Stakeholders suggested the state should change the name of its program meant to help employ people with disabilities during a Tuesday evening forum in Lawrence.

During the two-hour meeting, Michael Donnelly, Kansas Rehabilitation Services director, heard concerns, criticism and positive comments from Lawrence-area residents who work with counselors and administrators through Vocational Rehabilitation Services.

Several people said the agency needed to do a better job of communicating what services it provides, particularly on how it can help clients earn a first or second college degree.

Many people praised the work individual counselors did to help them but expressed frustration that the system and the name “vocational rehabilitation” created a negative stigma and automatically demeaned people seeking help.

The language that refers to the program should focus more on terms such as “employment and educational development,” some said.

“You need to have more understanding. You need to be more compassionate,” said Wanda Hand, of Lawrence, who suffered an injury during her childhood.

Hand said she had worked as a nurse’s aide, but the job was too difficult. She has tried many other things, including housekeeping, but she has been unemployed for more than three years and is working with a counselor to find employment.

“I have had so many dreams, and they have been all wiped out. It takes a lot out of you,” she said.

She considers her greatest accomplishment to be when all of her children graduated from high school.

Donnelly also provided an overview of how Vocational Rehabilitation Services works as it is administered by the state’s Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

The program has about 150 employees, and 14,871 Kansans received some type of service during fiscal year 2006.

More than 1,800 Kansans became employed through the program in 2006, 97 percent of whom had significant disabilities, Donnelly said. The program receives more than $34 million in federal and state grant funding as its largest source.

Kansas Rehabilitation Services faces both opportunities and challenges, including an increase in demand and cost of services with less funding, Donnelly said.

The meeting was Donnelly’s ninth stop across the state as part of 18 forums he is conducting through mid-February. About 40 people, including state Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, attended the Lawrence forum at the SRS Service Center, 1901 Del.

Donnelly – himself a former Vocational Rehabilitation Services client, who has used a wheelchair since breaking his neck in a 1977 swimming accident – said he appreciated the feedback and would use the information to help establish priorities.