Julie Kates is the chief of the Bureau of Program Development and Assistance at the Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. She has both personal and professional ties to the IL movement. She has been involved in disability-rights advocacy for more than 30 years. As administrator of the Ohio and Florida Client Assistance Programs she helped people with disabilities access services from the states’ vocational rehabilitation programs. She served as Assistant Director for Public Policy at the Florida P&A, where she worked on legislative and other public policy issues that impacted people with disabilities. For 10 years, she managed Independent Living Program at Florida VR, and continues to supervise the IL Program Manager. She is an advocate for the IL philosophy and is deeply committed to ensuring that the philosophy is the foundation of the relationship between the DSE, the CILs and the SILC.
