Idaho: Vocational Rehabilitation predicts waitlists, other issues due to budget shortfall

By Ruth Brown, Idaho Reports 

The administrator of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation said the division’s budgeting issues may lead to waitlists for services and programs for Idahoans with disabilities, as well as administrative problems for councils and commissions that receive funding through the division. 

During an Idaho State Rehabilitation Council meeting on Tuesday, administrator Jane Donnellan said she expects a budget shortfall in fiscal year 2025. Donnellan explained to the council that its case management system did not align with the state accounting system, and budgeting issues date back to 2021.  

In one example offered to the council, Donnellan said the division used $3.8 million from a fiscal year 2024 appropriation on bills from the previous fiscal year, instead of for bills from FY2024, contributing to the ongoing shortfall.  

“It had been compounding really since 2021,” she told the council. 

The Rehabilitation Council connects disabled Idahoans with employers and support disabled people in the workforce. Donnellan explained that the division sometimes receives invoices months after an individual has been served, and some may roll over into the next fiscal year, creating more complexity. 

State agencies receive their spending authority from the Idaho Legislature.

Donnellan faced scrutiny earlier this month when she went before Idaho Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee to request a $2.7 million supplemental budget request to get through the remainder of the current fiscal year, shortly after the division discovered the accounting problem. Committee co-chair Rep. Wendy Horman later pulled back that request from the House floor, and lawmakers didn’t take up another supplemental before adjourning.  

During Tuesday’s meeting, Donnellan fielded questions from the council, and members offered words of support to her. She became tearful as she acknowledged that there is the potential the financial issue could affect the State Independent Living Council and the Idaho Commission for Blind and Visually Impaired due to the way Vocational Rehabilitation receives the federal funding and then distributes it to other entities. 

Without a supplemental appropriation for fiscal year 2025, the division may need to utilize order of selection, which would create waitlists for some people in need of services.  

“We have had to reevaluate how we move forward in a much more aggressive manner,” Donnellan told the council members. In the meantime, Donnellan stressed the division will continue to serve individuals with disabilities, and for now it is business as usual.   

The State of Idaho did implement a new accounting system, called Luma, within the last year. While problems have plagued Luma since its introduction, the division’s budgeting issues predate Luma’s existence.  

Order of Selection 

On Tuesday afternoon, the Council discussed the order of selection process, should their fiscal circumstances require the division to use it. Before implementing the order of selection, Vocational Rehabilitation would go through a lengthy process, including hosting public meetings.  

Under an order of selection, people with the most significant disabilities would have priority for services. The division would provide referrals and estimated wait times for customers on waitlists. 

Current clients would continue to receive services and people on SSI benefits would be exempt. Vocational Rehabilitation would continue to accept applications for people in need of services. 

The division would conduct periodic fiscal forecasting to gauge when it should re-open a service. 

During the discussion, Donnellan said some states are under an order of selection and continue to serve everyone. Using an order of selection is a temporary option states use, generally for financial reasons. It does not mean the state will permanently use the selection process.