Washington Administrative Code

(1) DSB follows laws related to the release of criminal history records (chapters 10.97 and 43.43 RCW), public disclosure (chapter 42.56 RCW), and other applicable laws when releasing background information.(2) The authorized entity who submits a background check request receives…

(1) "Act" or "the law," except when context indicates otherwise, means the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 701 et seq.), as amended by Title IV of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014.(2) "Administrative costs" under the vocational rehabilitat…

Under the U.S. Department of Education's state vocational rehabilitation services program, the Washington state department of services for the blind is provided a grant to assist in operating a statewide comprehensive, coordinated, effective, efficient, and accountable vocational…

To fulfill the requirements of the VR grant, the department must:(1) Establish a state rehabilitation council to jointly develop, agree to, and review department goals and priorities and to consult with regarding department policy and procedure;(2) Take affirmative action to empl…

(1) Under WIOA, the department is identified as a required partner within the one-stop delivery system.(2)(a) Access to the department's programs and activities is required through the state's comprehensive one-stop centers.(b) Access to the department's programs and activities m…

(1) Confidential information refers to all documented and undocumented personal information, including lists of names and photographs, about any past or present applicant or customer in the vocational rehabilitation program, given or made available to the department, its represen…

Applicants and recipients of services (or, as appropriate, their representatives) are provided information and support services to assist the individual in exercising informed choice throughout the rehabilitation process consistent with the following provisions:(1) Inform each ap…

The department shall maintain for each applicant or eligible individual a record of services that includes, to the extent pertinent, the following documentation:(1) When an applicant's eligibility has been determined:(a) A written and dated statement of eligibility determination …

The department will implement an information and referral system, using appropriate modes of communication, adequate to ensure that an individual with disabilities is provided with information and referral services that may assist the individual in securing services and benefits …

(1) Any individual who is blind, as defined in WAC 67-25-009, may apply for vocational rehabilitation services, including any individual who has previously applied for, has previously received, or has previously been denied such services.(2) Any individual who is blind seeking to…

(1) An applicant for vocational rehabilitation services shall be interviewed personally by a vocational rehabilitation professional or paraprofessional within ten working days upon receipt of an application by the department.(2) The interviewer shall:(a) Explain to the applicant …

Once an individual has submitted an application for vocational rehabilitation services, including applications made through common intake procedures in one-stop centers under section 121 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), an eligibility determination must be …

(1) Eligibility shall be based only upon determination by a vocational rehabilitation counselor that:(a) The individual is blind, as defined in WAC 67-25-009;(b) The blindness alone or combined with other disabilities constitutes or results in a substantial impediment to competit…

(1) An assessment shall be conducted for each applicant to determine whether:(a) The individual is blind as defined in WAC 67-25-009, which alone or combined with other disabilities results in a substantial impediment to employment; and(b) Vocational rehabilitation services are r…

(1) Trial work experience is a process of providing assessment and related vocational rehabilitation services to an applicant with significant disabilities, for the limited purpose of collecting information necessary to make an eligibility determination, if there is concern that …

(1) There shall be a certification of eligibility if the applicant meets the requirements specified in WAC 67-25-125. The certification shall be dated and signed by a vocational rehabilitation counselor.(2) If an applicant is offered an opportunity for trial work experience in ac…

(1) An individual with a most significant disability is an individual who:(a) Experiences three or more significant functional limitations (such as mobility, communication, self-care, self-direction, interpersonal skills, work tolerance, or work skills) in terms of a career outco…

(1) The purpose of an order of selection is to establish an equitable and organized system which, when resources are not sufficient to meet the full demand for services, gives priority to those individuals who are eligible for vocational rehabilitation services and who have the m…

(1) The department must conduct an assessment for determining vocational rehabilitation needs, if appropriate, for each eligible individual, or if the department is operating under an order of selection, for each eligible individual to whom the department is able to provide servi…

(1) As a part of the assessment to determine vocational rehabilitation service needs, there must be a determination of each individual's use of and ability to benefit from adaptive skills of blindness. Rehabilitation objectives and service needs identified with the eligible indiv…

(1)(a) A work skills assessment is a process of providing assessment and related vocational rehabilitation services, after eligibility, to a participant with significant disabilities, for the purpose of collecting information necessary to assess his or her capability to continue …

(1) The individualized plan for employment is a written agreement that documents important decisions made between the participant and a vocational rehabilitation counselor concerning activities towards achievement of the participant's competitive and integrated employment goal in…

(1) An eligible individual or, as appropriate, the individual's representative may develop all or part of the individualized plan for employment:(a) Independently, without any assistance from the department or another entity;(b) With assistance from a vocational rehabilitation co…

(1) The individualized plan for employment shall be reviewed as necessary but at least annually. The participant, or if appropriate, the participant's representative, shall be given an opportunity to review the plan and jointly redevelop and agree to its terms.(2) Services shall …

(1) The provision of the department's VR services is based on the rehabilitation needs of each individual as identified in that participant's individualized plan for employment and is consistent with the participant's informed choice.(2) The department's policy on VR service prov…

(1) Counseling and guidance services, based on needs of the individual, shall be available throughout all phases of the rehabilitation process to assist the participant with:(a) Adjustment to blindness and other disabilities; understanding the importance of developing and using a…

(1) Consideration of comparable services and benefits is required by the Rehabilitation Act (as amended). Therefore, this section prevails over all other sections describing conditions under which vocational rehabilitation services shall be provided.(2) Comparable services and be…

(1) The department, in collaboration with the local educational agencies involved, must provide, or arrange for the provision of, preemployment transition services for all students with visual disabilities not older than twenty-one years of age who are in need of such services, w…

(1) Transition services are a coordinated set of activities for a youth with a disability not older than twenty-four years of age, designed within an outcome-oriented process that promotes movement from school to post-school activities, including post-secondary education, work ex…

(1) Physical and mental restoration services shall be provided to a participant under an individualized plan for employment when the vocational rehabilitation counselor determines that such services are likely, within a reasonable period of time, to substantially correct or modif…

(1) The individualized plan for employment may include any organized form of instruction providing the knowledge and skills necessary for a customer to perform to market expectations in an occupation or career field and achieve a competitive and integrated employment outcome. Kno…

(1) Training at a university, college, community college, vocational school, technical institute, school of nursing or other accredited training program may be provided if necessary to achieve the competitive and integrated employment outcome agreed upon by the participant and vo…

The department may support miscellaneous training programs that are necessary to the achievement of the participant's employment goal, such as:(1) Basic academic remedial course work and literacy training that are needed to function on the job in the integrated and competitive la…

(1) On-the-job training (OJT) is a training service provided in collaboration among the department, employer and participant, after the individual is placed in a job, to assist the participant to learn the skills needed to perform the work. On-the-job training may be provided as …

(1) Work readiness skill building and related employment training services may be provided to a participant. This service may be appropriate if a participant has gaps in readiness for job-finding skills or workplace expectations within a competitive and integrated work environmen…

(1) Adaptive skills of blindness are those skills necessary for individuals who are blind to function independently, distinguished from the vocational skills necessary to perform a specific occupation. Adaptive skills include:(a) Communications, including Braille and keyboarding;…

(1) Maintenance for living expenses may be provided only when these expenses are short-term in duration, in excess of the normal subsistence expenses of a participant, and only when necessary for the individual to participate in services under an individualized plan for employmen…

(1) Transportation services for travel and related expenses may be authorized if necessary for an applicant, eligible individual, or participant to receive any vocational rehabilitation service.(2) Transportation may include:(a) Fares or travel costs associated with using public …

(1) Interpreter services include sign language or oral interpretation services for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, and tactile interpretation services for individuals who are deaf-blind.(a) Interpreter services must be provided by qualified personnel.(b) Interpreter …

(1) Reader services may be provided to an applicant, eligible individual, or participant when necessary to the provision of other vocational rehabilitation services.(2) Reader services consist of orally reading to the blind individual print material which is not available through…

(1) Personal assistance services include a range of services provided by at least one person to assist an individual with a disability to perform daily living activities, on or off the job, that the individual typically would perform if he or she did not have a disability, and wi…

(1) Rehabilitation technology is the systematic application of technologies, engineering methodologies, or scientific principles to meet the needs of, and address barriers that might be experienced by a participant in education, rehabilitation, employment, transportation, indepen…

(1) Supported employment is competitive employment in an integrated setting, consistent with the unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice of the individual, with ongoing support services for participants with the m…

(1) Job placement services shall be provided to a participant under an individualized plan for employment to assist the individual with obtaining and retaining appropriate competitive and integrated employment consistent with his or her employment goal.(2) The department and part…

(1) Post-employment services may be provided to a participant after achieving a competitive and integrated employment outcome, if they are necessary for the participant to maintain, regain, or advance in employment consistent with the individual's abilities, capabilities, and int…

(1) Goods and services described in this section may be provided only under an individualized plan for employment when necessary for the participant to achieve an employment outcome or establish a small business, including:(a) A participant to be bonded if the employment he or sh…

(1) Other goods and services not described in this chapter may be provided to a participant when necessary to determine the individual's eligibility for services and rehabilitation needs, or when necessary for the individual to achieve an appropriate competitive and integrated em…

(1) A family member is an individual:(a) Who is a relative or guardian of a customer, or who lives in the same household as a participant;(b) Who is integrally involved in the vocational rehabilitation of the participant; and(c) Whose receipt of vocational rehabilitation services…

(1) The department may provide the following vocational rehabilitation services to groups of individuals:(a) Establishment, development, or improvement of a public or other nonprofit employment service provider providing services that promote integration and competitive employmen…

(1) Section 511 of WIOA Title IV limits the use of subminimum wage. Individuals age twenty-four or younger may not begin work that pays a subminimum wage (less than federal minimum wage) unless the following actions have been completed:(a) The individual received preemployment tr…