Eligibility and Priority for Services
Eligibility and Priority for Services is determined without regard to sex, age, race, creed, color, religion, national origin, type of disability, duration of residence in Minnesota, status with regard to public assistance, sexual orientation, or citizenship.
Eligibility and Priority for Services is also determined without regard to type of expected employment outcome, source of referral for vocational rehabilitation services, particular services required by an applicant, the income level of an applicant or an applicant’s family, an applicant’s employment history or current employment status, an applicant’s educational status or current educational credential.
Individuals will be informed that services are for people who intend to achieve an employment outcome.
An employment outcome means entering, advancing in, or retaining full time or, if appropriate, part time competitive integrated employment, including customized employment, self-employment, or supported employment, that is consistent with an individual’s unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice.
Competitive integrated employment means work performed on a full time or part time basis, with or without supports, for which an individual is:
- Paid at or above the federal or state or local minimum wage, whichever is highest, and is
- Paid at or above the customary rate and is eligible for the same level of benefits as persons without disabilities doing similar work and with comparable training, skills, and experiences with that employer;
- At a location:
- typically found in the community, and
- where the employee with a disability interacts, for purpose of performing their job duties, with colleagues and others (e.g., vendors and customers) without disabilities in similar positions (not including supervisors or individuals providing services to the employee) within the work unit and the entire work site, and
- Presented, as appropriate, with opportunities for advancement that are similar to those available to other employees without disabilities in similar positions.
Once a person applies, completion of the application is sufficient evidence of the individual’s intent to achieve an employment outcome. Vocational Rehabilitation Services information/referral and orientation will be made available on a weekly basis.
In the case of a non-emancipated minor or an individual under conservatorship or guardianship, the signature of the parent, legal guardian, or other representative is required.
A group or individual orientation to Vocational Rehabilitation Services will be available on at least a weekly basis. Applications will be made available to interested individuals, on request, following an orientation. All applicants must be given the opportunity to be seen by Vocational Rehabilitation Services staff to gather information necessary to initiate an assessment for determining eligibility and priority for services within 10 business days of Vocational Rehabilitation Services’ receipt of application.
The record of service will contain a statement signed by a Vocational Rehabilitation Services Counselor of the counselor’s decision regarding eligibility and priority for services.
Reference to "Vocational Rehabilitation Services Counselor" throughout the VRS Policy and Procedure Manual means a VRS staff person who meets the following criteria:
- Is a Lead Counselor, Career Counselor, Senior Counselor, or Rehabilitation Area Manager, or
- Is currently a Rehabilitation Representative, and:
- Has obtained a Master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling or related field
- Is managing a caseload of individuals receiving VR services,
- Has successfully completed the State of Minnesota Purchasing Training, and
- A reallocation to Senior Counselor request has been submitted to DEED Human Resources.
Eligibility decisions and the determination of priority for services will be made within 60 calendar days of the day a signed application is received. The decision must also be made within 60 days that a trial work experience is necessary. The date the application is received will establish the waiting list date. For applicants requiring extensions beyond 60 days, the record of service must contain the Workforce One "Extension for 60-Day Eligibility Determination" case note template and will be made only if:
- There are exceptional and unforeseen circumstances beyond agency control and the counselor and applicant have agreed to be a specific extension of time, or
- The counselor is exploring the individual’s abilities, capabilities and capacity to perform in competitive integrated work situations through a trial work experience.
Applicants will be found eligible for vocational rehabilitation services when there is evidence that they a) have a physical or mental impairment which results in a substantial impediment to competitive integrated employment; and b) require vocational rehabilitation services to prepare for, secure, retain, advance in, or regain competitive integrated employment consistent with their strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interest, and informed choice. All individuals will be presumed to be able to benefit from vocational rehabilitation services in terms of an employment outcome unless:
- there is clear and convincing evidence to the contrary due to the severity of the disability or
- an individual, including a youth with a disability seeking subminimum wage employment, is not interested in seeking competitive integrated employment after an informed choice discussion regarding their employment options.
All eligibility and priority for services determinations will be based on a review and assessment of existing data, including counselor observations, education records, information provided by the individual or the individual’s family, particularly information used by education officials, and determinations made by officials of other agencies to the extent appropriate.
When existing data is not current or are unavailable, insufficient, or inappropriate to make an eligibility and/or priority for services determination, additional data must be obtained.
Assistive technology devices and services, personal assistance services, and any other support services that are necessary to determine whether an individual is eligible and his/her priority for services must be provided as appropriate.
When evidence from existing data and the preliminary assessment is sufficient to question the presumption of benefit due to the severity of the individual’s disability, the individual’s abilities, capabilities, and capacity to perform in work situations will be explored through the use of trial work experiences with appropriate supports.
Trial work experiences must be of sufficient variety and over a sufficient period of time for the agency to determine either:
- There is sufficient evidence to conclude that the individual can benefit from the provision of vocational rehabilitation services in terms of an employment outcome; or
- There is clear and convincing evidence that the individual is incapable of benefiting from vocational rehabilitation services in terms of an employment outcome due to the severity of the individual’s disability.
If it is necessary to consider trial work, staff must consult with their supervisor prior to arranging for related assessment services or including these services on a Trial Work plan. A plan for trial work must be developed outlining the services necessary to determine whether or not an applicant is able to benefit from vocational rehabilitation services in terms of an employment outcome due to the severity of the disability.
- Prior to any determination that an individual is incapable of benefiting from vocational rehabilitation services in terms of an employment outcome because of the severity of that individual’s disability, the record of service must reflect that there is clear and convincing evidence to make such a determination.
Assessment for determining eligibility and priority for services, and trial work experience if needed, will be conducted in the most integrated setting possible, consistent with the individual’s needs and informed choice.
If a person is not a U.S. Citizen, before eligibility can be determined, he/she must provide evidence of a green card or an employment authorization document (work permit).
When all those who are eligible cannot be served, priority for services will be given to persons:
- With a severe physical or mental impairment that results in serious limitations for competitive integrated employment in three or more of the following functional areas: mobility, communication, self-care, self-direction, work tolerance, work skills, or interpersonal skills; and
- Who are expected to require multiple vocational rehabilitation services over an extended period of time; and
- Who have one or more physical or mental disabilities resulting from amputation, arthritis, autism, blindness, burn injury, cancer, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, deafness, head injury, heart disease, hemiplegia, hemophilia, respiratory or pulmonary dysfunction, intellectual disability, mental illness, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, musculoskeletal disorders, neurological disorders including stroke and epilepsy, paraplegia, quadriplegia, and other spinal cord conditions, sickle cell anemia, specific learning disability, and end-stage renal disease, or another disability or combination of disabilities determined on the basis of an assessment for determining eligibility and priority for services to cause comparable serious functional limitation.
An applicant, who is eligible to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) based on his/her own disability and has not yet reached full retirement age, is presumed a) to have an impairment b) which results in a substantial impediment to competitive integrated employment and c) requires vocational rehabilitation services and d) to have serious functional limitations in at least one area. A person’s ability to benefit from vocational rehabilitation services and whether or not a person has a legal right to work in the country are not presumed based on a person’s eligibility for SSI or SSDI.
The record of service for all applicants eligible to receive SSA benefits based on their own disability must contain a completed SSA Benefit Verification Case Note Template documenting when and how benefit verification took place.