25 Anniversary logo
Join us in celebrating 25 years as an independent agency. On June 11, 1993, then Gov. David Walters signed Senate Bill 356, establishing the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services. Its passage was evidence of the state of Oklahoma’s commitment to provide more effective consumer responsive services for its citizens with disabilities. DRS was established to serve many of the major programs important to the disability community including Rehabilitation Services, Visual Services, Oklahoma School for the Blind, Oklahoma School for the Deaf and the Disability Determination Services.

School for the Blind to test white cane skills November 15 in Muskogee

Young man followed by a woman uses white cane travels on sidewalk

MUSKOGEE, Okla. – Oklahoma School for the Blind expects 32 young white cane users to compete in their sixth Oklahoma Regional Cane Quest on Thursday, November 15.

Cane Quest challenges students to use proper travel techniques and cane skills to complete routes in their communities.

The competition is a national program of the Braille Institute of America, based in Los Angeles, California.

Students from across Oklahoma will compete to earn points and win prizes.

Rehabilitation Services Commission selects executive director to lead disability agency

Smiling woman wearing glasses

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Commission for Rehabilitation Services appointed Melinda Fruendt as executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services on Monday (November 5).

Fruendt, who was briefly interim director, will lead more than 1,000 state employees who served 97,864 Oklahomans with disabilities in 2017.

Go back in time with us with this classic press release - meet Rob Hill



This media release was originally released on July 13, 2012. DRS has been empowering Oklahomans for 25 years.


Eligible for SSDI Tulsa man chose to work for 32 years

Hill walking up the street using a white cane.

TULSA, Okla. – “I don’t fly a plane. Although I may be driving before long,” Rob Hill said. While somewhat joking, the fact of the matter is Google has been test-driving the driverless car, which is perfect for Hill because he is completely blind.

This attitude of you-never-know is strong in Hill. He has the degenerative eye disease retinitis pigmentosa, which cost him his sight in 1973. However, he didn’t let that stop him from working full time for the last 32 years and doing community service and advocacy work for causes he strongly believes in.

Hill, 67 years old, retired on May 31, 2012 from 211 Helpline in the Community Service Council as a social worker in Tulsa. Along his path to retirement, Hill learned and experienced many things that a man with 20/20 vision wouldn’t have even dreamed of doing.

Pages