Welcome
to the Introduction and Orientation to the Public Rehabilitation Program . This
project is provided by the University of Missouri-Columbia's Region
VII Rehabilitation Continuing Education Program (RCEP VII).
This web site is a resource for anyone involved with the rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, either through community rehabilitation programs, state vocational rehabilitation agencies, or other agencies serving the employment and independent living needs of persons with disabilities. These pages describe the rehabilitation process to new staff or anyone in need of a review. In addition, there are links to other useful web resources.
These pages use a case study, or story, format to take you through the rehabilitation process. After a quick overview of the history of rehab, you will read the stories of seven people, illustrating the challenges of various disabilities. All of these stories are based on real people who let us interview them and record their journey on these pages.
In each story you will follow that person through the rehabilitation process, from initial contact and the eligibility process, to assessment, planning, job placement, and follow-up. At every step there are links to pages with more information on terms, processes, regulations, and other details. In addition, you can learn more about specific staff characters from the stories and how they view the rehabilitation process.
We have based the information in these cases on a clear set of "person centered values", developed over the last thirty years, about the inclusion of persons with disabilities in their communities. To learn about these values, we suggest you start by reading our brief history on the evolution of society's values about persons with disabilities. This tour follows the change from segregation and exclusion to integration and inclusion. This will prepare you to move on to the cases and characters section.
That's our recommended path for you, but you can always move around these pages as you need to. The recommended path is marked with a large or small red arrow throughout the site. But feel free to roam as you would like.
We hope that you and your colleagues find this learning journey instructive and enjoyable.
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