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This June marks the 100th anniversary of the first federally funded program to assist people with disabilities who had not acquired their disabilities as a result of serving in the military. President Woodrow Wilson signed the Smith-Fess Act of 1920, also known as the Industrial Rehabilitation Act and referred to as "The National Civilian Vocational Rehabilitation Act," into law June 2, 1920. The signing of this law acknowledged for the first time the need to assist persons with physical, mental, developmental, cognitive, and emotional disabilities to achieve their personal, career, and independent living goals.

To acknowledge the impact of the Smith-Fess Act on the nation's workforce, Gov. Jay Inslee issued a statewide proclamation proclaiming June as Vocational Rehabilitation 100th Anniversary Month, and specifically cited the work of Western's Rehabilitation Counseling program, which is ranked in the Top 20 nationally.

"Basically, this legislation 100 years ago extended rehabilitation counseling services to non-veterans and was the start of the profession that our students are entering upon graduation," said Beth Boland, professor and academic program director for Western's master's degree program in the Department of Health and Community Studies.

"The public Vocational Rehabilitation programs in Washington state mentioned in the proclamation, such as the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) and the Department of Service for the Blind (DSB), are some of the main employers of our students," said Boland. "They have also been good partners for recruiting new students into the program. In addition, as a requirement of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) scholarship grant that I administer, all scholars must complete at least half of their internship hours (a minimum of 300 hours) at either DVR or DSB."

To learn more about Western’s Rehabilitation Counseling graduate program, visit wwu.edu/rc, or read about a recent alumnus and his passion for the field.