by requirements for the degree of (Education) - NCRTM

in preparing the young retarded adult for employment by means of organized
programs of counseli.ng, training and placement. The development and out-
come of related projects, particularly with reference to the Occupational
Adjustment Program, will be discussed later in this paper.
The year 1965 saw the Program expanded and enla.rged when amendments
to the Vocational Rehabilitation Act (Public Law 89-333) broadened its
legal and financial base, thus increasing services to the retarded.
was made for improvement of workshop
Authorization
and construction of more vocationally oriented
programs
facilities. (This law extended the
rehabilitation
for determining employability of the retarded
period
eligibility purposes from six up to 18 months.
for
this period rehabilitation services can be pro-
During
to evaluate employment potential.) Grants to
vided
to conduct comprehensive state-wide planning
states
agencies designated by the Governors were als0
by
(Congressional Record, 1969, p. 4).
provided
As a result of this legislative and financial support, planning groups
were commissioned by numerous states to study the problem of mental retar-.
darien as it exists within each state.
In 1967 a symposium was held at Mankato State College in Minnesota;
representatives from 14 states met and formulated preliminary reports on
statewide recommendations for MR habilitation. All 14 states listed man-
power and education as their most urgent needs. Eleven states recommended
the review and possible revision of statelaws pertaining to the mentally
retarded. The majority of the legal and legislative recommendations were
concerned with guardianship, financing education, criminal responsibility,
and the definition of mental retardation (Ayers, 1967).
In-December, 1967, the Ad Hoc Committee on Mental Retardation, part
of Wisconsin's Statewide Planning for Vocational Rehabilitation, completed
its final report. It contained comprehensive recommendations in the.