New York State Education Department Office of Vocational Rehabilitation Closed Case Reports and Reviews

By rehabilitation status (Rehabilitated, Not Rehabilitated), then chronological by school year (July 1 - June 30), then geographic by district office, then chronological by date of case closure (through 1935/1936) or alphabetic by name of client (1936, 1937/1961).

In 1920 the federal government appropriated funds to be distributed to state governments for vocational rehabilitation of the disabled. The same year, New York's legislature accepted the state's share of these funds (Chapter 760). The Bureau of Rehabilitation was established in 1921 in the Division of Vocational and Extension Education with offices in New York City, Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo to administer the program. The Bureau was upgraded to Division status in 1934 and then became a Bureau again in 1938. The Regents designated the unit as the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation in 1944.

Series is a sampling of forms filled out by Department personnel at the time vocational rehabilitation cases were closed providing summary data about services provided, results achieved, and costs to the Department in each case. Separate forms were used for cases that were judged rehabilitated and for those not rehabilitated. Through 1945 a followup, or "Review," report was completed one or two years after closure of rehabilitated cases and the Review was filed with the original Closed Case Report. Although the specific data collected on these forms changes over time, each Closed Case Report generally provides information in the following areas: date of case closure; personal data: name, age, sex, nationality (through 1939/1940), length of time in New York (through 1939/1940), educational background, marital status, and number of dependants; disability: cause (several types of accidents and diseases are listed), extent of impairment, and prosthetic or other appliances used or worn; occupation: job, type of business, wages at time of contact and at closure (beginning 1945--information includes all sources of support and excludes details of employment); and services provided: training, medical or mental examinations, treatments, prosthetic appliances, transportation, professional care, and maintenance payments. The cost of each service is itemized; vocational training objective and placement (the name of employer at closure is given through 1955); narrative summary of particulars in the case, often under "Remarks" (through 1955); reason for failure to rehabilitate in cases closed as not rehabilitated; and social security number (1960/1961 only).

The Review forms summarize personal data, disability, and employment information from the Closed Case Reports and provide job and wage information at the time of review. Also included is an indication of how the information was acquired and "Remarks," which often explain wage changes or the inability of the reviewer to contact the former client.

This accession constitutes a sample of the series of Closed Case Reports and Reviews. Sampling was completed by the Archives and is intended to include all files from each year ending in 0 or 5, but for some sample years all or some of the files are missing.

Restricted by Education Law section 1007; confidential and privileged in accord with Civil Practice Law and Rules section 4504. Records will be disclosed only with personal names and identifiers redacted.