From HarrietAnn Litwin, Delaware DVR (Delaware General):
I will send our policy.
Attachments: 1
From Jeff Haight, Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services:
C. Eligibility Requirements
The determination of eligibility for services can only be made by an IVRS vocational rehabilitation counselor and must be based on the following requirements:
A. The applicant has a physical or mental impairment;
1. Demonstrated by a stated diagnosis from an individual or entity licensed and qualified to provide the diagnosis; or
2. Demonstrated by the IVRS Coding Rubric as the result of a VR counselor analysis of existing information from a secondary institution.
B. The applicant’s impairment constitutes or results in a substantial impediment to employment for the applicant;
1. Demonstrated by the job candidate’s statements, family member statements, teacher statements, etc., regarding the impact the impairment causes the job candidate in preparing for, obtaining, maintain, regaining or advancing in employment;
1) A review of existing data, including counselor observations, educational records, information provided by the individual or individual’s family, information used by education officials, and determinations made by officials of other agencies;
2) A review of information obtained from experiences in the integrated employment setting(s) in the community and observations from supervisors, if applicable; and
3) A review of the documentation provided by the job candidate that demonstrates the applicant is a Social Security beneficiary due to his/her disability.
2. Demonstrated by medical records reporting impediments, applicant statements, and information received from family, supervisors, and others; or if necessary
3. Demonstrated by assessment information detailing the impediments and functional limitations.
C. The applicant demonstrates significant limitations in at least one of the functional impediment areas in terms of an employment outcome: communication, interpersonal skills, mobility, self-care, self-direction, work tolerance, and work skills.
1. Demonstrated by a justification detailing how the functional impediment(s) has significantly impacted the individual in pertinent vocational, educational, cultural, social, recreational and living environments.
D. The applicant requires vocational rehabilitation services to prepare for, secure, retain, advance in, or regain employment that is consistent with the individual’s unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice;
1. Demonstrated by the justification narrative authored by the VR counselor of record.
1) Description of the need for services, the anticipated expectation of how those services will remedy or significantly impact the impediments so that competitive integrated employment will be achievable; and if applicable
2) Relationship of additional assessment data to the individual’s employment journey.
E. For purposes of an assessment for determining eligibility and vocational rehabilitation needs, an applicant is presumed to have a goal of an employment outcome and is presumed to be able to benefit.
F. Any applicant who has been determined eligible due to his/her disability, and is in immediate risk of losing the job due to the disability, and is determined to be in a category not currently being served, may only receive the services or goods needed to maintain the job.
1. The job must be in a competitive integrated setting. If services are needed for other purposes, they may not be delivered and the applicant must wait until his/her name is removed from a waiting list category and placed into active service. This means that if the individual needs services that are not directly tied to maintaining current employment, the individual’s ability to receive those services from the VR program depends on the individual’s placement on the waiting list.
2. Immediate need means that the individual would almost certainly lose his/her current job if not provided specific services or equipment in the very near future that would enable him/her to retain that employment.
3. Immediate risk of losing the job due to the disability does not include economic conditions and non-disability related factors.
G. Any applicant who has been determined eligible for Social Security benefits (SSI or SSDI) based upon their personal disability is presumed eligible and considered to be an individual with a significant disability. Any individual who self-identifies as a recipient of SSA benefits, the applicant or VR staff shall:
1. Produce appropriate evidence, such as an award letter, to support that assertion; or
2. Verifies the applicant’s eligibility by contacting the Social Security Administration.
i. Such verification must be made within a reasonable timeframe such that IVRS determines eligibility for services within 60 calendar days of the date the individual submitted an application for services.
ii. Such verification may be documented in a narrative case note stating the date the contact was made, the SSA employee who verified the benefit, the benefit type (SSI or SSDI due to having a disability qualifies) and the amount of the benefit.
H. Any eligible individual must intend to achieve an employment outcome that is consistent with informed choice;
1. The applicant’s completion of the application process for VR services is sufficient evidence of the individual’s intent to achieve an employment outcome, and no additional documentation on the part of the applicant is required, other than their participation and follow-through with goals and activities.
I. Nothing in this section, or subsequent sections, concerning service provision is to be construed to create an entitlement to any vocational rehabilitation service or support.
D. Priority for Service Requirements
When IVRS is unable to serve all job candidates that apply for services due to financial limitations, then applicants are placed on one of three waiting lists. The priority for services as required by WIOA specifically requires that a State must first serve all “Most Significantly Disabled” before serving those applicants determined to be “Significantly Disabled”. Only after those categories are served may those who are considered “Other’s Eligible” receive services. Individuals with disabilities who do not meet the categories served are referred to organizations such as Iowa Workforce Development, Iowa Student Aid Commission, Department of Human Services, Disability Rights Iowa, etc. The following requirements for determining placement on the waiting list must be met to identify which waiting list placement an individual is assigned:
1. Most Significantly Disabled (MSD): means individuals who have three or more serious impediments to employment; and whose vocational rehabilitation can be expected to require multiple services over an extended period of time (defined as more than six months);
2. Significantly Disabled (SD): means individuals who have two or less serious impediments to employment; and whose vocational rehabilitation can be expected to require multiple services over an extended period of time.
3. Other’s Eligible (OE): means individuals who do not require multiple services over an extended period of time, and who have a significant, but not serious, impediment to employment. A person may be “other’s eligible” even if he/she only requires one service for employment.
1. Job Retention: means individuals who were determined eligible and placed in a waiting list category not being served, who are at immediate risk of losing their job due to their disability and require VR services in order to maintain employment. These individuals may move directly into active status and bypass the waiting list only for those services that will allow them to maintain employment. After having received said service(s) or good(s), the job retention eligible individual may return to the waiting list until that point where his/her priority of service is being served if additional services not related to the job retention are requested.
1. The counselor has a conversation with the job candidate, identifying the work performance problems the individual is having on the job. The IVRS counselor’s analysis of the work performance issues in relationship to the disability and what is needed for job retention provide the justification for eligibility and moving directly into service, regardless of the number of serious impediments. IVRS may request documentation from the employer identifying the work performance problems the individual is having on the job.
2. When the goods and services that are required to maintain employment have been delivered and the job is stable, the job candidate may return to the waiting list for additional services needed but not required to retain current employment. No additional services are delivered while the job candidate is on the waiting list. When the case is able to be moved from the waiting list to an “in service” status, the case moves directly into status 14-0 because the plan will need to be amended since the first IPE was completed with job retention. The IPE must be amended within one month of being moved into status 14-0. The amendment should review:
a. The IPE goal and make necessary revisions;
b. The timeframes to complete the goal;
c. The methods to review the case progress;
d. The entities responsible for paying and providing the services;
e. The financial obligations of the job candidate to complete the goal;
f. Review and establish the comprehensive annual review date; and
g. The additional ancillary services and supports needed.
3. If the individual requires no further services, the file is closed successfully.
E. Timeframes
See timeframes in the Status 02-0/Potentially Eligible section of this manual.
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F. Exceptions
None.
STATUS 04-0 AND STATUS 10-_: ACCEPTED FOR SERVICES, DOES NOT MEET SEVERITY CATEGORY BEING SERVED
A. Definition
“Individual with a disability” means an individual: (i) Who has a physical or mental impairment as identified by the RSA Coding; (ii) Whose impairment constitutes or results in a substantial impediment to employment; and (iii) Who can benefit in terms of an employment outcome from vocational rehabilitation services.” (34 CFR 361.5(c) (27))
All applicants with an impairment which constitutes or results in a substantial impediment to employment are presumed to be able to benefit. Standards for eligibility are found in the eligibility section of this manual.
The following fields must be entered and approved in IRSS:
1. RSA Disability Coding
a. Primary & Secondary Disabilities required (listed separately in IRSS)
1. Primary and Secondary Impairments
2. Primary and Secondary Causes
2. Presumptive Eligibility (if applicable)
3. Priority for Service Category
B. Analysis of Eligibility
The determination of eligibility requires that a qualified rehabilitation professional employed by IVRS perform a comprehensive analysis of the disabling conditions, impediments to employment, and justification of why the individual requires services from IVRS to be successfully employed. As such an eligibility justification is a process for the rehabilitation counselor to learn about the individual’s presenting disability and gain understanding of the implications. Through a process of analysis the rehabilitation counselor must consider the impact of the disabling conditions upon the person’s ability to work, and then synthesize the information to determine if the individual can be successful with IVRS simply providing technical assistance and consultation to existing systems or if the individual requires intensive services to be successful in employment.
Rehabilitation counselors consider the seven functional capacity areas for employment; if there are systems, organizations, laws, and supports that already exist for the individual to access for success; and the seriousness of the impediment that requires the intensive services from IVRS. The following are examples of when the impediment is considered serious but is not an all-inclusive list:
1. Mobility: Unable to drive without modifications or specialized training; unable to ambulate without adaptive equipment or personal assistance; unable to climb one flight of stairs or walk 100 yards without pause on a permanent basis; unable to drive due to a physical impairment; unable to access public transportation due to a physical impairment.
2. Self-Care: Unable to live without supervision impacting one’s ability to obtain or maintain employment; unable to plan activities of daily living without personal assistance or rehabilitation technology as required for employment; unable to perform activities of daily living without personal assistance or rehabilitation technology as required for employment; requires an extended period of time beyond the norm to prepare oneself for work due to physical or emotional impairments; requires assistive technology to perform essential daily living skills.
3. Self-Direction: Unable to adjust to new work conditions, new work routines, or new work expectations without personal assistance, specialized training, or an extended transition period; unable to concentrate on the job for minimal periods of time in order to make appropriate work-related decisions, to problem-solve effectively on the job, and/or to complete multi-step work tasks without being easily distracted as a result of the disabling condition or medications prescribed that treat the condition; unable to make routine decisions that would affect work tasks and work performance without structured intervention, personal assistance or specialized training; unable to learn from the consequences of poor decision-making on the job which results in repeated job loss for long periods of unemployment.
4. Work Skills: Unable to learn new work tasks, learn appropriate work behaviors and skills, and/or organize work functions on the job without direct intervention or specialized training; unable to utilize previous job training and skills because of disability-related impediments and retraining that is required; will require rehabilitation technology on a permanent basis in order to perform/resume job skills; requires compensatory strategies, created by a third party, such as visual cues, illustrations, color-coding, numbering, etc., in order to complete work tasks.
5. Work Tolerance: Unable to perform sustained work activity for two or more hours without rest on a permanent basis beyond what is allowed for a regular work shift; requires a permanently modified work schedule or work environment for disability-related needs; unable to perform job tasks that require repetitive motion without modifications to the work environment in order to maintain employment; cannot work around chemicals, dust or fumes without having a serious reaction; unable to work around environment extremes such as temperature changes, noise or visual stimuli without aggravating the disability and causing a reduction in stamina; unable to demonstrate the psychological stamina to work a full-time job due to the disability.
6. Interpersonal Skills: Unable to establish or maintain appropriate interactions with co-workers and supervisors without specialized training and/or personal assistance; unable to establish or maintain appropriate interactions with co-workers and supervisors without prescribed medication; unable to maintain current or future employment due to a documented history of job loss resulting from on-the-job interpersonal problems; demonstrates a serious lack in maintaining appropriate eye contact, understanding visual cues and personal work space to the point it creates discomfort on the part of the person with whom the interaction occurs.
7. Communication: Unable to perform/understand written communications in the workplace without accommodation or interventions; unable to perform/understand oral communication in the workplace without accommodations or interventions; unable to perform functional communications required for completing job applications and participating in interviews without accommodations or interventions; unable to speak or understand individuals without accommodations or interventions; demonstrates job loss due to failure to communicate effectively, which caused misunderstandings and extreme difficulty in the work environment.
C. Scope of Services
The eligibility of an individual for vocational rehabilitation services is based on:
A. The individual being an individual with a disability, as defined above; and
B. The individual requiring vocational rehabilitation services to prepare for, enter, engage in, retain or advance in gainful employment.
Any applicant who has been determined eligible due to his/her disability, is in immediate risk of losing the job due to the disability, and is determined to be in a category not currently being served, may only receive the services or goods needed to maintain the job.
a. The job must be in a competitive integrated setting. If services are needed for other purposes, they may not be delivered and the applicant must wait until his/her name is removed from a waiting list category and placed into active service. This means that if the individual needs services that are not directly tied to maintaining current employment, the individual’s ability to receive those services from the VR program depends on the individual’s placement on the waiting list.
b. Immediate need means that the individual would almost certainly lose his/her current job if not provided specific services or equipment in the very near future that would enable him/her to retain that employment.
c. Immediate risk of losing the job due to the disability does not include economic conditions and non-disability related factors.
Individuals receiving SSDI or SSI are presumed to be eligible.
D. Agency Expectations
a. If the applicant is a recipient of SSI or SSDI, verification of that status from the Social Security Administration is needed. Verification may be received through:
a. Telephone verification with the local Social Security office that the applicant is a recipient due to their own disability. The contact person’s name is documented in an R-413 case note.
b. A letter or other correspondence provided by the job candidate that documents his/her receipt of a disability benefit. A copy of the letter or correspondence is retained in the case file.
c. Verification of a disability benefit that is printed and retained in the case file from the applicant’s online Social Security account.
d. Records received from the SSA from a signed SSA Release of Information verifying a disability benefit.
b. In cases where the individual is at immediate risk of losing the job, documentation must be obtained from the employer of record demonstrating the job candidate is at immediate risk due to a disability and not other factors (i.e. economic downturn).
c. In all cases check to be sure that there is either:
a. Information in medical reports comparable to a current general systems review;
b. A completed IVRS Health Assessment Questionnaire;
c. The report of a purchased general history and physical exam; or
d. Documentation that the individual is an SSI or SSDI recipient.
d. Additional assessments for purposes of determining the proper waiting list placement can be done in Status 04-0.
e. Eligibility determination:
a. If the job candidate meets the eligibility criteria, complete the R-413 Face Sheet:
i. Check the “Does” box indicating that the individual has a physical or mental impairment that results in a substantial impediment to employment (R-413 Face Sheet, Eligibility item C.1);
ii. Check the “Does” box indicating that the individual requires vocational rehabilitation services to prepare for, enter, engage in, or retain gainful employment (R-413 Face Sheet, Eligibility item C.2);
iii. List each impairment, the applicable code, the date of the report, and the name of the source, who provided the information for coding, or the name of the treatment facility, or agency. On SSDI and SSI recipients where medical material is not available, use the verification method and date. (R-413 Face Sheet, Eligibility item D.);
iv. Check “is” under ELIGIBILITY;
v. Counselor must sign and date the Certification of Eligibility on the Face Sheet. This date must be the same or earlier than the IPE-2 which outlines the first vocational goal and plan of services;
vi. Complete the Significance of Disability section of the form. If the individual is a recipient of SSDI or SSI, that item is checked and the person is automatically considered SD. If the counselor believes the individual to be MSD, the areas in which there are three or more serious limitations must be shown on the back of the form;
vii. If not an SSDI or SSI recipient, the two criteria under item B must be answered in the affirmative. The functional capacities in which serious limitations have been found are indicated on the back of the form which can be completed in conjunction with side 2 of the Health Assessment Questionnaire;
viii. If it is determined the individual meets the criteria of B.1 and B.2, “Yes” should be checked and the date certified. If one of the two criteria is not met, check “No”;
ix. If serious limitations are shown in three or more functional capacities, the individual is considered to be Most Significantly Disabled. Enter the date of that determination on the line in item C;
x. An individual may be determined to be SD or MSD at any time after eligibility is determined. Once determined to be SD or MSD, an individual’s classification is never downgraded during the time that the file is open. If the case has been upgraded to a higher category served, the priority category is initialed and dated.
f. The counselor must make a narrative entry in the R-413 section of the case file. The narrative analyzes and describes how the disability results in limitations and impediments to employment. The counselor provides a justification through this analysis by connecting this information to the rehabilitation services that are necessary in order for the individual to benefit in terms of employment.
g. Individuals who are determined eligible for services (Status 04-0) but are placed on the waiting list can receive Information and Referral services. At the time of eligibility determination individuals will be advised of and offered services under Information and Referral:
a. Individuals can be referred to other Federal and State programs, including programs carried out by other entities in the statewide workforce investment system. The program the individual is being referred to should be notified that the referral is being made. The individual should be provided a specific contact point within the agency to which they are being referred and information and guidance regarding the most suitable services to assist the individual to reach employment.
b. An agency representative may participate with an IEP Team in providing general guidance to the planning team for a student. If this is done before the case file is opened it is considered technical assistance. If it is done while the student is on the waiting list, it is considered Information and Referral. No special resources (money or staff time) may be provided to job candidates on the waiting list.
c. The agency representative may participate in the staffing of a waiting list job candidate if they are already in the building to serve non-waiting list job candidates. Comprehensive planning may only be provided to an eligible individual who is off the waiting list.
h. Limitation of Services for Job Candidates on IVRS Waiting List:
a. If the job candidate had received pre-employment transition services prior to being determined eligible for services, the job candidate may continue to receive pre-employment transition services either individually or in group setting.
b. If the job candidate had not received pre-employment transition services prior to being determined eligible for services, the job candidate may only receive pre-employment transition services that are provided to groups of students. No individualized pre-employment transition services may be provided to a job candidate who had not received them prior to eligibility.
a. No programs will be specifically created by IVRS for this group of individuals.
b. No purchase of services will be allowed while on a waiting list unless it is interpreter or personal attendant services to allow the individual to communicate with IVRS and participate in assessment activities that may increase his/her priority of services category.
c. No participation in an IVRS job club or JSST program is allowed; however, if a class is being provided and a waiting list job candidate desires to sit in and there is room, then the job candidate may participate but no materials or specialized instruction is allowed because these are training programs. However if there are not enough job candidates available to have a class, the class is not conducted just so waiting list job candidates can attend.
c. Job candidates in Status 04-0 are allowed to attend the Iowa Self Employment Orientation for information purposes only.
*NOTE: CASES IN STATUS 04-0 DO NOT PROCEED BEYOND THIS POINT until they come off the waiting list, meet the standard for job retention or are closed. If the individual moves to an area covered by another office, the file should be transferred to that office. Cases closed from Status 04-0 are closed in Status 38-0.
