Dr. Enikõ Rák, Assistant Professor, has received a $33,324 grant from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Services for the Blind (DSB), to support a “Comprehensive Statewide Needs Assessment,” to identify and describe the rehabilitation needs of individuals with blindness, deaf-blindness, and other visual disabilities.
The project focuses on the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) service needs of individuals with significant visual disabilities (including their need for supported employment services), the VR needs of minorities, the needs of the unserved and underserved groups, and of individuals with visual disabilities served through other components of the statewide workforce investment system (one-stop-shops), and the needs of veterans and transition age youth with visual impairments. Outcomes of this study will be used to improve DSB services.
Dr. Rák has significant experience in program evaluation for the public VR system. She started out as a graduate assistant for Project Excellence–A Program Evaluation Partnership between Michigan State University and Michigan Rehabilitation Services. Currently, in addition to the project for the DSB, she is also the primary investigator for the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living Community Needs Assessment, which examines community needs and issues affecting Michigan residents. This study explores and compares community needs of persons with and without disabilities.