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:
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[13] Sec. 102(b)(2)(D)(iii) of WIOA
d. 2. C. Roles and responsibilities, including financial responsibilities, of each agency, including provisions for determining State lead agencies and qualified personnel responsible for transition services;
Current Narrative:
The Office of Special Education shall monitor school districts in their responsibility to allocate resources and provide transition services under IDEA to students with disabilities while they are still enrolled in the secondary school setting. The LEA is primarily responsible for providing transition-related services while youth are still enrolled in the secondary school setting. Nothing under WIOA or Title I of the Rehabilitation Act shall be construed as reducing an LEA's obligation under the IDEA to provide or pay for transition services that are also considered special education or related services and that are necessary for ensuring a free appropriate public education to children with disabilities.
It is the LEA's responsibility to allocate the resources to implement the services agreed upon in the IEP. If an outside agency fails to provide agreed upon services in the IEP, it is the LEA's responsibility to reconvene the IEP team to determine how these services might now be provided. The LEA is not responsible for providing and paying for those services that another agency agreed to, but failed to provide.
In collaboration with the IEP team, the special education teacher's role in transition includes
- providing specific information regarding the individual's strengths, past achievements, and current progress in school;
- discussing and identifying courses which address the student's selected program of study and work experiences that might be beneficial given the individual's interests and identifying any strategies or accommodations/modifications to access the general curriculum;
- referring students with disabilities who may be potentially eligible for VR services, and are in need of those services, to the pre-employment transition specialist as identified in Section III. Transition Planning above; and
- linking students with disabilities and their families to appropriate postsecondary services, supports, adult services agencies or programs, such as MVR, prior to the student's graduation or exit from high school.
Vocational rehabilitation services are individualized and based upon the needs and employment goal of each eligible youth. Therefore, some services may only be provided during the final year of high school or after the individual graduates or exits the secondary school setting.
The LEA is primarily responsible for providing and paying for those services related to transition planning for educational purposes while the student is still in school. MVR is primarily responsible for the cost of transition planning for employment purposes. In some cases, MVR and the LEA share responsibilities for the provision of transition services, which sometimes requires sharing the financial responsibility of providing services within the parameters of both the Rehabilitation Act and IDEA.
If there is a dispute between the student/client and the LEA regarding his/her IEP, the student will follow the process provided for in the LEA's school board adopted policy for this purpose. If there is a dispute between the student/client and MVR regarding his/her IPE, the student will follow the process provided for in MVR regulations and procedure.
Most MVR services are provided at no cost to the youth and the youth's family; however, payment for some MVR services is based on individual and family income/resources and the ability to pay for costs associated with a specific service. Comparable services may be used prior to the provision of transition services.
When a student with a disability is both in school and has an IPE with MVR, the cost of services necessary for both the student's education and for the student to become employed, will be delineated between the LEA in terms of what accommodation the student needs to complete his/her high school coursework and MVR in terms of what the student requires to attain employment per the student's IPE.