Ideas for applied research grant proposals

By Lancelot

There is just too little in the way of applied research in our field. There are too many practical questions that have gone unanswered - the kind of questions that need answers if we are to improve our services. Here are a few suggestions. Since the subject of outcomes is very prevalent, I will focus upon this subject in hopes that some of you may become involved in this area.

1. There has been much discussion about whether or not blind consumers are better served by agencies that specialize in services to people who are blind. Yet, where is the research to show what happens when agencies are consolidated? Where is the kind of hard evidence which can be presented when such changes are threatened? What actually happens? What can be measured in a classic pre-and-post test examination?

2. We are at the point of celebrating the 25^th anniversary of implementation of the VR Act of 1973. Are service outcomes that much different now than in the past? Are we doing a much better job of meeting the needs of the most severely disabled consumers? What has really changed? Other than in the field of high tech, are the job placements and earnings (an objective earnings index must be applied for comparison) that much greater than ten years ago?

3. Also close to the quarter century mark is services to deaf-blind children and youth under what started as the old Regional Centers for Deaf-Blind Children program. Now, almost all SEAs have served these children for years. Over $300,000,000 federal dollars and untold state dollars were invested in the education and transition of the youth. Thousands have left the education programs. What has happened to these children and what benefit can be attributed to their education? What transition outcomes were achieved? What has been the result of this investment? Many of the children of the Rubella epidemic of 1963-65 are now in their thirties. What are their living and vocational achievements? What can we learn from such an examination?

4. We hear that RSA is becoming more narrowly focused solely upon employment outcomes. How many different ways can you measure VR outcomes? What is the effect of the consumer's employment upon the local community? Sounds basic, but it may not be as easy as you might think.

Send your ideas and comments to Merlin at the email address listed elsewhere in this volume.