americansamoa.gov

In furtherance and propagation of the “BRIDGE” Human Resources Development Policy, recently articulated by Honorable Governor Pulaali’i Nikolao Pula and Honorable Lieutenant Governor Pulumaatala Ae Ae Jr., the director of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR), a line agency of the Office of the Governor, Adrian Vasai launched OVR’s first capacity building initiative aim to upgrade and ameliorate the skills set of the OVR staff to ensure that consistent and appropriate quality services are delivered to the Territory’s residents living with disabilities.

 

This human resource development forum was facilitated through OVR’s partnership with the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Quality Management (VRTAC.QM) which specializes in ensuring that effective and compliant administration of federal funds dedicated to providing services to American Samoa’s population affected by disabilities is reliably and unswervingly maintained. Two experts, Dr. Rachel Anderson and Katherine Marchesano were dispatched by VRTAC.QM, at no cost to OVR, to conduct this employee empowerment enterprise.

 

Two paralleled emphasis of the employee development initiative were financial compliance and service delivery infrastructure network efficacy. Sessions devoted to financial conformance, particularly timely and accurate preparation and submission of required grant financial reports and adherence to federally permitted charges, were facilitated by VRTAC.QM’s fiscal expert Ms. Katherine Marchesano. Requisite fiscal policies governing financial reports preparation and spending eligibility were developed jointly with OVR’s financial staff.

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Service Delivery Infrastructure Network Efficacy sessions were facilitated by Dr. Rachel Anderson. The salient focus was on reaffirming and reemphasizing the essential role of the Counselor in instilling service efficacy in the service delivery network. Correspondingly, given the scarceness in funding availability, the Counselor’s duty to prioritize each client’s service requests becomes critical. The most effective track to alleviate this dilemma is by the development of a realistic Individualized Employment Plan (IPE) for each consumer. Given that OVR’s service domain covers the age range of 14 and older, the diversity of service needs constitutes the greatest challenge in light of finite financial resources. The national policy emphasizing service focus on the age group 14-24 through the implementation of the Pre-Employment Training Services program exacerbates OVR’s financial predicament. Notwithstanding, Dr. Rachel Anderson outlined and shared strategies to assist the Counselors navigate these potential service snags.

 

This employee empowerment initiative was overwhelmingly effective based on the anecdotal disclosures from the employees at the conclusion of the 3-Days of conducted training. The employees also expressed vociferous support for more future training initiatives.

 

Honorable Christopher Pope, Director, State Monitoring and Program Improvement Division, delegated the authority to perform the functions and duties of the Commissioner, Rehabilitation Services Administration, U.S. Department of Education commented on Employee Empowerment Training Initiative launched by the American Samoa Government Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.

 

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