Contractor-Rehabilitation Counselor Survey

Rehabilitation Counselor Survey
1. Introduction
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey regarding your experiences with FECA.
The goal of the survey is to provide feedback to FECA on the effectiveness of recently implemented operational
enhancements as well as to provide a baseline for future changes. All responses will be kept anonymous and
confidential. Your honest feedback is important to our future success and genuinely appreciated.
This survey should take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete.

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Rehabilitation Counselor Survey
2. Vocational Services
1. How often do you work with a Field Nurse on FECA cases?
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Always

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Frequently

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About half the time

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Rarely

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Never

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Don’t Know

2. On "average", at what point in the life of a claim are you receiving referrals for
vocational services?
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Within 3 months of date of injury/illness

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Between 3 months and 6 months post injury/illness

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Between 6 months and 1 year post injury/illness

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Between 1 year and 2 years post injury/illness

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More than 2 years after the injury/illness

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Rehabilitation Counselor Survey
3. Which of the following services do you typically provide on FECA claims?
(Please check all that apply):
c
d
e
f
g

Vocational Evaluation

c
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f
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Specialized placement services

c
d
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f
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Assisted Re-employment

c
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f
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Specialized ergonomic job and home modification services

c
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f
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Transitional Job (Light Duty) identification and definition

c
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g

Functional Capacities Evaluation

c
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Work Hardening

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Labor Market Survey

c
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g

Transferrable Skills Analysis

c
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Job seeking skills training

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Detailed Job Analysis

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Referral for short term training or refresher courses

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Testing

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Retraining

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Other (please specify)

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4. In the last 12 months, how many of your cases with vocational services referrals have
returned to gainful employment?
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Less than 5%

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5 to 10%

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11 to 25%

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26 to 50%

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Over 50%

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Don’t Know

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Rehabilitation Counselor Survey
3. Vocational Services (continued)
5. If referrals for vocational services could be made while a Field Nurse was still
assigned to a case, would that facilitate a faster return-to-work?
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Yes

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No

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Don't Know

6. How valuable would the following possible program changes be in terms of their
ability to improve your success in returning injured Federal employees to work?

Earlier intervention of
vocational service provision

Don't Know/Not

Extremely Helpful

Somewhat Helpful

Not Very Helpful

Not At All Helpful

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Applicable

alongside the Field Nurse
medical management
Ability to provide individual
task based services on an as
needed basis rather than a
full vocational
rehabilitation evaluation
Better communication with
Claims Examiners and
employing agencies
Ability to use job analyses
instead of the DOT
Broaden return-to-work to
include opportunities within
a particular agency as well
as other federal agencies or
locations
Additional Comments

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Rehabilitation Counselor Survey
7. How is your performance as a Rehabilitation Counselor evaluated by FECA? (Please
choose all that apply):
c
d
e
f
g

The Rehabilitation Specialist monitors process-related measures on my cases (timeliness of reports, billing accuracy, etc) and use that

to evaluate my performance

c
d
e
f
g

DFEC surveys claims examiners and employing agencies to determine their level of satisfaction with my services

c
d
e
f
g

The Rehabilitation Specialist uses return to work, placements or documentation for LWECs to monitor Rehabilitation Counselor results

c
d
e
f
g

Rehabilitation Specialists use return to work, placements or documentation for LWECs, but take into consideration the severity of the

injury and the employability of the injured worker

c
d
e
f
g

I get feedback only when it is time to renew my contract

c
d
e
f
g

I do not know how my performance as a Rehabilitation Counselor is evaluated

c
d
e
f
g

Other (please list any additional evaluation criteria in the comments box below)

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8. Would it be helpful to you in managing your cases if you had more specific, outcomeoriented performance goals?
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Yes

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No [Skip to Question 10]

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Don't Know [Skip to Question 10]

9. If yes, what types of outcome goals would be most helpful?
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Rehabilitation Counselor Survey
4. Rehab Specialist Role
10. Which of the following possible roles describes the Rehabilitation Specialist in the
District Office that you work with most frequently?
(Please check all that apply):
c
d
e
f
g

Vocational services expert

c
d
e
f
g

Vocational Rehabilitation Referral distribution

c
d
e
f
g

Resource to the rehabilitation counselors

c
d
e
f
g

Resource to the Claims Examiners

c
d
e
f
g

Contract manager

c
d
e
f
g

Manager of the rehabilitation counselors’ quality and impact

c
d
e
f
g

Critical claim team member

c
d
e
f
g

Person responsible for choosing the services and approach to a claimant’s return-to-work once employing agency cannot re-employ

c
d
e
f
g

Vocational services timekeeper

c
d
e
f
g

Other (please specify)

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Rehabilitation Counselor Survey
11. How important to the outcome of a claim are the following possible roles of a
Rehabilitation Specialist?
Somewhat

Extremely

Don't Know/Not

Unimportant

Unimportant

Applicable

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Contract manager

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Manager of the

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Extremely Important

Somewhat Important

Vocational services expert

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Vocational Rehabilitation
Referral distribution
Resource to the
rehabilitation counselors
Resource to the Claims
Examiners

rehabilitation counselors’
quality and impact
Critical claim team
member
Person responsible for
choosing the services and
approach to a claimant’s
return-to-work once
employing agency cannot
re-employ
Vocational services
timekeeper
Additional Comments

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12. Which of the following possible changes in the role of the Rehabilitation Specialist
do you think would help promote faster return-to-work for injured workers?
(Please check all that apply):
c
d
e
f
g

Training of the Claims Examiners to recognize when vocational services are necessary to assist in return-to-work

c
d
e
f
g

Being a vocational resource to the Claims Examiners

c
d
e
f
g

Training and problem solving on return-to-work issues

c
d
e
f
g

Participation in staffing of cases where vocational service needs have been identified

c
d
e
f
g

Management of the quality and impact of the counselors and the vocational services provided

c
d
e
f
g

Requesting and utilizing formal feedback on the vocational services providers’ performance

c
d
e
f
g

Other (please specify)

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Rehabilitation Counselor Survey
5. Information Sharing
13. What information are you allowed to share with the Employing Agencies without a
specific written authorization from the employee?
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All material in the file

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Only general information I have learned from the employee or physician but never the employee’s social security number or any issue

that contains a medical diagnosis

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n

Any information I have that they need to know in order to allow them to assist the worker in their efforts at returning them to a suitable

position

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All information necessary to assist in the return-to-work effort, including psychiatric tolerance limitations (but not full psychiatric reports)

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All information necessary to assist in the return to work effort

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I cannot give them any specific written material, but I can discuss return to work with them

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No information without a specific signed authorization from the employee

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I am not sure

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Rehabilitation Counselor Survey
6. Demographics
14. Which FECA district office do you work with most frequently?
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Boston

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Chicago

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Cleveland

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Dallas

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Denver

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Jacksonville

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Kansas City

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New York

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Philadelphia

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San Francisco

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Seattle

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Washington, D.C.

15. How long have you worked with FECA:
Less than a year

1 to 3 years

3 to 5 years

5 to 10 years

More than 10 years

In your current role

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Overall

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