Iowa Code r. 877-33.7 - Other eligibility and service determinations
(1)
Waiting list.
a. As set forth in the Act and
34 CFR Section
361.36, if the division cannot serve all
eligible individuals who apply, the division shall develop and maintain a
waiting list for services based on significance of disability. The three
categories of waiting lists are as follows, listed in order of priority to be
served:
(1) Most significantly
disabled;
(2) Significantly
disabled; and
(3) Others
eligible.
b. An
individual's order of selection is determined by the waiting list and the date
on which the individual applied for services from IVRS. All waiting lists are
statewide in scope; no regional lists are to be maintained. Assessment of the
significance of an applicant's disability is done during the process of
determining eligibility but may continue after the individual has been placed
on a waiting list. Individuals who do not meet the order of selection criteria
will have access to services provided through information and referral. The
division will provide the individual:
(1) A
notice of the referral;
(2)
Information identifying a specific point of contact at the agency to which the
individual is referred; and
(3)
Information and advice on the referral regarding the most suitable services to
assist the individual.
c.
Job retention services are available for those individuals who meet the
requirements for those services.
(2)
Options for individualized plan
for employment (IPE) development.
a.
The division provides information on the available options for developing the
IPE, including the option that an eligible individual, or as appropriate, the
individual's representative, may develop all or part of the IPE without
assistance from the division or other entity; or with assistance from:
(1) A qualified vocational rehabilitation
counselor employed by IVRS;
(2) A
qualified vocational rehabilitation counselor not employed by IVRS;
(3) A disability advocacy organization, such
as the CAP or Disability Rights Iowa (DRI), or any other advocacy organization
of the individual's choosing; or
(4) Resources other than those mentioned
above, such as the individual's case manager or a representative of the
division under the guidance of a division vocational rehabilitation
counselor.
b. The IPE is
not approved or put into practice until it is discussed and reviewed; amended,
if applicable; and approved by the job candidate and the vocational
rehabilitation counselor employed by the division.
c. There is no compensation for any expenses
incurred while the IPE is developed with any entity not employed by the
division.
d. If the job candidate
is not on the division waiting list and needs some assessment services to
develop the IPE, the job candidate is to discuss the needs in advance with the
division counselor and obtain prior approval if financial assistance is needed
from the division to pay for the assessment service.
e. For individuals entitled to benefits under
Title II or XVI of the Social Security Act on the basis of a disability or
blindness, the division must provide to the individual general information on
additional supports and assistance for individuals with disabilities desiring
to enter the workforce, including assistance with benefits planning.
f. The job candidate's signature on the IPE
verifies the ticket assignment to the division unless otherwise directed by the
job candidate.
g. The IPE
implementation date begins on the date of the division counselor's
signature.
(3)
Content of the individualized plan for employment (IPE). Each
IPE will contain the content specified in
34 CFR Section
361.46.
No expenditures associated with the job candidate-developed plan are the responsibility of IVRS, unless agreed to and approved by the IVRS counselor. Written approval for services must be obtained prior to any IVRS financial obligation.
All IPE services are provided, unless amended and determined unnecessary. The division exercises its discretion in relation to the termination or amendment of the individual's IPE when, for any reason, it becomes evident that the IPE cannot be completed.
(4)
Scope of services.
a. Preemployment transition services
(pre-ETS). In collaboration with the local educational agencies involved, the
division ensures that pre-ETS are arranged and available to all students with
disabilities, regardless of whether the student has applied or been determined
eligible for vocational rehabilitation services, as defined in
34 CFR Section
361.5(c)(51). Pre-ETS
include:
(1) Required activities. The division
is to provide the following activities:
1.
Job exploration counseling;
2.
Work-based learning experiences, which may include in-school or after school
opportunities, or experience outside the traditional school setting (including
internships), that is provided in an integrated environment in the community to
the maximum extent possible;
3.
Counseling on opportunities for enrollment in comprehensive transition or
postsecondary educational programs at institutions of higher
education;
4. Workplace readiness
training to develop social skills and independent living; and
5. Instruction in self-advocacy (including
instruction in person-centered planning), which may include peer mentoring
(including peer mentoring from individuals with disabilities working in
competitive integrated employment).
(2) Authorized activities. Funds available
and remaining after the provision of the required activities may be used to
improve the transition of students with disabilities from school to
postsecondary education or an employment outcome by:
1. Implementing effective strategies to
increase the likelihood of independent living and inclusion in communities and
competitive integrated workplaces;
2. Developing and improving strategies for
individuals with intellectual disabilities and individuals with significant
disabilities to live independently; participate in postsecondary education
experiences; and obtain, advance in and retain competitive integrated
employment;
3. Providing
instruction to vocational rehabilitation counselors, school transition
personnel, and other persons supporting students with disabilities;
4. Disseminating information about
innovative, effective, and efficient approaches to achieve the goals of this
rule;
5. Coordinating activities
with transition services provided by local educational agencies under the
IDEA;
6. Applying evidence-based
findings to improve policy, procedure, practice, and the preparation of
personnel in order to better achieve the goals of this rule;
7. Developing model transition demonstration
projects;
8. Establishing or
supporting multistate or regional partnerships involving states, local
educational agencies, designated state units, developmental disability
agencies, private businesses, or other participants to achieve the goals of
this rule; and
9. Disseminating
information and strategies to improve the transition to postsecondary
activities of individuals who are members of traditionally unserved and
underserved populations.
(3) Preemployment transition coordination.
Each local office of a designated state unit must carry out responsibilities
consisting of:
1. Attending individualized
education program meetings for students with disabilities, when
invited;
2. Working with the local
workforce development boards, one-stop centers, and employers to develop work
opportunities for students with disabilities, including internships, summer
employment and other employment opportunities available throughout the school
year, and apprenticeships;
3.
Working with schools, including those carrying out activities under Section
614(d) of the IDEA, to coordinate and ensure the provision of preemployment
transition services under this rule; and
4. When invited, attending person-centered
planning meetings for individuals receiving services under Title XIX of the
Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. Section 1396 et
seq.).
(4) Completion of
the pre-ETS agreement outlines the agreed-upon preemployment transition
services needed by the student with a disability. When it is necessary to
purchase these services, written prior approval must be obtained from the
division.
Once an individual applies for services, the division may provide certain services (e.g., assessments for the determination of eligibility and plan development). The preemployment transition services listed above may continue for students with disabilities (as applicable).
b.
Vocational services for eligible individuals not on a waiting list are services
described in an IPE and are necessary to assist the eligible individual in
preparing for, obtaining, retaining, regaining, or advancing in employment if
the failure to advance is due to the disability, consistent with informed
choice. Funding for such services is provided in accordance with the division
policies. The services include:
(1) Assessment
for determining services needed to achieve competitive integrated
employment;
(2) Counseling and
guidance, which means career counseling to provide information and support
services to assist the eligible individual in making informed
choices;
(3) Referral and other
services necessary to assist applicants and eligible individuals to secure
needed services from other agencies, including other components of the
statewide workforce development system, and through agreements with other
organizations and agencies as well as advising individuals about the client
assistance program;
(4) Job-related
services to facilitate the preparation for, obtaining of, and retaining of
employment to include job search, job development, job placement assistance,
job retention services, follow-up services and follow-along if necessary and
required under the IPE;
(5)
Vocational and other training services, including personal and vocational
adjustment training; advanced training in, but not limited to, a field of
science, technology, engineering, mathematics (including computer science),
medicine, law, or business; books, tools, and other training materials, except
that no training or training services in an institution of higher education
(universities, colleges, community or junior colleges, vocational schools,
technical institutes, or hospital schools of nursing or any other postsecondary
education institution) may be paid for with IVRS funds unless maximum efforts
have been made by the designated state unit and the individual to secure grant
assistance in whole or in part from other sources to pay for that training, in
accordance with the definition of that term in
34 CFR Section
361.48(b)(6);
(6) Physical and mental treatment may be
provided to the extent that financial support is not readily available from
another source other than IVRS, such as health insurance of the individual or a
comparable service or benefit, as defined in
34 CFR Section
361.5(c)(39), and said
treatment is essential to the progression of the individual to achieve the
competitive integrated employment outcome according to the following
provisions:
1. The service is necessary for
the job candidate's satisfactory occupational adjustment;
2. The condition causing the disability is
relatively stable or slowly progressive;
3. The condition is of a nature that
treatment may be expected to remove, arrest, or substantially reduce the
disability within a reasonable length of time;
4. The prognosis for life and employability
is favorable.
(7)
Maintenance services as defined in
34 CFR Section
361.5(c)(34), to the extent
that the costs of maintenance shall not exceed the amount of increased expenses
that the rehabilitation causes for the job candidate or the job candidate's
family. Maintenance is not intended to provide relief from poverty or abject
living conditions. Guidance regarding the financial support of maintenance is
available from the division's policy manual;
(8) Transportation in connection with the
provision of any vocational rehabilitation service and as defined in
34 CFR Section
361.5(c)(57), to the extent
that when necessary to enable an applicant or a job candidate to participate in
or receive the benefits of other vocational rehabilitation services, travel and
related expenses, including expenses for training in the use of public
transportation vehicles and systems, may be provided by the division.
Transportation services may include the use of private or commercial
conveyances (such as private automobile or van, public taxi, bus, ambulance,
train, or plane) or the use of public transportation and coordination with a
regional transit agency;
(9)
Vocational rehabilitation services to family members, as defined in
34 CFR Section
361.5(c)(23), of an
applicant or eligible individual if necessary to enable the applicant or
eligible individual to achieve an employment outcome;
(10) Interpreter services, including sign
language and oral interpreter services, for individuals who are deaf or hard of
hearing and tactile interpreting services;
(11) Supported employment services as defined
in 34 CFR Section
361.5(c)(42);
(12) Occupational licenses, tools, equipment,
initial stocks and supplies;
(13)
Rehabilitation technology as defined in
34 CFR Section
361.5(c)(45), including
vehicular modification, telecommunications, sensory, and other technological
aids and devices;
(14) Transition
services for a student or youth with a disability that facilitate the
transition from school to postsecondary life, such as achievement of an
employment outcome in competitive integrated employment, or preemployment
transition services for students;
(15) Technical assistance and other
consultation services to conduct market analyses, develop business plans, and
otherwise provide resources, to the extent those resources are authorized to be
provided through the statewide workforce development system, to eligible
individuals who are pursuing self-employment or telecommuting or establishing a
small business operation as an employment outcome;
(16) Customized employment as defined in
34 CFR Section
361.5(c)(11); and
(17) Other goods and services determined
necessary for the individual with a disability to achieve an employment
outcome.
(5)
Specific services requiring financial assessment.
a. Financial need must be established prior
to the provision of certain services at the division's expense and is evidenced
by use of the financial inventory needs tool utilized by the division. No
financial needs test will occur for the following services:
(1) Assessment for eligibility and priority
of services and determining vocational rehabilitation needs under
34 CFR Section
361.48(b)(2);
(2) Vocational rehabilitation counseling and
guidance under 34 CFR
Section
361.48(b)(3);
(3) Referral and other services under
34 CFR Section
361.48(b)(4);
(4) Job-related services under
34 CFR Section
361.48(b)(12);
(5) Personal assistance services under
34 CFR Section
361.48(b)(14); and
(6) Any auxiliary aid or service (e.g.,
interpreter services under 34 CFR Section
361.48(b)(10) or reader
services under 34 CFR
Section 361.48(b)(11)) that
an individual with a disability requires.
b. Recipients of SSDI/SSI and foster care
youth are not subject to a financial needs test but must demonstrate
eligibility under subrule 33.6(1) and rule
877-33.5 (84H), as well as
demonstrate need in the IPE.
(1) For the
determination of financial need, the individual and the individual's family
(when applicable) are required to provide information regarding all family
income from any source that may be applied toward the cost of rehabilitation
services, other than those services mentioned above, where the financial needs
test does not apply. Family is considered to be any individuals who are
financially responsible for the support of the job candidate, regardless of
whether they reside in the same or separate households. A comparable services
and benefits search is required for some services. The division shall not pay
for more than the balance of the cost of services minus comparable services and
benefits for the individual's documented contribution. When an individual
refuses to supply information for the financial needs test, the individual
assumes 100 percent responsibility for the costs of the
rehabilitation.
(2) The division
shall observe the following policies in deciding financial need based upon the
findings:
1. All services requiring the
determination of financial need are provided on the basis of supplementing the
resources of the individual or of those responsible for the
individual.
2. A division
supervisor may grant an exception in cases where the individual's disability
caused, or is directly related to, financial need and where all other sources
of money have been exhausted by the individual and the guardian of the
individual (when applicable).
3.
Consideration will be given to the individual's responsibility for the
immediate needs and maintenance of the individual's dependents, and the
individual is expected to reserve sufficient funds to meet the individual's
family obligations and to provide for the family's future care, education and
medical expenses.
4. Income up to a
reasonable amount should be considered and determined based on the federal
poverty guidelines associated with family size, income, and
exclusions.
5. General assistance
from state or federal sources is disregarded as a resource unless the
assistance is a grant award for postsecondary training.
6. Grants and scholarships based on merit,
while not required to be searched for as a comparable benefit, may be
considered as part of the determination of financial support of a plan when a
request is beyond the basic support for college. Public grants and
institutional grants or scholarships not based on merit are considered a
considerable benefit.
7. The
division does not fund services for which another entity is
responsible.
8. The division seeks
and purchases the most economical goods (items/models) or services that meet
the individual's vocational needs.
9. Goods and services are only authorized to
those facilities and entities qualified and equipped to provide such goods and
services.
(6)
Maximum rates of payment to
training facilities. In no case shall the amount paid to a training
facility exceed the rate published, and in the case of facilities not having
published rates, the amount paid to the facility is not to exceed the amount
paid to the facility by other public agencies for similar services. The
division will maintain information necessary to justify the rates of payment
made to training facilities.
(7)
Areas in which exceptions are unavailable. Pursuant to federal
law, an exception will not be granted for any requirements that do not allow
for such an exception (e.g., eligibility, mandatory contents of the
individualized plan for employment).
(8)
Exceptions to duration of
services. As required by the Act and
34 CFR Section
361.50(d), the division will
have a method of allowing for exceptions to its rules regarding the duration of
services. In order to exceed the duration of service as defined in the IPE, a
job candidate must follow through on the agreed-upon IPE and related activities
and keep the division informed of the job candidate's progress.
Notes
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