Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability
Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability

Program Evaluation & Justification Review Rehabilitation Program Administered by the Department of Labor and Employment Security

Report 98-04, July 1998

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Report Summary

  • The performance-based program budgeting "cost per case" measures, as defined, fail to consider the cost of services provided by VR and BSCI staff such as counseling and case management. To ensure a more complete measure of the cost per case, we recommend that the department revise the "cost per case" measure to include both external expenditures and internal (VR and BSCI) case costs.
  • Currently, performance information is not available to identify the cost of services. Without good information, there is no way to gauge whether customers are receiving the best services for the least number of dollars. To ensure information is available to identify whether customers are receiving the best services for the least dollars. We recommend that the department collect performance information to identify the cost of services and develop performance standards.
  • With the move toward giving preference to the most severely disabled, providers are the most ready form of adding service capacity for this population. However, the current contracting system does not provide adequate opportunity for providers to compete and succeed in the provision of services. To improve the VR components' current contracting system, we recommend that the department ensure the contracting system:
  • considers the delivery of intermediate outcomes and the quality of outcomes, including customer and employer satisfaction;
  • reflects the diversity of barriers to employment in the contract reimbursement system; and
  • adjusts contract payment rates for groups of customers who have more significant barriers to employment.
  • The BSCI component is faced with limitations in program revenue and an increasing population of individuals eligible for program services. To fully maximize funding and optimize customer outcomes under limited resources, we recommend that the department:
  • periodically monitor trust fund remittances in the future, and encourage accurate remittances to the trust fund through education of the courts and county clerks;
  • consider the type and level of services and number of customers that could be served under different levels of funding limitations; and
  • establish a plan to serve the maximum number of customers with the highest level of quality while meeting trust fund objectives.

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Copies of this report in print or alternate accessible format may be obtained by email OPPAGA@oppaga.fl.gov, telephone (850) 488-0021, or mail 111 W. Madison St., Room 312 Tallahassee, FL 32399-1475.
Copies of this report in print or alternate accessible format may be obtained by email OPPAGA@oppaga.fl.gov, telephone (850) 488-0021, or mail 111 W. Madison St., Room 312 Tallahassee, FL 32399-1475.
government, government support, rehabilitation