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Vocational Rehabilitation requests $373,750 in state funds for campus repairs; seeks timeline to rebuild Upstate center
Summary
Commissioner Felicia Johnson told the Senate subcommittee VR seeks $373,750 in state funds (to be paired with federal funds) for two parking lot repavings and heat pump replacements at the West Columbia campus, and asked for a timeline to seek federal prior approval and rebuild the Upstate Holmesview treatment center destroyed by fire in 2016.
FELICIA JOHNSON, Commissioner of the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department, told the Senate Finance Committee Health and Human Services Subcommittee on March 19 that the agency is requesting $373,750 in state funds for three capital projects and will use federal funds for the balance.
Johnson described three projects on the West Columbia campus: two parking lot repaving projects (each estimated at $600,000 total, proposed to be split roughly 75% federal and 25% state with $150,000 state per lot) and replacement of 23 outdated heat pumps at a dorm building (project cost split of $73,750 state and $221,250 federal). The combined state request presented to the subcommittee was $373,750.
The comprehensive evaluation center on the campus serves individuals with physical disabilities in a roughly 20‑day assessment program; Johnson said the center served about 200 adult consumers last year and the adjacent state office building serves about 215 employees who park on the lots daily. A separate complex housing rehabilitation technology services, a learn center and other training facilities served more than 400 consumers last year and hosted 31 internal trainings with 2,157 participants, the commissioner said.
Johnson and staff also discussed Holmesview, the Upstate treatment facility that burned in 2016. Committee members requested a timeline for federal prior approval and the rebuild process; Johnson said the department has solicited letters of support and engaged a cost consultant and that prior federal approval is required before construction can proceed. The Florence replacement facility currently provides services for the Upstate; Johnson said Florence currently houses a 60‑bed facility, while the pre‑fire Greenville center had 48 beds and the department is exploring whether a new facility could match the Florence 60‑bed design.
Committee members asked for a timeline from application to completion; the department said it would provide a timeline and cost estimate after completing the cost consultant estimate and federal prior‑approval request. Johnson said steps include obtaining engineering/cost estimates, letters of support, and then submitting for federal prior approval; she noted federal rules changed to require prior approvals for some construction projects.
No votes or formal actions were taken at the hearing; Johnson said the department will follow up with the committee on prior‑approval timing and cost estimates.
