Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Vocational Rehabilitation (Combined or General)
The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services Portion of the Unified or Combined State Plan [13] must include the following descriptions and estimates, as required by section 101(a) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by title IV of WIOA:
__________
[13] Sec. 102(b)(2)(D)(iii) of WIOA
d. 2. B. Transition planning by personnel of the designated State agency and educational agency that facilitates the development and implementation of their individualized education programs;
Current Narrative:
The current MoA between the State Education Agency (DE) and IVRS includes a section specifically addressing transition planning with all LEAs and Area Education Agencies AEAs. The following is included in that section of the MoA:
Transition planning in the state of Iowa must be in place not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child turns 14, or younger if determined appropriate by the IEP team. Consideration for eligibility for special education services continues through the year that a student turns 21 years of age, or to the maximum age allowed by Iowa Code section 256B.8.
IVRS counselors and educators are both responsible for the development and completion of the employment component of a student’s IEP in concert with the student, the parents, and the IEP team. IVRS involvement in the IEP development and completion will be determined by individual student need, not student age or grade. IEP teams and IVRS counselors will consider four factors to determine when employment preparation should start and the intensity of the services that should be provided:
- Student knowledge and skills;
- Student learning characteristics, including student response to ease of accessibility and accommodations;
- Complexity of support needs; and,
- Number of environments impacted.
The more intense the need for services, the earlier preparation should start and the more people who have specialized knowledge (e.g. work experience counselors, IVRS counselors) should be involved. This involvement may be provided by IVRS as part of the Pre-ETS provided. These services can be conducted in a group setting and will require collaboration to determine the Pre-ETS activities that are needed by that specific LEA and will suit the students in that setting.
Those students who require more intensive services in order to learn, understand and apply the information from Pre-ETS activities will be encouraged to submit an application for IVRS. Intense services may not be provided without the student having been determined eligible and served under an IPE.
IVRS staff will review information for students who submit an application for services and AEAs/LEAs will share existing information which will assist IVRS in determining a student’s eligibility. If needed, students will participate in additional assessment(s) to determine eligibility services. The scheduling of these assessment(s) will require collaboration between IVRS, LEA and AEA staff members.
Once an eligibility determination has been made by IVRS, the decision will be shared with the LEA and AEA staff. This information will be considered as part of the student’s transition plan within the IEP.
IVRS counselors will develop an IPE for each individual determined to be eligible for IVRS within 90 days of being removed from the IVRS waiting list (refer to the appropriate section of this Unified State Plan for more information on IVRS' order of selection). The student, parents, educators and IVRS counselors will collaborate so that the goals of the IEP and the IPE will be consistent with one another.