Abstract
There is a lack of African American cultural competency with vocational rehabilitation counselors. In particular, African American vocational rehabilitation consumers experience higher rates of denial for services, disparities in quality of services, and outcomes of vocational rehabilitation services. These results are viewed as symptoms of the lack of cultural competency with vocational rehabilitation counselors. Further, research has found lower rates of cultural competency levels for vocational rehabilitation counselors, particularly around cultural skill development. Training is interconnected to cultural competency development and addressing the disparities of African American consumers within vocational rehabilitation services. Consequently, the purpose of this project was to develop a PowerPoint curriculum for vocational rehabilitation counselors. More specifically, the curriculum was designed to enhance African American Cultural Competency for vocational rehabilitation counselors. The research data were obtained using a variety of resources and methods, including peer-reviewed journal articles, online research databases, previous CSUS Master’s Projects, and books. Further, research was acquired through conversations with African American consumers and relevant websites pertinent to African American culture and vocational rehabilitation services. A PowerPoint curriculum was created for vocational rehabilitation counselors, which was designed to enhance their level of African American Cultural Competency.