369.4—What definitions apply to these programs?

(a) The following definitions in 34 CFR part 77 apply to the programs under Vocational Rehabilitation Service Projects—

Applicant

Application

Award

Budget Period

Department

EDGAR

Nonprofit

Profit

Project Period

Public

Secretary

Work of Art

(b) The following definitions also apply to programs under Vocational Rehabilitation Service Projects:

Act means the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.), as amended.

Community rehabilitation program means a program that provides directly or facilitates the provision of vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with disabilities, and that provides, singly or in combination, for an individual with a disability to enable the individual to maximize opportunities for employment, including career advancement—

(1) Medical, psychiatric, psychological, social, and vocational services that are provided under one management;

(2) Testing, fitting, or training in the use of prosthetic and orthotic devices;

(3) Recreational therapy;

(4) Physical and occupational therapy;

(5) Speech, language and hearing therapy;

(6) Psychiatric, psychological and social services, including positive behavior management;

(7) Assessment for determining eligibility and vocational rehabilitation needs;

(8) Rehabilitation technology;

(9) Job development, placement, and retention services;

(10) Evaluation or control of specific disabilities;

(11) Orientation and mobility services for individuals who are blind;

(12) Extended employment;

(13) Psychosocial rehabilitation services;

(14) Supported employment services and extended services;

(15) Services to family members when necessary to the vocational rehabilitation of the individual;

(16) Personal assistance services; or

(17) Services similar to the services described in paragraphs (1) through (16) of this definition.

Employment outcome means entering or retaining full-time or, if appropriate, part-time competitive employment in the integrated labor market, the practice of a profession, self-employment, homemaking, farm or family work (including work for which payment is in kind rather than cash), extended employment in a community rehabilitation program, supported employment, or other gainful work.

Individual who is blind means a person who is blind within the meaning of the law relating to vocational rehabilitation in each State.

Individual with a disability means any individual who—

(1) Has a physical or mental impairment that for that individual constitutes or results in a substantial impediment to employment; and

(2) Can benefit in terms of an employment outcome from vocational rehabilitation services provided under title I, III, VI, or VIII of the Act.

Individual with a severe disability means an individual with a disability—

(1) Who has a severe physical or mental impairment that seriously limits one or more functional capacities (such as mobility, communication, self-care, self-direction, interpersonal skills, work tolerance, or work skills) in terms of an employment outcome;

(2) Whose vocational rehabilitation can be expected to require multiple vocational rehabilitation services over an extended period of time; and

(3) Who has 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, mental retardation, mental illness, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, musculo-skeletal disorders, neurological disorders (including stroke and epilepsy), paraplegia, quadriplegia and other spinal cord conditions, sickle-cell anemia, specific learning disabilities, end-stage renal disease, or another disability or combination of disabilities determined to cause comparable substantial functional limitation.

Physical and mental restoration services means—

(1) Medical or corrective surgical treatment for the purpose of correcting or modifying substantially a physical or mental condition that is stable or slowly progressive and constitutes a substantial impediment to employment and that is likely, within a reasonable period of time, to be corrected or substantially modified as a result of the medical or surgical treatment;

(2) Diagnosis and treatment for mental or emotional disorders by qualified personnel in accordance with State licensure laws;

(3) Dentistry;

(4) Nursing services;

(5) Necessary hospitalization (either inpatient or outpatient care) in connection with surgery or treatment and clinic services;

(6) Convalescent or nursing home care;

(7) Drugs and supplies;

(8) Prosthetic, orthotic, or other assistive devices, including hearing aids essential to obtaining or retaining employment;

(9) Eyeglasses and visual services, including visual training, and the examination and services necessary for the prescription and provision of eyeglasses, contact lenses, microscopic lenses, telescopic lenses, and other special visual aids, prescribed by qualified persons under State licensure laws, that are selected by the individual;

(10) Podiatry;

(11) Physical therapy;

(12) Occupational therapy;

(13) Speech and hearing therapy;

(14) Psychological services;

(15) Therapeutic recreation services;

(16) Medical or medically related social work services;

(17) Treatment of either acute or chronic medical complications and emergencies that are associated with or arise out of the provision of physical and mental restoration services or that are inherent in the condition under treatment;

(18) Special services for the treatment of individuals with end-stage renal disease, including transplantation, dialysis, artificial kidneys, and supplies; and

(19) Other medical or medically related rehabilitation services, including art therapy, dance therapy, music therapy, and psychodrama.

Physical or mental impairment means a physical or mental condition which materially limits, contributes to limiting or, if not corrected, will probably result in limiting an individual's employment activities or vocational functioning.

Reservation means a Federal or State Indian reservation, public domain Indian allotment, former Indian reservation in Oklahoma, and land held by incorporated Native groups, regional corporations and village corporations under the provisions of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

State agency means the sole State agency designated to administer (or supervise local administration of) the State plan for vocational rehabilitation services. The term includes the State agency for the blind, if designated as the sole State agency with respect to that part of the plan relating to the vocational rehabilitation of individuals who are blind.

State plan means the State plan for vocational rehabilitation services. ( 34 CFR part 361 )

State unit, State vocational rehabilitation unit or designated State unit means either—

(1) The State agency vocational rehabilitation bureau, division, or other organizational unit that is primarily concerned with vocational rehabilitation or vocational and other rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities and that is responsible for the administration of the vocational rehabilitation program of the State agency; or

(2) The independent State commission, board, or other agency that has vocational rehabilitation, or vocational and other rehabilitation as its primary function.

Substantial impediment to employment means that a physical or mental impairment (in light of attendant medical, psychological, vocational, educational, and other related factors) significantly restricts an individual's occupational performance by preventing his preparing for, obtaining, or retaining employment consistent with his capacities and abilities.

Vocational rehabilitation services: (1) When provided to an individual, means any goods or services necessary to render an individual with a disability employable, including, but not limited to, the following—

(i) An assessment for determining eligibility and vocational rehabilitation needs by qualified personnel, including, if appropriate, an assessment by personnel skilled in rehabilitation technology;

(ii) Counseling, guidance, and work-related placement services for individuals with disabilities, including job search assistance, placement assistance, job retention services, personal assistance services, and follow-up, follow-along, and specific diagnosis services necessary to assist such individuals to maintain, regain, or advance in employment;

(iii) Vocational and other training services for individuals with disabilities, including personal and vocational adjustment, books, or other training materials;

(iv) Services to the families of such individuals with disabilities, if necessary to the adjustment or rehabilitation of such individuals;

(v) Physical and mental restoration services;

(vi) Maintenance for additional costs incurred while participating in rehabilitation;

(vii) Interpreter services and note-taking services for individuals who are deaf, including tactile interpreting for individuals who are deaf-blind;

(viii) Reader services and note-taking services for those individuals who are determined to be blind after an examination by qualified personnel under State licensure laws;

(ix) Recruitment and training services to provide new employment opportunities in the fields of rehabilitation, health, welfare, public safety and law enforcement, and other appropriate service employment;

(x) Rehabilitation teaching services and orientation and mobility services for individuals who are blind;

(xi) Occupational licenses, tools, equipment, and initial stocks and supplies;

(xii) Transportation in connection with the rendering of any vocational rehabilitation service;

(xiii) Telecommunications, sensory, and other technological aids and devices;

(xiv) Rehabilitation technology services;

(xv) Referral and other services designed to assist individuals with disabilities in securing needed services from other agencies;

(xvi) Transition services that promote or facilitate the accomplishment of long-term rehabilitation goals and intermediate rehabilitation objectives;

(xvii) On-the-job or other related personal assistance services provided while an individual with a disability is receiving vocational rehabilitation services; and

(xviii) Supported employment services.

(2) When provided for the benefit of groups of individuals, Vocational rehabilitation services also means—

(i) In the case of any type of small business enterprise operated by individuals with the most severe disabilities under the supervision of the State unit, management services, and supervision and acquisition of vending facilities or other equipment, and initial stocks and supplies;

(ii) The establishment, development, or improvement of community rehabilitation programs, including, under special circumstances, the construction of a rehabilitation facility to provide services that promote integration and competitive employment;

(iii) The provision of services, including services provided at community rehabilitation programs, that promise to contribute substantially to the rehabilitation of a group of individuals but that are not related directly to the individualized written rehabilitation program of any one individual with disabilities;

(iv) The use of existing telecommunications systems;

(v) The use of services providing recorded material for persons who are blind and captioned films or video cassettes for persons who are deaf; and

(vi) Technical assistance and support services to businesses that are not subject to title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and that are seeking to employ individuals with disabilities.

Code of Federal Regulations

(Authority: Sec. 103(b) of the Act; 29 U.S.C. 723(b) )

Code of Federal Regulations

[46 FR 5417, Jan. 19, 1981, as amended at 50 FR 38630, Sept. 23, 1985; 53 FR 17143, May 13, 1988; 59 FR 8335, Feb. 18, 1994]