The Colorado Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) helps people with disabilities find work, succeed at work, and live independently. However, DVR providers, who assist in job placement and development, say they have been experiencing operational issue with the agency for months.Brenda Mosby is a DVR provider based in Denver. She is legally blind, and years after losing her sight, she turned to Colorado DVR for help as a client.When I started at DVR, they hired a mobility instructor to teach me how to travel around the city," Mosby said. I learned how to ride the bus, how to ride the train, how to cross the street safely. They also taught me how to use a computer."DVR also helped Mosby with higher education. She graduated from Metro State University, then received her master's degree in rehabilitation counseling from NYU. From there, she founded Mosby Services, allowing her to help people with disabilities succeed in the workforce just like DVR did for her.For years, Mosby had a positive experience as a DVR provider. That changed in October 2025, when she says client authorizations by DVR came to a stand-still.Before October, we would get a referral from the [DVR] counselor. If that individual decided they wanted to work with our agency, the client, myself, we would let the counselor know we want to start working together. So within a day or two we would get an authorization," Mosby said. I was working with about three to five people a month, and as of today, zero.The federal government shutdown started in October and paused federal funding. According to Colorado DVR's data, it receives nearly 80% of its funding from the federal government.Kim Erickson is a client assistance program coordinator with Disability Law Colorado. She says DVR clients are coming to her with complaints of services being delayed, terminated, or not authorized by DVR.I think that DVR has experienced a significant increase of people who are coming to them for services," Erickson said. "Its contributing, and then the government shutdown, and they did not have much for carryover funds from the previous year. It just kind of piled on, one problem after another.Mountain Employment Training in Colorado Springs is completely funded by DVR. Owner and operator Inga Carland says she also saw a shift in authorizations and communication in October.To get an authorization from DVR, it used to take one to two business days if it was appropriate and met all of the policy requirements," Carland said. "Now were looking at two, three weeks plus. I have over 20 clients that havent gotten an authorization since October.In a December meeting between DVR leaders and providers, DVR addressed an expected $2.5 million funding deficit this year and a $20 million deficit by 2029. To address this, cost containment strategies within the agency began on January 1st. This includes additional levels of authorization, providing services internally when possible, and exploring comparable services.We have the capacity to serve about 100 clients right now," Carland said. "We only have 49 currently enrolled. Of that 49, were only authorized to work with 13.Colorado DVR twice declined News5's request to be interview. Instead, they shared this statement: Our Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) is preparing to implement a waitlist as a result of the unprecedented demand for services as more people with disabilities continue to enter the labor force. While demand continues to grow, our resources remain fixed. The waitlist will ensure we continue to be the best stewards of these fixed resources as possible. DVR continues to provide services to individuals with an approved plan for employment, accept applications and provide necessary assessment to determine eligibility and provide pre-employment transition services to students with disabilities. Eligible individuals will get access to VR services based on their disability priority by law, DVR must serve the people with the most significant disabilities first. We understand these measures could impact our vendor partners, and we deeply appreciate their ongoing partnership and patience. As our first priority is serving people with disabilities who desire to work, we are focusing on meeting their needs to the best of our ability under the law. <b>On Background</b>: In addition to the waitlist, DVR is taking other actions including: <ul><li>Restricting non-essential travel</li><li>Allowing only essential operating expenditures</li><li>Instituting a hiring freeze</li><li>Reviewing every authorization to ensure they are reasonable, appropriate and necessary to reach the individuals plan for employment goal.</li><li>Providing services internally when possible instead of contracting for them</li><li>Ongoing due diligence exploring comparable benefits</li></ul>Email Senior Reporter Meghan Glova at [email protected] Meghan Glova KOAA on Facebook.Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching. ...read more read less