The Vocational Rehabilitation System and the Vocational Rehabilitation Process

1
The Vocational Rehabilitation System and the
Vocational Rehabilitation Process

• Case Management (BCE 541)
• Dr. Dunn
• September 3, 2002

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THE REHABILITATION PROCESS

• Referral
• Application
• Eligibility Determination
• Planning
• Services
• Placement
• Follow-Up/Closure
• Post-Employment Services

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Referral

• An individual who may be eligible for services is
  brought to the attention of the agency.
• Referral Sources
• Self-Referral
• Schools
• Parents
• Hospitals
• Other Agencies

4
Application

• The potential consumer is contacted and completes
  an application
• Initial interviewing
• Gathering background information
• Informing an individual of their rights and
  responsibilities

5
Eligibility Determination

• Does person have a disability?
• Does the disability present an impediment to
  employment?
• Will VR services alleviate the impediment (or,
  can the person benefit from services?)

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Eligibility Determination Order of Selection

• In most states, persons with severe disabilities
  are placed in a priority status for delivery of
  services.
• Alabama doesnt do this.

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Eligibility Determination How it is done

• Documentation of a disability (medical or
  psychological report) and severity (functional
  limitations)
• Documentation of ability to benefit (review of
  background information or vocational assessment).

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Rehabilitation Planning

• Identify Vocational Goal
• That is what the person wants to do usually a
  job title.
• Identify the Services Necessary to Achieve the
  Goal
• Physical Restoration
• Counseling and Guidance
• Training
• Other Services

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Thinking about Services

• Three ways to do rehabilitation
• Services to change the job (job modification,
  accommodation)
• Services to improve or change the functional
  capacity of the individual (physical restoration,
  retraining)
• Doing both of these

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Other Characteristics of a Rehabilitation Plan

• Indicate a timeline
• Indicate the cost of services
• Indicate who will provide the services
• Indicate who is responsible for what

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Services

• The plan is put into motion.
• This is where a great many of the consumers in a
  counselors caseload are at.
• Not as much contact here you are monitoring,
  making sure things are done that need to be taken
  care of.
• Paying for services
• Similar Benefit Is there another program that
  can pay for the services without using VR
  dollars?
• Means testing Can the individual pay for some or
  all services themselves?

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What if things change?

• Modify the plan (if situations change).
• Or, less often,
• Terminate services (if consumer isnt keeping
  their end of the bargain).

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Ready for Employment

• Services are completed.
• The individual is ready to go begin doing the
  thing theyve been working toward (vocational
  goal).
• Commence with job placement.

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Placement

• Finding job opportunities and getting hired.
• You may begin to have much more contact with the
  consumer at this point.
• Job placement specialists (job developers)
  become involved.
• Placement is a highly individualized process.

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Person is hired and begins working--is that it?

• No. A case cannot be closed as successful until
  the consumer has been successfully employed for
  90 days.
• After these 90 days are over, the case can be
  Closed--Rehabilitated.

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Follow-Up and Closure

• Working with any problems during that 90-days of
  initial employment.
• May do satisfaction surveys, get follow-up, etc.
• Closure when 90 days of employment is completed.

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Post-Employment Services

• If circumstances change with the persons
  employment, the persons disability, etc., the
  case can be reopened for additional services.
• You write a post-employment services plan
  (usually less involved than the original plan).