Knowledge of specific services that can be purchased with VR funds and provided to family members.

Examples of what services other projects provide to the families of rehabilitation consumers.

Training in how to work productively with families to create support for the rehabilitation consumer.

Resources to facilitate the education of families as regards assisting their family member in using rehabilitation services effectively.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Increased funding to support outreach and family needs was cited as the largest need to implement a new system that focused on family members as well as the individual being rehabilitated. Also identified were needs such as more staff to do outreach and to provide support services such as transportation. Finally, facilities with greater space allotment for meeting with families, and training for both families and rehabilitation staff would be necessary. Families would be trained in what is available through VR, and staff would be made aware of services that a counselor can provide family members. Orientation to families would be part of an on-going training for VR staff. Topics to be covered might include, for example, Introduction to Working with the Family, Family Perspectives of the Rehabilitation Process, and Utilizing the Family in the Job Development and Job Placement.

This research has indicated strong administrative and direct service support for providing services to family members. However, services to families are not systematically provided and the actual provision of services appears to be less than the strength of the conviction that the services should be provided.

Funding for AIRRTC projects and dissemination materials are awarded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), U.S. Department of Education (DOE), grant number H133B3006. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the grantee, and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of NIDRR, OSERS, or DOE.

Fact sheet no. 1 compiled and edited by Priscilla Lansing Sanderson, Julie Anna Clay, James Stephens, and Libby Reeg. The full technical report, The Utilization of the Family as a Resource in American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Projects, is available from the American Indian Rehabilitation Research and Training Center. To request AIRRTC reports and AIRRTC publication catalog, contact the AIRRTC Training and Dissemination Secretary at (520) 523-7054, FAX (520) 523-9127, or TTY (520) 523-1695.

This document is available in alternate formats upon request by contacting the AIRRTC Training and Dissemination Secretary at (520) 523-7054, FAX (520) 523-9127, or TTY (520) 523-1695. AIRRTC is located at the Institute for Human Development, an Arizona University Affiliated Program at Northern Arizona University.

ISBN:

NAU is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Institute NAU Creative Communications/G39840/1M/03-01