Vocational Rehabilitation
Vocational Rehabilitation
is a state agency through the Department of Labor. Vocational Rehabilitation’s
goal is assisting interested individuals who have disabilities
to get and keep a job. It is intended to provide employment-related support
services for a limited period of time, and within a mutually developed
Individual Plan for Employment (IPE). Vocational Rehabilitation often
contracts with community service providers who provide Situational
Assessment, Job Development, and Job Coaching Services. Employment
related services that are available may also include: career exploration,
vocational assessments, job development, short term job coaching, support
for the acquisition of job related assistive technology, and post-secondary
education that is related to one’s vocational goal. Although
direct services through V.R. typically will not start before a student
leaves high school, it is important to include a V.R. Counselor as
part of your youth’s team generally 2 years before they leave
high school to better insure that there is a smooth transition for
the vocational goals of your child. A vocational rehabilitation counselor
can be an important resource for a student’s team as vocational
goals and objectives are developed for an IEP.
If through an assessment, it is determined that your youth will
need longer term vocational services than what V.R. provides (for example,
ongoing job coaching), it is very important for communication and a linkage
to occur among the school, V.R. and with the Dept. of Behavioral and
Developmental Services (BDS) early in the development of your youth’s
transition plan.
Back to top |
