Dee Torgerson, Director of VR General in Minnesota, joins Carol Pankow in the VRTAC-QM Studio to take a close look at VR service delivery through a post-pandemic lens. Dee presented at CSAVR and was part of the National Rehabilitation Leadership Institute (NRLI) that produced a paper titled, "Now is the Time: Advancing Services to Individuals with Disabilities by Reenvisioning VR Services." The pandemic forced VR agencies to offer services in new and flexible ways to meet the evolving needs of i...
Sep 08, 2022•39 min•Season 1Ep. 18
RoseAnn retired from being the Chief of the Technical Assistance Unit at RSA in 2021. She talks about significant changes that shaped what VR is today, including independent living, informed choice and the impact of technology. RoseAnn elaborates on areas that VR is doing well, and areas VR can improve upon moving forward. RoseAnn is currently contracting with VRTAC-QM, and you can find her work on Long COVID on the web at https://www.vrtac-qm.org/resources . Listen Here Full Transcript VRTAC-QM...
Aug 08, 2022•25 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Joining Carol Pankow in the studio today is Toni Wolf, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) since 2017. Toni leads her agency with the belief, "If the system isn't enhancing the quality of life for the individual, we at MRC must change the system." Toni explains how MRC has developed a culture of engagement with customers to build trust and make space for the conversation about what is possible. Find out how the focus on engagement and partnerships with the Departmen...
Jul 11, 2022•28 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Welcome to the 15th episode of the Manager Minute. Joining Carol Pankow in the studio today is Cheryl Fuller, VR Division Director with the Texas Workforce Commission and also incoming CSAVR President. Today we will talk about Social Security's VR Cost Reimbursement program, which was authorized in 1981. The purpose of that program is to make State VR services more readily available to SSA beneficiaries with disabilities and to generate savings for the Social Security Trust Fund for SSDI benefic...
Jun 12, 2022•30 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Aaron Thompson, Assistant Division Director for the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation, joins Carol Pankow on this 14th episode of Manager Minute to talk about how Utah is making rapid engagement work. Carol has discussed this on two previous podcasts; however, each VR agency has tackled this differently. It is intriguing and exciting to hear about how different VR programs are confronting the dilemma facing VR on declining applications and consumer engagement. Learn about Utah's “Back to Basic...
May 09, 2022•24 min•Season 1Ep. 14
In the Manager Minute Studio today is David Leon, Director of Workforce Programs at the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) along with host of the Manager Minute podcast, Carol Pankow. Find out how the projects David has led are shaping the approach that Virginia is taking in relation to work incentives counseling (benefits planning). What is the overall structure? Why did DARS see it as imperative to develop the capacity for work incentives counseling in Virginia be...
Apr 08, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 13
On this episode of Manager Minute, we are delighted to discuss Colorado’s Employment First initiative. On the panel, we have: Patricia Henke, Colorado Office of Employment First (COEF) Director Meghan Greene, CIE Manager, CO VR Katie Taliercio, Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF); Colorado’s State Medicaid Agency Katie Oliver, Colorado Department of Education Cheryl Carver, Colorado VR They are involved with a very innovative and successful collaboration in Colorado pe...
Mar 14, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Welcome to the Manager Minute. Joining Carol Pankow in the studio today is Susan Pugh, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation with the Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities. Susan has worked within the agency in a variety of capacities including, VR Counselor, Assistant Area Manager, and Assistant Deputy Director. In this episode, Susan discusses Ohio’s rapid engagement process and the Lean approach that has reduced onboarding time and ushered in more customers. Susan a...
Feb 23, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Joining Carol Pankow in the VRTAC-QM Studio is Mark Erlichman, Deputy Director, Vocational Rehabilitation Employment Division, California Department of Rehabilitation. In this episode of Manager Minute, Mark covers the idea of Rapid Engagement. The idea behind it is to get customers in and move as quickly as possible to succeed. The California DORS Team has a variety of initiatives that they are working on. Mark and Carol will chat about a handful of those projects. Learn about California’s expe...
Feb 11, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Full Transcript Shannon Austin, Executive Director of Vocational Rehabilitation at the Pennsylvania (PA) Department of Labor and Industry and Carole Clancy, Bureau Director of Special Education at the Commonwealth of PADepartment of Education join Carol Pankow and Missy Diehl in the VRTAC-QM Studio to talk about the important partnership between Vocational Rehabilitation and Education and how collaboration and commitment helped create and implement a strong partnership in Pennsylvania. Check out...
Jan 10, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Full Transcript: Joining Carol Pankow in the VRTAC studio is Felicia Johnson, Commissioner of the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department, and Lindy Foley, Director of Nebraska VR. Today we are discussing how Felicia and Lindy prepared for the RSA monitoring process, what they experienced, and what they learned. They will share how they see monitoring as a continuous improvement process and an opportunity for growth. The VRTAC for Quality Management has partnered with CSAVR to co-fac...
Dec 13, 2021•42 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Full Transcript Joining Carol Pankow in the VRTAC-QM Studio we have Chanda Hermanson, Administrator of the Disability Employment and Transition Programs in Montana, and Allison Flannagan, VR Director at Florida General. Chanda and Allison share their experience and challenges while navigating the World of VR finances. Learn how networking and team building improve understanding and develop solutions to VR’s biggest financial challenges. The VRTAC for Quality Management has a number of fiscal res...
Nov 14, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Full Transcript In episode 6 of Manager Minute, employment and VR take center stage during October's National Disability Awareness Month. David D’Arcangelo, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB), and Natasha Jerde, Director of State Services for the Blind of Minnesota (SSB), join Carol Pankow to talk about the state of employment, today's challenges, and the initiatives and practices they implemented to improve employment for individuals with disabilities. Learn how Da...
Oct 21, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Full Transcript In this episode of Manager Minute, Joe Xavier, the Director of the California Department of Rehabilitation Services, and Jane Donnellan, the Administrator of the Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, join Carol Pankow in the VRTAC-QM studio to discuss the importance of succession planning and knowledge translation for VR agencies. Joe and Jane highlight how they tackle the challenges of losing quality employees by utilizing strategies such as long-term planning, adjusted h...
Sep 17, 2021•44 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Full Transcript In episode 4 of Manager Minute, Bill Robinson, Director of the Michigan Bureau of Services for Blind Persons, and Cora McNabb, Executive Director at the Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, join Carol Pankow, host of Manager Minute, to lend their experiences on navigating the critical DSA/DSU relationship so that VR’s mission doesn’t slip through the cracks. Learn how Bill and Cora dealt with the challenges and the most significant challenges they faced. These challenges...
Aug 16, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Full Transcript In episode 3, Dave Doukas, Connecticut General VR director, and Nicky Harper, director of Wyoming Combined join Host Carol Pankow to talk about state rehabilitation councils and the V.R. partnership, through the lens of a newer director with Nicky and a more seasoned director like Dave. From roles, responsibilities and overall effectiveness, you will learn how they are working through and building colaboritive partnerships through communication and by building trust through under...
Jul 07, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Full Transcript Employment retention for VR Staff has been challenging for many agencies, Host Carol Pankow sits down with Kristen Mackay, Director of Arizona Combined, and Cynthia Speight, Director of North Carolina Blind, to talk about how the newly revamped Operations and Personnel committee for CSAVR and are embarking on some further work to tackle this issue of recruitment and retention. What does employment retention look like in your agencies? Have you found it challenging to get and KEEP...
Jun 09, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Full Transcript Below. Hosted by Carol Pankow, Project Director-GWU Team-VRTAC-Quality Management. Carol is joined in the studio by Natasha Jerde, Director at State Services for the Blind MN and Kristen Mackey, Director of Arizona Combined. How is VR going to look Post-Pandemic? Carol sits down with Natasha and Kristen to talk about how they approached the impact of the pandemic and what they and their teams are doing to bring the best continued service and what VR is going to look like post-pan...
May 10, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 1
