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Betsy Hopkins Named President-Elect of the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation

May 9, 2013

For Immediate Release: May 9, 2013
Contact: Julie Rabinowitz, 621-5009

AUGUSTA?Betsy Hopkins, director of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Bureau of Rehabilitation Services of the Maine Department of Labor, has been elected president elect of the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR).

Hopkins will serve as president elect for approximately 14 months, then step into the role of president on July 1, 2014, for a one-year term. She will follow that with a year of service as immediate past president, totaling three years in a leadership position with CSAVR.

?We?re delighted to have Betsy?s hard work and the work of our vocational rehabilitation program recognized by her election to this important position,? said Commissioner of Labor Jeanne Paquette. ?Providing vocational services to people with disabilities is an important mission of the Department of Labor. Betsy?s position will benefit both the state and the nation in terms of sharing best practices to the benefit of everyone we serve.?

In 2012, Maine?s vocational rehabilitation program assisted individuals with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities find employment, resulting in combined wages of $13,808,875. In general, people are eligible for services if they have a significant impairment that impedes their ability to work, and if they require vocational rehabilitation services to attain or maintain employment.

Maine residents with disabilities considering employment options should contact the Department of Labor at (207) 623-6799 (TTY users please use Maine Relay 711) for information about the vocational rehabilitation program and application process or visit http://www.employmentforme.org/ .

The national public vocational rehabilitation program is funded through the U.S. Department of Education and with a total federal-state dollar budget of approximately 4 billion dollars.

The CSAVR is the non-profit membership organization that represents the 80 public vocational rehabilitation agencies in the United States and its territories. The voting members are the 80 state agency directors, however the Council broadly advocates for the interests of all 25,000 professionals in the public vocational rehabilitation programs serving nearly 1 million consumers with disabilities on any given day.

Founded in 1940 to furnish input into the State-Federal Rehabilitation Program, CSAVR has provided a forum for state administrators to study, deliberate and act upon matters affecting the rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. The agencies CSAVR members represent constitute the state partners in the State-Federal Program of Rehabilitation Services provided under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. The CSAVR?s members supervise the rehabilitation of some 1.2 million persons with disabilities annually across the nation.

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