Statement of Charles L. Roberts, L.H.D., Executive Vice President, International Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, before the Subcommittee on the Handicapped, Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, United States Senate. to the Subcommittee. July 10, 1974 Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to present this statement The International Association of Rehabilitation Facilities (IARF) is the principal national organization of medical and vocational rehabilitation centers and represents over a thousand rehabilitation facilities which are members of the organization and its state affiliates. IARF supports both H.R. 14225 and S. 3108 which extend the appropriation authority of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for an additional year, and which removes the Rehabilitation Services Administration from Social and Rehabilitation Services, placing it elsewhere in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. It is essential to extend the current Act until 1976 in order to allow sufficient time for orderly consideration of any major changes in the Act. The results of several studies mandated in the Act of 1973 will require study and and these studies are scheduled for completion only a few months prior to expiration of the Act. We feel an extension through fiscal 1976 will allow adequate time for consideration of any necessary changes in the law. evaluation - H.R. 14225 would remove RSA from SRS and place it directly under the HEW Secretary, while S. 3108 would place RSA specifically within the Office of Human Development. The Administration has testified that, if RSA were placed directly under the Secretary, they would probably put it in the Office of Human Development, so we feel this difference between the two bills is probably academic. What is not academic is the demonstrated need to remove RSA from SRS where it was placed in 1967. The administration of vocational rehabilitation programs by SRS has been, at best, controversial. The background and attitude - 2 of SRS leadership in recent years has resulted in a deterioration of what was a model human services program and a weakening of the essential Federal-State relationships so necessary for the success of such a program. states. We have dealt directly with SRS/RSA staff over the past seven years, as have many of our rehabilitation facility members located in the various We are distressed by the increasing lack of sensitivity and awareness of human needs by many of those in authority positions outside and above RSA. Their rhetoric of support for rehabilitation is not accompanied by appropriate action. We are alarmed at the continual attempts to hold down and cut back on case service, research, and training funds; and the reduction of RSA staff and authority. While expressing verbal understanding of the critical shortage of adequate rehabilitation facilities to provide services to greater numbers and more severely disabled, SRS has shown insufficient interest in seeking necessary funds for construction and improvement of such facilities. In most states, valuable case service funds have had to be diverted for such purposes. SRS has been consumed with other priorities in its efforts to reduce welfare expenditures. Hopefully, rehabilitation will fare better if transferred to the Office of Human Development. That such a transfer is necessary has become apparent to the State V.R. agencies, the professional rehabilitation field in general, and to those of us involved in the direct delivery of services to the disabled through the rehabilitation centers and sheltered workshops of the facilities movement. National Rehabilitation Counseling Association 1522 K Street, N.W., Washington, D. C. Telephone (202) 296-6080 President Thomas K. White Research & Training Unit Craige Trailer Park Trailer #11 Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514 President-Elect Dr. Betty Hedgeman Epilepsy Foundation 225 Park Avenue, South New York, New York 10003 Secretary-Treasurer Anse Crumptos Box 419 Knoxville, Tennessee 37901 Past President Carl E. Hansen Department of Special Education The purpose of this letter is to strongly support and urge quick Rehabilitation Counselor Education Program authority under the Vocational Rehabilitation Act for an additional University of Texas, Sutton Hall 203 Austin, Texas 78712 NBA Beard Member Michael A. Oliverie P.O. Box 869 Morgantown, West Virginia 25505 Executive Director Fletcher R. Hall 1974 National Conference Stardust Hotel year (1976), and removes the Rehabilitation Services Administration from the Social and Rehabilitation Service in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. In view of the many administrative problems, and philosophical differences in approaches to the administration of the FederalState Vocational Rehabilitation Program which have arisen since the Rehabilitation Services Administration has been in the Social and Rehabilitation Service, we feel that the move to the Office of the Secretary of HEW is both justified and desirable. The National Rehabilitation Counseling Association appreciates your interest in this matter and your continued support of a strong, adequately financed vocational rehabilitation program. Mailgram? 4046553341 MGM TDMT WARM SPRINGS GA 100 06-26 0449P EDT ZIP 20510 SERVICE + SENATOR JENNINGS RANDOLPH GEORGIA REHABILITATION ASSOCIATION STRONGLY URGES REMOVAL OF RALPH HAMPTON PRESIDENT GEORGIA REHABILITATION ASSOCIATON 16149 EDT MGMWSHT HSB 43-192 O 75-20 We support that portion of HR 14225 which extends vocational rehabilitation services to June 30, 1976, but question that portion of the Bill which would transfer the Rehabilitation Services Administration from Social and Rehabilitation Service to the Office of Human Development. Was a management study conducted to determine if this move was in the very best interest of rehabiliation on a national level and the handicapped as a whole? If not, how was this decision reached? As a coalition of organizations of the physically handicapped in Illinois under former regulations sanctioned by National Rehabiliation Association priorities in services were going to behavioral disorders and other socially disadvantaged while services to the severely handicapped were being ignored, It was for this reason that we were very pleased that the current regulations developed by Social Rehabilitation Services focused on services to the severely handicapped and took consumer views into consideration. In this connection we invite your careful attention to the enclosed editorial from the COPH Bulletin which clearly reflects our thinking in this matter. We note that the function of the Office for the Handicapped created within We would like to hear from you on this and we ask that this letter 1 Incl: Editorial SRA Support Sincerely, Wilson R. A. Wilson "Opportunities, with Dignity" |