that particular agency's budget request would reflect an earlier return to work of the injured person because of the rehabilitation program?

We have been thinking along those lines. I do not know how valid the thought is.

Mr. ELISBURG. It is certainly an interesting possibility. We do know, and I am just not familiar enough with the way that budget cycle works to be able to evaluate it now and give you our views, we do know-and I have had this experience in recent monthsthat as the costs of the compensation payments have become evident to many of the agencies, and the realization that indeed these are injuries, and when you get through with the audits and everything they are still going to be there, this kind of money is still going to be there, that it is becoming a high enough cost item to warrant the agency's paying attention to the rehabilitation aspect. So, to that extent, whatever can be done to relate that to the dollars saved by rehabilitation efforts, I think, is a very worthwhile proposition.

Mr. GAYDOS. Mr. Secretary, what are your goals as far as rehabilitation is concerned, say, at the end of this year. Do you think that you could give a guestimate as to the number of people you could re-employ, or get back on the rolls? Do you have any specific program as such for changes that are envisioned?

Mr. ELISBURG. Well, we have some performance standards on the numbers of cases that people are expected to review, and I guess we probably have some estimates of the number of people that probably would be restored.

Mr. JENNINGS. Yes. Last year we had over 500 employees that were successfully rehabilitated, and with the new people we have added this year, while we do not have a projected estimate, we expect that will increase, particularly with the willingness now of the U.S. Postal Service and some of the other agencies to actively participate with us.

Mr. GAYDOS. 500 out of roughly, 42,000-

Mr. JENNINGS. Well, 500 out of the total-you are talking about all claims filed. All those claims are necessarily long-term disabling injuries. You are really talking about a much lesser universe than that, the people on the-obviously, you can take the death roll out and the totally disabled employees, so you are getting down to, probably in the neighborhood of, about a fourth of that.

Mr. GAYDOS. What is a rehabilitated employee? One that is doing an altogether different job?

Mr. JENNINGS. Well, my definition would be an employee that has been rehabilitated back to gainful employment, either the same job or a different one.

Mr. GAYDOS. The same or a different job. All right.

Mr. JENNINGS. The key is employment.

Mr. GAYDOS. We have some reports that your consultants have prepared. Are most of the reports in, Mr. Secretary, or are they pending? I am talking about this specific subject matter. Will we have the reports available to us when you receive them? Could you make them available to us?

Mr. JENNINGS. Mr. Chairman, are you referring to the rehabilitation study?

Mr. GAYDOS. The rehabilitation study. You have some consultants now working on it, do you not?

Mr. ELISBURG. We are putting out what they call an RFP to look into ways of finding other kinds of re-employment to those in rehabilitation. To the extent we have any kinds of reports that would be useful in this regard, I would be glad to furnish them to the committee.

Mr. GAYDOS. I think you are talking about education, you are talking about stimulation of agencies' participation or response, are you not?

Mr. ELISBURG. Yes.

Mr. GAYDOS. You are talking about new procedures even, new ways of doing it. you are talking about computerization probably, too, working that into it. You have a lot of complicated problems in the rehabilitation aspect alone, due to the fact that probably nothing has been done in that area meaningfully since the program was initiated. I guess you will be having consultants. Is that right? Mr. ELISBURG. Yes. We would probably do most of the study through contract purposes, but I would certainly be pleased to furnish the committee with whatever data we have.

[The material referred to follows:]

VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION RFP

An RFP (request for proposal) focusing on vocational rehabilitation under FECA is presently undergoing preliminary review within the Employment Standards Administration. This RFP will require a thorough review and analysis of the current vocational rehabilitation system under FECA and will provide specific recommendations for improvement. Three major areas will be focused upon: Early referral, relevant and effective training, and successful placement. An early referral system will be developed by the contractor drawing upon contemporary research in the area and vocational rehabilitation systems under other workers' compensation programs. The relevance and effectiveness of the training utilized by FECA rehabilitation counselors will be thoroughly reviewed and analyzed, and specific recommendations for improvement will be required. Finally, the placement function will also be thoroughly reviewed and analyzed, and specific recommendations for improvement will be required.

The recommendations and suggestions resulting from the study will be evaluated by ESA staff and then, if warranted, tested on a limited basis in a pilot study using the rehabilitation staff in one or two district offices and comparing the results with those from other district offices over a specified period of time.