United States Code

§ 721. State plans.

(a) Annual State plans; general and specific require

ments.

For each fiscal year in which a State desires to participate in programs under this subchapter, a State shall submit to the Secretary for his approval an annual plan for vocational rehabilitation services which shall—

(1) State agency for plan administration, designa

tion; separate agencies for services to the blind and for other services; joint program; political subdivision participation, waiver; qualification of State agency.

(A) designate a State agency as the sole State agency to administer the plan, or to supervise its administration by a local agency, except that (i) where under the State's law the State agency for the blind or other agency which provides assistance or services to the adult blind, is authorized to provide vocational rehabilitation services to such individuals, such agency may be designated as the sole State agency to administer the part of the plan under which vocational rehabilitation services are provided for the blind (or to supervise the administration of such part by a local agency) and a separate State agency may be designated as the sole State agency with respect to the rest of the State plan, and (ii) the Secretary, upon the request of a State, may authorize such agency to share funding and administrative responsibility with another agency of the State or with a local agency in order to permit such agencies to carry out a joint program to provide services to handicapped individuals, and may waive compliance with respect to vocational rehabilitation services furnished under such programs with the requirement of clause (4) of this subsection that the plan be in effect in all political subdivisions of that State;

(B) provide that the State agency so designated to administer or supervise the administration of the State plan, or (if there are two State agencies designated under subclause (A) of this clause) to supervise or administer the part of the State plan that does not relate to services for the blind, shall be (i) a State agency primarily concerned with vocational rehabilitation, or vocational and other rehabilitation, of handicapped individuals, (ii) the State agency administering or supervising the administration of education or vocational eduIcation in the State, or (iii) a State agency which includes at least two other major organizational units each of which administers one or more of the major public education, public health, public welfare, or labor programs of the State;

(2) State rehabilitation bureau; director; staff; major organizational status; separate units for services to the blind and for other services. provide, except in the case of agencies described in clause (1) (B) (i) —

(A) that the State agency designated pursuant to paragraph (1) (or each State agency if two are so designated) shall include a vocational rehabilitation bureau, division, or other oganizational unit which (i) is primarily concerned with vocational rehabilitation, or vocational and other rehabilitation, of handicapped individuals,

(B) (i) that such unit shall be located at an organizational level and shall have an organizational status within such State agency comparable to that of other major organizational units of such agency, or (ii) in the case of an agency described in clause (1) (B) (ii), either that such unit shall be so located and have such status, or that the director of such unit shall be the executive officer of such State agency; except that, in the case of a State which has designated only one State agency pursuant to clause (1) of this subsection, such State may, if it so desires, assign responsibility for the part of the plan under which vocational rehabilitation services are provided for the blind to one organizational unit of such agency, and assign responsibility for the rest of the plan to another organizational unit of such agency, with the provisions of this clause applying separately to each of such units;

(3) State financial participation.

provide for financial participation by the State, or if the State so elects, by the State and local agencies to meet the amount of the non-Federal share;

(4) Political subdivision participation, waiver; reg. ulations; funds of local agency for non-Federal share of cost of services.

provide that the plan shall be in effect in all political subdivisions, except that in the case of any activity which, in the judgment of the Secretary, is likely to assist in promoting the vocational rehabilitation of substantially larger numbers of handicapped individuals or groups of handicapped individuals the Secretary may waive compliance with the requirement herein that the plan be in effect in all political subdivisions of the State to the extent and for such period as may be provided in accordance with regulations prescribed by him, but only if the non-Federal share of the cost of such vocational rehabilitation services is met from funds made available by a local agency (including, to the extent permitted by such regulations, funds, contributed to such agency by a private agency, organization, or individual);

(5) Plans, policies, and methods for execution, administration, and supervision of State plan; expansion and improvement of services; priorities in order of selection; achievement of outcome and service goals.

(A) contain the plans, policies, and methods to be followed in carrying out the State plan and in its administration and supervision, including a description of the method to be used to expand and improve services to handicapped individuals with the most severe handicaps; and, in the event that vocational rehabilitation services cannot be provided to all eligible handicapped individuals who apply for such services, show (i) the order to be followed in selecting individuals to whom vocational rehabilitation services will be provided, and

(ii) the outcomes and service goals, and the time within which they may be achieved, for the rehabilitation of such individuals, which order of selection for the provision of vocational rehabilitation services shall be determined on the basis of serving first those individuals with the most severe handicaps and shall be consistent with priorities in such order of selection so determined, and outcome and service goals for serving handicapped individuals, established in regulations prescribed by the Secretary; and

(B) provide satisfactory assurance to the Secretary that the State has studied and considered a broad variety of means for providing services to individuals with the most severe handicaps;

(6) Methods of administration.

provide for such methods of administration, other than methods relating to the establishment and maintenance of personnel standards, as are found by the Secretary to be necessary for the proper and efficient administration of the plan;

(7) Personnel standards; State licensure laws and regulations; minimum standards for facilities and personnel utilized in providing rehabilitation services.

contain (A) provisions relating to the establishment and maintenance of personnel standards, which are consistent with any State licensure laws and regulations, including provisions relating to the tenure, selection, appointment, and qualifications of personnel, and (B) provisions relating to the establishment and maintenance of minimum standards governing the facilities and personnel utilized in the provision of vocational rehabilitation services, but the Secretary shall exercise no authority with respect to the selection, method of selection, tenure of office, or compensation of any individual employed in accordance with such provision;

(8) Consideration of eligibility for similar benefits under any other program.

provide, at a minimum, for the provision of the vocational rehabilitation services specified in clauses (1) through (3) of subsection (a) of section 723 of this title, and the remainder of such services specified in such section after full consideration of eligibility for similar benefits under any other program, except that, in the case of the vocational rehabilitation services specified in clauses (4) and (5) of subsection (a) of such section, such consideration shall not be required where it would delay the provision of such services to any individual;

(9) Individualized written rehabilitation program. provide that (A) an individualized written rehabilitation program meeting the requirements of section 722 of this title will be developed for each handicapped individual eligible for vocational rehabilitation services under this chapter, (B) such services will be provided under the plan in accordance with such program, and (C) records of the characteristics of each applicant will be kept specifying, as to those individuals who apply for services under this subchapter and are determined not to be eligible therefor, the reasons for such determinations;

(10) Reports of State agency; form; scope of information; time of report; correctness and verification.

provide that the State agency will make such reports in such form, containing such information (including the data described in subclause (C) of clause (9) of this subsection, periodic estimates of the population of handicapped individuals eligible for services under this chapter in such State, specifications of the number of such individuals who will be served with funds provided under this chapter and the outcomes and service goals to be achieved for such individuals in each priority category specified in accordance with clause (5) of this subsection, and the service costs for each such category), and at such time as the Secretary may require to carry out his functions under this subchapter, and comply with such provisions as he may find necessary to assure the correctness and verification of such reports;

(11) Intergovernmental cooperation. provide for entering into cooperative arrangements with, and the utilization of the services and facilities of, the State agencies administering the State's public assistance programs, other programs for handicapped individuals, veterans programs, manpower programs, and public employment offices, and the Social Security Administration of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Veterans' Administration, and other Federal, State, and local public agencies providing services related to the rehabilitation of handicapped individuals;

(12) Community resources; utilization.

provide satisfactory assurances to the Secretary that, in the provision of vocational rehabilitation services, maximum utilization shall be made of public or other vocational or technical training facilities or other appropriate resources in the community;

(13) Disabled Federal employees; disabled public safety officers.

(A) provide that vocational rehabilitation services provided under the State plan shall be available to any civil employee of the United States disabled while in the performance of his duty on the same terms and conditions as apply to other persons, and

(B) provide that special consideration will be given to the rehabilitation under this chapter of a handicapped individual whose handicapping condition arises from a disability sustained in the line of duty while such individual was performing as a public safety officer and the proximate cause of such disability was a criminal act, apparent criminal act, or a hazardous condition resulting directly from the officer's performance of duties in direct connection with the enforcement, execution, and administration of law or fire prevention, firefighting, or related public safety activities; (14) Residency requirement; prohibition. provide that no residence requirement will be imposed which excludes from services under the plan any individual who is present in the State;

(15) Continuing studies. provide for continuing statewide studies of the needs of handicapped individuals and how these needs may be most effectively met (including the State's needs for rehabilitation facilities) with a view toward the relative need for services to significant segments of the population of handicapped individuals and the need for expansion of services to those individuals with the most severe handicaps;

(16) Employment review and reevaluation. provide for (A) periodic review and reevaluation of the status of handicapped individuals placed in extended employment in rehabilitation facilities (including workshops) to determine the feasibility of their employment, or training for employment, in the competitive labor market, and (B) maximum efforts to place such individuals in such employment or training whenever it is determined to be feasible;

(17) State facilities, construction; Federal share of construction costs; general grant and contract requirements applicable; nonreduction of other rehabilitation services.

provide that where such State plan includes provisions for the construction of rehabilitation facilities

(A) the Federal share of the cost of construction thereof for a fiscal year will not exceed an amount equal to 10 per centum of the State's allotment for such year,

(B) the provisions of section 776 of this title shall be applicable to such construction and such provisions shall be deemed to apply to such construction, and

(C) there shall be compliance with regulations the Secretary shall prescribe designed to assure that no State will reduce its efforts in providing other vocational rehabilitation services (other than for the establishment of rehabilitation facilities) because its plan includes such provisions for construction;

(18) Policy planning; trainee participation. provide satisfactory assurances to the Secretary that the State agency designated pursuant to clause (1) (or each State agency if two are so designated) and any sole local agency administering the plan in a political subdivision of the State will take into account, in connection with matters of general policy arising in the administration of the plan, the views of individuals and groups thereof who are recipients of vocational rehabilitation services (or, in appropriate cases, their parents or guardians), working in the field of vocational rehabilitation, and providers of vocational rehabilitation services; and

(19) Amendments; continuing studies and annual evaluation as basis.

provide satisfactory assurances to the Secretary that the continuing studies required under clause (15) of this subsection, as well as an annual evaluation of the effectiveness of the program in meeting the goals and priorities set forth in the plan, will form the basis for the submission, from time to time as the Secretary may require, of appropriate amendments to the plan.

(b) Approval or disapproval by Secretary; notice and hearing.

The Secretary shall approve any plan which he finds fulfills the conditions specified in subsection (a) of this section, and he shall disapprove any plan which does not fulfill such conditions. Prior to such disapproval, the Secretary shall notify a State of his intention to disapprove its plan, and he shall afford such State reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing.

(c) Noncompliance; payment limitation.

Whenever the Secretary, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing to the State agency administering or supervising the administration of the State plan approved under this section, finds that

(1) the plan has been so changed that it no longer complies with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section; or

(2) in the administration of the plan there is a failure to comply substantially with any provision of such plan,

the Secretary shall notify such State agency that no further payments will be made to the State under this subchapter (or, in his discretion, that such further payments will be reduced, in accordance with regulations the Secretary shall prescribe, or that further payments will not be made to the State only for the projects under the parts of the State plan affected by such failure), until he is satisfied there is no longer any such failure. Until he is so satisfied, the Secretary shall make no further payments to such State under this subchapter (or shall limit payments to projects under those parts of the State plan in which there is no such failure).

(d) Judicial review; venue; record; agency action provisions applicable.

If any State is dissatisfied with the Secretary's action under subsection (b) or (c) of this section, such State may appeal to the United States district court for the district where the capital of such State is located and judicial review of such action shall be on the record in accordance with the provisions of chapter 7 of Title 5. (Pub. L. 93-112, title I, § 101, Sept. 26, 1973, 87 Stat. 363.)

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in sections 705, 706, 709, 720, 722, 730, 732, 741, 762, 771, 772, 774, 776, 781, 786 of this title.

§ 722. Individualized written rehabilitation program. (a) Joint development by counselor or coordinator and handicapped individual; goods and services for handicapped individual: terms and conditions, rights and remedies.

The Secretary shall insure that the individualized written rehabilitation program required by section 721 (a) (9) of this title in the case of each handicapped individual is developed jointly by the vocational rehabilitation counselor or coordinator and the handicapped individual (or, in appropriate cases, his parents or guardians), and that such program meets the requirements set forth in subsection (b) of this section. Such written program shall set forth the terms and conditions, as well as the rights and remedies, under which goods and services will be provided to the individual.

(b) Annual review; joint redevelopment of terms; scope of program.

Each individualized written rehabilitation program shall be reviewed on an annual basis at which time each such individual (or, in appropriate cases, his parents or guardians) will be afforded an opportunity to review such program and jointly redevelop its terms. Such program shall include, but not be limited to (1) a statement of long-range rehabilitation goals for the individual and intermediate rehabilitation objectives related to the attainment of such goals, (2) a statement of the specific vocational rehabilitation services to be provided, (3) the projected date for the initiation and the anticipated duration of each such service, (4) objective criteria and evaluation procedure and schedule for determining whether such objectives and goals are being achieved, and, (5) where appropriate, a detailed explanation of the availability of a client assistance project established in such area pursuant to section 732 of this title.

(c) Determination and achievement of vocational goal; decision respecting potential and capability of achievement; annual review of decision. The Secretary shall also insure that (1) in developing and carrying out individualized written rehabilitation program required by section 721 of this title in the case of each handicapped individual primary emphasis is placed upon the determination and achievement of a vocational goal for such individual, (2) a decision that such an individual is not capable of achieving such a goal and thus not eligible for vocational rehabilitation services provided with assistance under this part, is made only in full consultation with such individual (or, in appropriate cases, his parents or guardians), and only upon the certification, as an amendment to such written program, that the evaluation of rehabilitation potential has demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that such individual is not then capable of achieving such a goal, and (3) any such decision shall be reviewed at least annually in accordance with the procedure and criteria established in this section. (Pub. L. 93-112, title I, § 102, Sept. 26, 1973, 87 Stat. 368.) SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in section 721 of this title. § 723. Scope of vocational rehabilitation services. (a) Individual services.

Vocational rehabilitation services provided under this chapter are any goods or services necessary to render a handicapped individual employable, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) evaluation of rehabilitation potential, including diagnostic and related services, incidental to the determination of eligibility for, and the nature and scope of, services to be provided, including, where appropriate, examination by a physician skilled in the diagnosis and treatment of emotional disorders, or by a licensed psychologist in accordance with State laws and regulations, or both;

(2) counseling, guidance, referral, and placement services for handicapped individuals, including followup, follow-along, and other postemployment services necessary to assist such individuals to maintain their employment and

services designed to help handicapped individuals secure needed services from other agencies, where such services are not available under this chapter;

(3) vocational and other training services for handicapped individuals, which shall include personal and vocational adjustment, books, and other training materials, and services to the families of such individuals as are necessary to the adjustment or rehabilitation of such individuals: Provided, That no training services in institutions of higher education shall be paid for with funds under this subchapter unless maximum efforts have been made to secure grant assistance, in whole or in part, from other sources to pay for such training;

(4) physical and mental restoration services, including, but not limited to, (A) corrective surgery or therapeutic treatment necessary to correct or substantially modify a physical or mental condition which is stable or slowly progressive and constitutes a substantial handicap to employment, but is of such nature that such correction or modification may reasonably be expected to eliminate or substantially reduce the handicap within a reasonable length of time, (B) necessary hospitalization in connection with surgery or treatment, (C) prosthetic and orthotic devices, (D) eyeglasses and visual services as prescribed by a physician skilled in the diseases of the eye or by an optometrist, whichever the individual may select, (E) special services (including transplantation and dialysis), artificial kidneys, and supplies necessary for the treatment of individuals suffering from end-stage renal disease, and (F) diagnosis and treatment for mental and emotional disorders by a physician or licensed psychologist in accordance with State licensure laws;

(5) maintenance, not exceeding the estimated cost of subsistence, during rehabilitation;

(6) interpreter services for deaf individuals, and reader services for those individuals determined to be blind after an examination by a physician skilled in the diseases of the eye or by an optometrist, whichever the individual may select;

(7) recruitment and training services for handicapped individuals to provide them with new employment opportunities in the fields of rehabilitation, health, welfare, public safety, and law enforcement, and other appropriate service employment;

(8) rehabilitation teaching services and orientation and mobility services for the blind;

(9) occupational licenses, tools, equipment, and initial stocks and supplies;

(10) transportation in connection with the rendering of any vocational rehabilitation service; and

(11) telecommunications, sensory, and other technological aids and devices.

(b) Group services.

Vocational rehabilitation services, when provided for the benefit of groups of individuals, may also include the following:

(1) in the case of any type of small business operated by individuals with the most severe

(15) Continuing studies.

provide for continuing statewide studies of the needs of handicapped individuals and how these needs may be most effectively met (including the State's needs for rehabilitation facilities) with a view toward the relative need for services to significant segments of the population of handicapped individuals and the need for expansion of services to those individuals with the most severe handicaps;