VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION SERVICES: FINDING EMPLOYMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
Vocational rehabilitation is about helping people with disabilities get and keep jobs. The following quote is from the Spirit Lake Vocational Rehabilitation website.
"THE TYPES OF SERVICES WE PROVIDE: Services depend on the individual client's needs. All of our clients receive vocational rehabilitation advice, when the outreach worker discusses with a client his or her individual goals for employment and the steps to take to reach those. We provide services to meet the individual client need. For one person, that may be help filling out job applications. For another, it could be paying to get new glasses so that he can read the computer to do data entry. For some other client, we may pay for new tires on a car needed to get to a job. Before you can receive any services from vocational rehabilitation, however, you must be determined eligible. An individual is eligible if he or she has a physical, learning or mental disability and is able to benefit from vocational rehabilitation services. Stop by or call us and we will be happy to help with the process of determining eligibility."
When the client is first accepted, he/she sits down with a VR counselor and an IPE is drawn up.
The IPE (Individualized Plan for Employment) is not unlike the previous individualized educational plans. It is based on the person’s strengths, interests, and abilities. The difference lies in the focus of the IPE on the individual's job goals. The client is then provided with services that will assist them in receiving the job that works for them, such as assessment, employment planning, counseling, physical aid, and transportation. A vocational rehabilitation program will offer a range of services that go far beyond the usual job training. Possible services are really varied. They may learn how to write a sufficient resume, be assisted in job placement, coached in learning the expectations of a job and the proper behavior that should be practiced in order to hold down the job once it is assigned.
Vocational rehabilitation can also assist you with college, including money for gas to get to class, vehicle repairs, and purchases of needed supplies and equipment from calculators to computers.
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