Youth Services VR headset pilot deferred after lawmakers seek evaluation plan

The State Controlling Board on April 7 deferred item 44, a Department of Youth Services request to fund a pilot distributing virtual reality (VR) headsets to youth facilities under an existing Title I federal grant.

Steve Horenko, agency procurement officer for the Department of Youth Services, told the board the pilot is funded through Title I federal grant funds and described the program as a STEM-education pilot that could later expand to vocational education. Horenko said the funding “can be used for” VR headsets among other educational equipment and that the department envisions this as a pilot program to evaluate educational use.

Representative Stewart and other lawmakers asked how many headsets the department intended to purchase and how the department would evaluate outcomes. The transcript contains inconsistent statements about quantities: at one point a department speaker said “there's approximately this is, 60, headsets, for each 1 of our, facilities,” while later the department said “It is, 30 sets of 4. So 1 for each of our facilities and 1 for our central office to work and train.” Because the meeting record does not resolve that discrepancy, the exact number of headsets to be purchased is not specified in the board record presented at the meeting.

Lawmakers asked whether the federal funds are specifically earmarked for VR headsets; Horenko said the Title I funding can support various education equipment and personnel costs, not only headsets. Several board members asked the department to return with a plan showing how the agency will evaluate use and outcomes for the pilot. The department agreed and the board deferred the item for a future meeting so those follow-ups can be completed.

The controlling board took no approval action on item 44 at the April 7 meeting; the item will appear at a later date after the department provides the requested evaluation and clarifying details.