Affiliations:
Institute for Community Inclusion, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA, USA
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Joseph Marrone, Institute for Community Inclusion, University of Massachusetts, Boston, 4517 NE Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard, Portland, OR 97211, USA. Tel.: +1 503 490 2072; Fax: +1 503 961 7714; E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: BACKGROUND:The SGA Project tested a rapid coordinated team approach in Kentucky and Minnesota. OBJECTIVE:The authors are members of a five-person Senior Technical Assistance (TA) Team that supported Kentucky and Minnesota as host sites in a l randomized controlled trial. METHODS:The TA team participated in a planning and implementation phase over the course of three years. At closeout, the TA team interviewed SVRA personnel on participation, recommendations, and challenges. RESULTS:TA was adapted to the needs of each state vocational rehabilitation agency to identify solutions to capacity challenges, staff training, concerns about randomization, and team approaches. In both Kentucky and Minnesota, the dedicated TA team balanced the fidelity of the model with the need to align solutions with agency priorities, goals, and culture. CONCLUSIONS:Provision of intensive TA to support state vocational rehabilitation agencies to participate in a research intervention requires a focus on counselor skills and expectations, attention to competing priorities and interests of State VR Agencies, and an ability to build relationships at multiple levels of the agency.
