‘There’s a lot of anger’: AJC investigation into disability agency hits a nerve

A state lawmaker is seeking reforms and people with disabilities said they felt validated in their struggles after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an investigation into how a state agency had failed to adequately help this vulnerable population.

States across the country offer help to people with disabilities who want to find work that is meaningful, and to provide the right accommodations so that a person can succeed in a job. An AJC investigation published in late July found the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, the state agency tasked with this function, had failed in this core mission.

“It’s been a system that struggled for decades, and hopefully this information has shone a light on it for legislators, and others, that can impact change,” said Diane Wilush, who has worked for years advocating for people with disabilities in Georgia.

Georgia has been sending back millions of dollars annually to the federal government that could be used to support people with disabilities, and a recent federal report showed fewer people who sought GVRA’s help found jobs. Those who did were often funneled into lower-skilled jobs, such as fast-food workers, janitors, stockers or cashiers. In the days and weeks that followed the story’s publication, the AJC heard from clients and others who work with people who are disabled in Georgia. Their message was the same: the GVRA is broken and a reckoning of the system is long overdue.

State Sen. Sally Harrell, a Democrat from Atlanta, said she’s heard for a while now that the agency has not functioned as it should. She promised to work with current GVRA leadership to improve how the agency delivers services.

“If people are just so frustrated that they give up, they’re going to stop coming, and asking for help,” she said, adding, “I do have hope that the existing leadership will turn things around. I think their hearts are in the right place.”

State Sen. John Albers, a Republican from Roswell, said in a statement GVRA has experienced numerous challenges in the past, due to the coronavirus pandemic, staffing and outdated technology, but that he’s seen improved results. He said federal funding comes with “overwhelming bureaucracy and unrealistic parameters.”

“As a state, we need to continue to invest in people, process, and technology to provide the best service possible,” he said.

As part of the investigation, the AJC obtained a copy of an advocacy group’s complaint that alleged systemic failures within the agency, and included testimony from former GVRA clients, counselors and providers. It was submitted to the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education by a legal team known as the Georgia Advocacy Office, which represents Georgians with disabilities.

The Georgia Advocacy Office recently sent a letter to members of the state’s Congressional delegation, along with a copy of the group’s civil rights complaint.

“Unfortunately, both the hard and anecdotal data show that GVRA itself is a barrier to employment because GVRA is not adequately serving even a small percentage of the hundreds of thousands of working-age Georgians with disabilities,” Julie Kegley, a senior staff attorney for the Georgia Advocacy Office wrote, adding, “Simply put, Georgians with disabilities — your constituents — deserve much better.”

A report posted on GVRA’s website in July discussed many of the same issues the AJC examined in the investigation. Researchers at the University of Georgia surveyed and received input from more than 1,000 people connected to the disability community. Many respondents said the high turnover rate for GVRA counselors is a hindrance to the agency, and multiple respondents described their frustrations with trying to receive GVRA services, due to things like bureaucratic roadblocks, lack of timely response from counselors and long delays.

But GVRA says they’ve seen improvements, many of which are recognized as part of the report. They say there’s been improved pay for counselors and additional training for staff, among other things. GVRA says this has produced results, including an increased number of referrals, applications and eligibility determinations since the pandemic, and that they ended fiscal year 2024 in June with a much higher employment rate. They’ve also been providing more services to students.

“GVRA continues to make enormous strides with service delivery; and the feedback we have received from our partners and stakeholders has been overwhelmingly supportive,” Executive Director Chris Wells said in a statement to the AJC.

Accountability and transparency on the part of GVRA is the first step, said Meaghan Timko, whose organization helps people with disabilities transition to adulthood. The AJC’s investigation hit a nerve for a lot of people familiar with GVRA’s dysfunction, Timko said, and still, many want the agency to succeed.

“There’s a lot of anger right now, and frustration,” she said of the agency, adding, “But I think that could be easily quieted down if it starts working.”

Koleman Taylor, a 23-year-old who has limited hearing, told the AJC he related to the story’s findings that GVRA clients often wait for help. Taylor found a job in a retail bakery through GVRA. But he no longer can hear properly through his hearing aids GVRA helped him acquire, and he says he’s been reaching out to his state counselor who could coordinate getting them fixed, but isn’t getting the proper assistance.

Taylor, who lives in Rabun County with his mom, says the two live paycheck to paycheck. His limited hearing is now hurting him at work, and made his life more stressful: he’s missing instructions from his boss, miscommunicating with people who report to him and aggravating customers at the bakery in the process.

“If I can’t communicate to my people, what good am I?” he said.

Heather Sorrentino, who is legally blind, felt both sadness and validation as a screen-reading software read aloud the words of the AJC’s article. Several years ago, she lost nearly all of her vision, when a freak accident left her eyes permanently scarred.

The following months were hell for Sorrentino, who then had to learn how to live with a permanent loss of her vision.

“There’s a lot of anger right now, and frustration. But I think that could be easily quieted down if it starts working.”

Meaghan Timko, whose organization helps people with disabilities transition to adulthood

Sorrentino, 48, who lives in Fort Valley, said that years after reaching out to GVRA, she is still unemployed.

“If I ever run across anybody that is going through what I have been through, I would never suggest for them to go to GVRA,” Sorrentino said. “And I would be honest with them about what they were about to face, because nobody was with me.”

While Sorrentino received some services from GVRA, she said the experience set her back further: she felt judged by her counselors and asked for help that never came.

The same is true for people in a support group for the blind, of which she’s a member. Shortly after the AJC investigation came out, she said her support group had an emotional discussion about what the investigation revealed.

“We all ended up admitting that we cried during reading it, and then it also affected us all into the next days,” Sorrentino said.

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