For the purpose of this chapter, the indicated terms are
defined as follows:
"Act" means the federal Rehabilitation Act
of 1973 as amended and codified at
29 U.S.C. Section
701, et seq.
"Aggregate data" means information about one
or more aspects of division job candidates, or from some specific subgroup of
division job candidates, but from which personally identifiable information on
any individual cannot be discerned.
"Applicant" means an individual or the
individual's representative, as appropriate, who has completed the IVRS
Application for Services (R-412), a common intake application form through a
one-stop center requesting IVRS services, or has otherwise requested services
from IVRS; has provided to IVRS information necessary to initiate an assessment
to determine eligibility and priority for services; is available to complete
the assessment process; and has reviewed and signed the Rights and
Responsibilities (IPE-1).
"Appropriate modes of communication" means
specialized aids and supports that enable an individual with a disability to
comprehend and respond to information that is being communicated.
"Assessment for determining eligibility or in the
development of an IPE" means a review of existing data and, to the
extent necessary, the provision of appropriate assessment activities to obtain
additional information to make a determination and to assign the priority for
services or development of an IPE.
"Assistive technology device" means the same
as defined in Section 3 of the Assistive Technology Act of 1998, as
amended.
"Assistive technology service" means the
same as defined in Section 3 of the Assistive Technology Act of 1998, as
amended.
"Benefits planning" means assistance
provided to an individual who is interested in becoming employed, but is
uncertain of the impact work income may have on any disability benefits and
entitlements being received, and is or is not aware of benefits, such as access
to health care, that might be available to support employment efforts.
"Case record" means the file of personally
identifiable information, whether written or electronic in form, on an
individual that is collected to carry out the purposes of the division as
defined in the Act. This information remains a part of the case record and is
subject to these rules even when temporarily physically removed, either in
whole or in part, from the file folder in which it is normally kept.
"Community rehabilitation program"
or"CRP" means an approved program (agency, organization, or
institution, or unit of any one of these, that provides directly or facilitates
the provision of vocational rehabilitation services as one of its major
functions) that provides directly or facilitates the provision of one or more
of the following vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with
disabilities to enable those individuals to maximize their opportunities for
employment, including career advancement:
1. Medical, psychiatric, psychological, social, and
vocational services that are provided under one management.
2. Testing, fitting, or training in the use of prosthetic and
orthotic devices.
3. Recreational therapy.
4. Speech, language and hearing therapy.
5. Psychiatric, psychological, and social services, including
positive behavior management.
6. Assessment for determining eligibility and vocational
rehabilitation needs.
7. Rehabilitation technology.
8. Job development, placement, and retention services.
9. Evaluation or control of specific disabilities.
10. Orientation and mobility services for individuals who are
blind.
11. Extended employment.
12. Psychosocial rehabilitation services.
13. Supported employment services and extended
services.
14. Customized employment.
15. Services to family members if necessary to enable the
applicant to achieve an employment outcome.
16. Personal assistance services.
17. Other similar services.
"Comparable services and benefits" means
services and benefits including accommodations and auxiliary aids and services
that are provided or paid for in whole or in part by other federal, state, or
local public agencies, by health insurance or by employee benefits; are
available to the individual at the time needed to ensure the individual's
progress toward achieving an employment outcome in accordance with the
individual's IPE; and are commensurate to the services that the individual
would otherwise receive from the division. For purposes of this definition,
comparable benefits do not include educational awards and scholarships based on
merit.
"Competitive integrated employment" means
work in the competitive labor market that:
1. Is performed on a full-time or part-time basis, including
self-employment, in an integrated setting and for which the job candidate is
compensated at a rate that:
* Shall not be less than the higher of the rate specified in
Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 or the rate specified
in the applicable state or local minimum wage law;
* Is not less than the customary rate paid by the employer
for the same or similar work performed by other employees who are not
individuals with disabilities and who are similarly situated in similar
occupations by the same employer and who have similar training, experience, and
skills;
* Is eligible for the level of benefits provided to other
employees; and
* A self-employed individual with a disability in the
start-up phase of a business venture who is making less than the applicable
minimum wage can meet the definition of "competitive integrated
employment."
2. Is at a location where the employee interacts for the
purpose of performing the duties of the position with other employees within
the particular work unit and the entire work site, and, as appropriate to the
work performed, other persons (e.g., customers and vendors) who are not
individuals with disabilities (not including supervisory personnel or
individuals providing services to such employee) to the same extent that
individuals who are not individuals with disabilities and who are in comparable
positions interact with other persons; and
3. As appropriate, presents opportunities for advancement
that are similar to those for other employees who are not individuals with
disabilities who have similar positions.
"Competitive integrated work setting," with
respect to the provision of services, means a setting, typically found in the
community, in which applicants or eligible individuals interact with
nondisabled individuals, other than nondisabled individuals who are providing
services to those applicants or eligible individuals, and said interaction is
consistent with the quality of interaction that would normally occur in the
performance of work by the nondisabled coworkers.
"Customized employment" means competitive
integrated employment, for an individual with a significant disability, that is
based on an individualized determination of the unique strengths, needs, and
interests of the individual with a significant disability; is designed to meet
the specific abilities of the individual with a disability and the business
needs of the employer; and is carried out through flexible strategies.
"Department" means the department of
education.
"Designated representative" means any
representative chosen by an applicant or eligible individual, as appropriate,
including a parent, guardian, other family member, or advocate, unless a
representative has been appointed by a court to represent the individual, in
which case the court-appointed representative is the designated
representative.
"Designated state unit"
or"DSU" means Iowa vocational rehabilitation services.
"Division" or"IVRS" means
Iowa vocational rehabilitation services.
"Eligible individual" means an applicant for
services from the division who meets the eligibility requirements.
"Employment outcome" means, with respect to
an individual, entering, advancing in, or retraining full-time or, if
appropriate, part-time competitive integrated employment; supported employment;
or any other type of employment, including customized employment,
self-employment, telecommuting, or business ownership, that is consistent with
an individual's strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities,
capabilities, interests and informed choice.
"Extended employment" means work in a
nonintegrated or sheltered setting for a public or private nonprofit agency or
organization that provides compensation in accordance with the Fair Labor
Standards Act.
"Extended services" means ongoing support
services and other appropriate services that are needed to support and maintain
an individual with a most significant disability in supported employment and
that are:
1. Provided singly or in combination and are organized and
made available in such a way as to assist an eligible individual in maintaining
supported employment;
2. Organized or made available singly or in combination with
other services to assist an eligible individual in maintaining supported
employment;
3. Based on a determination of the needs of an eligible
individual, as specified in the individual's IPE;
4. Provided by an appropriate source after an individual has
made the transition from support provided by the DSU; and
5. Provided to a youth with a most significant disability by
the DSU for a period not to exceed four years, or at such a time that a youth
reaches age 25 and no longer meets the definition of a youth with a disability,
whichever occurs first. The DSU may not provide extended services to an
individual with a most significant disability who is not a youth with a most
significant disability.
"Family income," for purposes of calculating
the financial participation rate for services, means those who are financially
responsible for the support of the job candidate and may involve individuals
who live in the same or separate households including partners and
spouses.
"Family member," for purposes of vocational
rehabilitation services, means any individual who lives with the individual
with a disability and has a vested interest in the welfare of that individual
whether by marriage, birth, or choice. A family member is an individual who
either (1) is a relative or guardian of an applicant or job candidate, or (2)
lives in the same household as an applicant or job candidate, who has a
substantial interest in the well-being of the applicant or job candidate, and
whose receipt of vocational rehabilitation services is necessary to enable the
applicant or job candidate to achieve an employment outcome.
"IDEA" means the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section
1400 et seq.).
"Impartial hearing officer"
or"IHO" means an individual who:
1. Is not an employee of a public agency (other than an
administrative law judge, hearing examiner, or employee of an institution of
higher education);
2. Is not a member of the state rehabilitation council for
the designated state unit;
3. Has not been involved previously in the vocational
rehabilitation of the applicant or recipient of services;
4. Has knowledge of the delivery of vocational rehabilitation
services, the vocational rehabilitation services portion of the unified or
combined state plan, and the federal and state regulations governing the
provision of services;
5. Has received training with respect to the performance of
official duties; and
6. Has no personal, professional, or financial interest that
could affect the objectivity of the individual.
An individual is not considered to be an employee of a public
agency for the purposes of this definition solely because the individual is
paid by the agency to serve as a hearing officer.
"Independent living services" or"IL
services" means services authorized under Title VII, chapter 1, part B
of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.
"Individualized plan for employment"
or"IPE" means a plan that specifies the services needed by an
eligible individual and the responsibilities of the individual with a
disability and other payers. An IPE includes specifics regarding the services
needed to lead toward competitive integrated employment, including the
following provisions:
1. Includes a description of the specific employment outcome
that is chosen by the eligible individual and is consistent with the
individual's unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities,
capabilities, career interests, and informed choices consistent with the
general goal of competitive integrated employment (except that in the case of
an eligible individual who is a student or a youth with a disability, the
description may be of the individual's projected postschool employment
outcome);
2. Includes a description of the specific rehabilitation
services needed to achieve the employment outcome and for a student or youth
with a disability, the specific transition services and supports needed to
achieve the individual's employment outcome or projected postschool employment
outcome;
3. Provides for services in the most integrated setting that
is appropriate for the services involved and is consistent with the informed
choice of the eligible individual;
4. Includes timelines for the achievement of the employment
outcome and initiation of services;
5. Includes a description of the entity or entities chosen by
the eligible individual or, as appropriate, the individual's representative
that will provide the vocational rehabilitation services and the methods used
to procure those services;
6. Includes a description of the criteria that will be used
to evaluate the progress toward achievement of the employment outcome;
and
7. Includes the terms and conditions for the IPE, including,
as appropriate, information describing the responsibilities of the DSU; the
responsibilities of the eligible individual in relation to achieving the
employment outcome and extent of financial participation (if applicable) as
outlined in subrule 56.6(5), as well as the responsibility of the individual to
apply for and secure comparable benefits and services; and the responsibilities
of other entities as the result of arrangements made pursuant to the comparable
benefits and services requirements.
"Individual with a disability" means an
individual who has a physical or mental impairment, whose impairment
constitutes a substantial impediment to employment, and who can benefit in
terms of an employment outcome from the provision of vocational rehabilitation
services.
"Individual with a most significant
disability" means an individual who is seriously limited in three or
more functional capacities (such as mobility, communication, self-care,
self-direction, interpersonal skills, work tolerance, or work skills) in terms
of an employment outcome.
"Individual with a significant disability"
means an individual who has a significant physical or mental impairment that
seriously limits one or more functional capacities (such as mobility,
communication, self-care, self-direction, interpersonal skills, work tolerance,
or work skills) in terms of an employment outcome or who is a recipient of
SSDI, SSI, or both due to the individual's disability.
"Institution of higher education"
or"IHE" means the same as defined in Section 102(a) of the
Higher Education Act of 1965.
"Job candidate" means an applicant or
eligible individual applying for or receiving benefits or services from any
part of the division and shall include former job candidates of the division
whose files or records are retained by the division.
"Job retention waiting list release" means
the mechanism used to remove a job candidate from the division waiting list
when the individual is at immediate risk of losing the job and requires
vocational rehabilitation service(s) or good(s) in order to maintain
employment. This applies only for those service(s) or good(s) that will allow
the individual to maintain employment. After the individual receives said
service(s) or good(s), the individual's file will be closed if the individual
is satisfied with the services provided and requires no further services. If
there are additional services needed, the individual will return to the waiting
list, if necessary, until that point where the individual's priority of service
is being served.
"Maintenance" means monetary support
provided to a job candidate for expenses, such as food, shelter, and clothing,
that are in excess of the normal expenses of the job candidate and that are
necessitated by the job candidate's participation in an assessment for
determining eligibility and vocational rehabilitation needs or the job
candidate's receipt of vocational rehabilitation services under an IPE.
"Mediation" means the act or process of
using an independent third party to act as a mediator, intermediary, or
conciliator to assist persons or parties in settling differences or disputes
prior to pursuing formal administrative or other legal remedies.
"Menu of services" means the services
provided by community partners to assist an individual with a disability in
achieving an employment outcome. Menu of services refers to various services
that the division is able to purchase from an approved CRP or other approved
provider on behalf of a job candidate. The services are selected and jointly
agreed upon by the counselor and job candidate of the division. Payments for
services are made based on a fee structure that is published and updated
annually, and there is no financial needs assessment applied toward the costs
of these purchased services from the community partner.
"Ongoing support services" means services
that are written in the IPE; are needed to support and maintain individuals
with the most significant disabilities in supported employment; are provided by
the division from the time of job placement until transition to extended
services, unless postemployment services are provided following transition, and
thereafter by one or more extended services providers throughout the
individual's term of employment in a particular job placement; are provided, at
a minimum, twice monthly to make an assessment regarding the employment
situation at the work site and coordinate provision of specific intensive
services needed to maintain stability; are provided by skilled job trainers who
accompany the individual for intensive job skill training at the work site;
include social skills training, assessment and evaluation of progress, job
development and retention, placement services, and follow-up services with the
business and the individual's representatives; and facilitate development of
natural supports or any other service(s) needed to maintain employment.
"Personal assistance services" means a range
of services provided by one or more persons, including, among other things,
training in managing, supervising, and directing personal assistance services,
that are designed to assist an individual with a disability to perform, on or
off the job, daily living activities that the individual would typically
perform without assistance if the individual did not have a disability. Such
services shall be designed to increase the individual's control in life and
ability to perform everyday activities on or off the job, necessary to the
achievement of an employment outcome, and provided only while the individual is
receiving other vocational rehabilitation services.
"Physical or mental impairment"
includes:
1. Any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic
disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body
systems: neurological, musculoskeletal, special sense organs, respiratory
(including speech organs), cardiovascular, reproductive, digestive,
genitourinary, hemic and lymphatic, skin, or endocrine; or
2. Any mental or psychological disorder such as an
intellectual disability, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness,
or specific learning disabilities.
"Physical or mental restoration services"
means:
1. Corrective surgery or therapeutic treatment that is
likely, within a reasonable period of time, to correct or modify substantially
a stable or slowly progressive physical or mental impairment that constitutes a
substantial impediment to employment;
2. Diagnosis and treatment of a physical, mental or cognitive
disorder by qualified personnel in accordance with state licensure laws to
include:
* Dentistry;
* Nursing services;
* Necessary hospitalization (either inpatient or outpatient)
in connection with surgery or treatment and clinical services;
* Drugs and supplies;
* Prosthetic and orthotic devices;
* Eyeglasses and visual services, including visual training,
and the examination and services necessary for the prescription and provision
of eyeglasses, contact lenses, microscopic lenses, telescope lenses, and other
special visual aids prescribed by personnel who are qualified in accordance
with state licensure laws;
* Podiatry;
* Physical therapy;
* Occupational therapy;
* Speech or hearing therapy;
* Mental health services;
* Treatment of either acute or chronic medical complications
and emergencies that are associated with or arise out of the provision of
physical or mental restoration services, or that are inherent in the condition
under treatment;
* Special services for the treatment of individuals with
end-stage renal disease, including transplantation, dialysis, artificial
kidneys, and supplies; and
* Other medical or medically related rehabilitation
services.
"Plan for natural supports" means a plan
initiated prior to the implementation of the supported employment program that
describes the natural supports to be used on the job; the training provided to
the supervisor and mentor on the job site; the technology used in the
performance of the work; the rehabilitation strategies and trainings that will
be taught to the mentor in order to support and direct the job candidate on the
job; the supports needed outside of work for the job candidate to be
successful; and the methods by which the employer can connect with the job
candidate's job coach/IVRS staff member, or the training program when the need
arises.
"Postemployment services" means one or more
services that are intended to ensure that the employment outcome remains
consistent with the individual's unique strengths, resources, priorities,
concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice. These
services are available to meet the rehabilitation needs that do not require a
complex and comprehensive provision of services and, thus, are limited in scope
and duration.
"Potentially eligible" for the purposes of
preemployment transition services means all students with disabilities. A
student is considered potentially eligible until the student has applied for
services and an eligibility decision has been determined.
"Preemployment transition services"
or"pre-ETS" means those services specified in
34
CFR Section
361.48(a).
"Recognized educational program" includes
secondary education programs, nontraditional or alternative secondary education
programs (including homeschooling), postsecondary education programs, and other
recognized educational programs such as those offered through the juvenile
justice system.
"Rehabilitation technology" means the
systematic application of technologies, engineering methodologies, or
scientific principles to meet the needs of, and address the barriers confronted
by, individuals with disabilities in areas that include education,
rehabilitation, employment, transportation, independent living, and recreation.
The term includes rehabilitation engineering, assistive technology devices, and
assistive technology services.
"Satisfactory employment" means stable
employment in a competitive integrated employment setting that is consistent
with the individual's IPE and acceptable to both the individual and the
employer.
"Self-employment services" means services to
assist individuals with disabilities to achieve a self-employment outcome
consistent with the individual's abilities, preferences and needs.
Self-employment is a vocational option through the division that is available
only to for-profit businesses intended for operation within the state of Iowa.
The division provides two options within the program, which include the full
self-employment program and micro-enterprise development. These services
provide information, strategies and resources to help the business become
self-sustaining while assisting the individual in assuring all necessary
supports are in place for long-term success.
"Status" means the existing condition or
position of a case. The specific case statuses are as follows:
1. 00-0 Referral for services.
2. 01-0 Potentially eligible student.
3. 01-1 Closed from potentially eligible.
4. 02-0 Applicant.
5. 04-0 Waiting list.
6. 08-0 Closed before acceptance (from Status 02-0).
7. 10-0 Accepted for services (plan development)
adults.
8. 10-1 Accepted for services (plan development) high school
students.
9. 14-0 Counseling and guidance.
10. 16-0 Physical and mental restoration.
11. 18-__ Training.
* 18-1 Work adjustment training/assessment.
* 18-2 On-the-job training.
* 18-3 Vocational-technical training.
* 18-4 Academic training.
* 18-5 Secondary education.
* 18-6 Supported employment.
* 18-7 Other types of training (including nonsupported
employment job coaching, job development, ISE).
12. 20-0 Ready for employment.
13. 22-0 Employed.
14. 24-0 Services interrupted.
15. 26-0 Closed rehabilitated.
16. 28-0 Closed after IPE initiated (from Status 14-0 through
24-0).
17. 30-0 Closed before IPE initiated (from Status
10-_).
18. 32-0 Postemployment services (from Status 26-0).
19. 33-__ Closed after postemployment services (from Status
32-0).
* 33-1 Individual is returned to suitable employment or the
employment situation is stabilized.
* 33-2 The case has been reopened for comprehensive
vocational rehabilitation services.
* 33-3 The postemployment services are no longer assisting
the individual and further services would be of no assistance.
20. 38-0 Closed from Status 04-0 (individual does not meet
one of the waiting list categories, and the individual no longer wants to
remain on the waiting list or fails to respond when contacted because
individual's name is at the top of the waiting list).
"Student with a disability" means an
individual with a disability in a secondary, postsecondary, or other recognized
education program who is not younger than 14 years of age and not older than 21
years of age; and is eligible for, and receiving, special education or related
services under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or is
a student who is an individual with a disability, for purposes of Section
504.
"Substantial impediment to employment" means
a physical or mental impairment (in light of attendant medical, psychological,
vocational, educational, communication, and other related factors) that hinders
an individual from preparing for, entering into, engaging in, or retaining
competitive integrated employment consistent with the individual's abilities
and capacities.
"Supported employment" means competitive
integrated employment, including customized employment, or employment in an
integrated work setting in which an individual with a most significant
disability is working on a short-term basis toward competitive integrated
employment. Such employment is individualized consistent with the strengths,
abilities, interests, and informed choice of the individual who is receiving
ongoing support services for individuals with the most significant disabilities
for whom competitive integrated employment has not historically occurred, or
for whom competitive integrated employment has been interrupted or intermittent
as a result of a significant disability; and who, because of the nature and
severity of the individual's disabilities, needs intensive supported employment
services and extended services after the transition from support provided by
the division in order to perform this work.
"Supported employment services" means
ongoing support services, including customized employment, and other
appropriate services needed to support and maintain an individual with a most
significant disability in supported employment, that are organized and made
available, singly or in combination, in such a way as to assist an eligible
individual to achieve competitive integrated employment; based on a
determination of the needs of an eligible individual, as specified in an IPE;
provided by IVRS for a period of time not to exceed 24 months, unless under
special circumstances the eligible individual and rehabilitation counselor
jointly agree to extend the time to achieve the employment outcome identified
in the IPE; and following transition, as postemployment services that are
unavailable from an extended services provider and that are necessary to
maintain or regain the job placement or advance in employment.
"Transition services" means a coordinated
set of activities provided to a student or youth with a disability and designed
within an outcome-oriented process that promotes movement from school to
postschool activities. Postschool activities include postsecondary education,
vocational training, competitive integrated employment including supported
employment, continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living,
and community participation. The coordinated set of activities must be based
upon the individual student's or youth's needs, taking into account the
student's or youth's preferences and interests, and must include instruction,
community experiences, the development of employment and other postschool adult
living objectives, and, if appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and
functional vocational evaluation. Transition services must promote or
facilitate the achievement of the employment outcome identified in the
student's or youth's IPE. Transition services must also include outreach to and
engagement of the parents or other representatives, as appropriate.
"Transportation" means travel and related
expenses that are necessary to enable an applicant or eligible individual to
participate in a vocational rehabilitation service, including expenses for
training in the use of public transportation vehicles and systems.
"Vocational rehabilitation services" means
those services identified under
34
CFR Section 361.48. For the benefit of groups
of individuals, "vocational rehabilitation services" means those services
listed in
34
CFR Section 361.49.
"Waiting list" means the listings of
eligible individuals for vocational rehabilitation services who are not in a
category being served, otherwise known as "order of selection" under the
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014.
"Youth with a disability" means an
individual with a disability who is not younger than 14 years of age and not
older than 24 years of age.
