The Importance of Building Capacity for Program Evaluation and Quality Assurance Within Vocational Rehabilitation

Current legislation requires enhanced accountability in data collection and reporting across federal initiatives, including the state-federal Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program. The Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center on Program Evaluation and Quality Assurance (PEQA-TAC), funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) within the U.S. Department of Education, assisted state VR agencies by building their capacity to carry out high-quality program evaluation and quality assurance practices aligned with contemporary performance management expectations. This paper highlights the need for formal in-service training in this specialized area, shares an overview of the program model involving online coursework and capstone projects, and discusses recommendations for further enhancing state VR capacity in this area.