. Many have options that fit their unique lifestyles and time schedules, allowing for even the busiest or most disadvantaged individuals to take advantage of mobile and flexible services provided by the various departments here in Tennessee. There are currently 17 open and functioning community Tennessee Rehabilitation Centers in the state today (Tennessee Department of Human Services, 2011). These community centers work with 64 businesses in the local region to help secure clients long-term employment. The centers successfully employed 334 out of the total hearing impaired VR clients. Moreover, the experience these individuals have been getting has been improving. Innovations in technology have been implemented within the strategies of the Tennessee Department of Human Services to augment strategies to deal with new cases. This has resulted in higher success rate sin job placement and a more engaged group of participants. In 2010, 13 counselors in the department working with hearing impaired individuals were given video phones so that they could better communicate with their clients (Tennessee Department of Human Services, 2011). These workers have seen a slow, but steady increase in their case loads across Tennessee.

There are similar situations occurring across the nation. According to U.S. Census information, one tenth of Americans suffers from some sort of hearing loss or impairment, with around 30.6 million Americans suffering from hearing impairment in general; out of this population are "approximately 18 million of these persons are of working age (16 to 24 years old)" (Watson et al., 2008, p 13). This means that there is a huge and increasingly growing population that can benefit from VR services across the nation. Over 63% of those affected by hearing loss or impairment are employed (Watson et al., 2008). This is a promising number, yet at the same time "80.5% of all persons ages 21-64 without a disability are employed" (Watson et al., 2008, p 13). VR programs around the country are aiming to make this number more equal through proper training and counseling services to help hearing impaired and deaf individuals find employment that increases their overall quality of life. Moreover, "it is clear that many persons (i.e., 40,000 to 50,000 each year) do receive significant services from VR on an annual basis" (Watson et al., 2008, p 21). Even states as far away as Hawaii have seen recent increases of individuals working with VR strategies and programs. The research shows that in Arkansas, there are actually more clients than in Tennessee, at an average of around 38,000 hearing impaired individuals working with the VR program, alone (Watson et al., 2008).