For disabled jobseekers in Oklahoma, a waiting list
Budget cuts have forced more than five dozen disabled jobseekers onto a waiting list for state services, which includes training and the purchase of equipment that helps them go to work.
The decision to limit services does not affect the more than 12,000 clients who already receive help from the Oklahoma Rehabilitation Services Department. New applicants with three or more severe limitations can bypass the list entirely.
The agency began putting new applicants on the waiting list Jan. 9. Since then, 66 people with fewer severe limitations have been affected. Department spokeswoman Jody Harlan said the agency didn’t completely shut the door.
People can still apply and will get benefits on a first-come, first-served basis as money becomes available.
“We don’t know when that will be, but our budget people are constantly reviewing what our expenditures are,” Harlan said. “They’re looking for any funds that can be transferred.”
The agency had to implement the waiting list because federal law doesn’t let it place a cap on services provided by the state’s vocational rehabilitation program.
“Our waiting lists are a way to control our spending, slow it down, so that we don’t run out of money,” she said. “We have to be sure we can
follow through with the commitments we make to our clients.”
Vocational rehabilitation services are offered to people with developmental disabilities, physical limitations and mental health needs. The program has been lauded as a way to get people out of social services and into work, where they can become more self-sufficient taxpayers.
The Oklahoma Legislature cut spending at the agency last year by more than $1 million. The effect of that cut was bigger, however, because the federal government quadruples state spending for vocational rehabilitation. Because of the state’s cutbacks, Rehabilitation Services received about $5 million less in federal funds.
Oklahoma also can be penalized for failing to maintain consistent funding.
Agency staff will keep processing new applications and determine whether each new applicant is eligible for services. Last year, more than 2,000 people with disabilities got help finding and preparing for employment.
Oklahoma has had a waiting list for these services before, most recently in 2012.
Mike Goza, a vocational rehabilitation program manager in Oklahoma City, said it’s too early to tell how people are reacting now to the decision.
“Sometimes they get a little frustrated, of course,” Goza said.
Most of the questions come from people who already get services from the agency. He and others have to reassure them that their benefits will not be affected.
For everyone else, it’s a waiting game.
“We want to keep them motivated,” he said. “If they’re frustrated about the waiting list, we’re going to try to help hook them up with one of our partners like Workforce (Oklahoma).”