Principles and Operating Guidelines for Vocational Rehabilitation Services and Employment

For most Americans, the full realization of their inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness involves the opportunity to work at a meaningful job, for significant wages, alongside others similarly engaged. Work fulfills each individual's need to be productive, enables independence and self-esteem, and allows for participation in the rhythms and rituals of everyday life.

For too long, Americans with disabilities have been denied the opportunity to share in this birthright. As basic rights have been assured to members of minority groups and women over the past three decades, passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 holds the promise of extending the commitment to full social participation to all persons with disabilities. Once law is established, policy and practice must follow to both implement and safeguard the prescription.

Fundamental to the success of efforts to change existing services systems in order to achieve a common purpose, is the existence of an agreed upon set of basic principles governing mutual interests and guiding joint endeavors. Persons with disabilities have multiple and varied needs, yet each individual must be recognized as both unique and valued. Similarly, those who provide services and assistance to persons with disabilities have extensive differences in professional perspective, training, experience and resources. Such differences must be acknowledged as an asset and built upon. All who are dedicated to the realization of the benefits of work for persons with disabilities will be served by establishing basic principles guiding both their vision and action.

Therefore, the New York State Interagency Council for Vocational Rehabilitation has developed and adopted the following principles and operating guidelines for vocational rehabilitation services and employment for persons with disabilities. They are intended to guide State Agencies, employers, service providers, advocates, families and consumers in their decision-making, goal-setting and implementation activities. The declaration consists of six fundamental precepts, each with a series of corollaries which provide clarity and direction to their interpretation and use. The principles are rooted in the beliefs that individuals with disabilities will benefit from collaborative and coordinated interaction among State agencies; that activities should be directed at providing employment opportunities in the most integrated settings appropriate in accordance with the individual's needs, abilities and preferences; and that the individual must exercise a controlling influence over his or her service plan, and must be a central, active participant in its evolution and realization.

1. Work is a valued activity, both for individuals and society.

1.1 Productive work is valued and can be done in any environment.

1.2 Society, industry and government should assist people to achieve the goal of productive work.

2. All persons with disabilities are assumed to be capable of engaging in productive work, and should have the opportunity to do so.

2.1 All persons with disabilities should be considered for vocational rehabilitation services and meaningful employment.

2.2 Persons with disabilities should participate actively in setting their own educational and vocational goals.

2.3 Vocational assessment should be viewed as an ongoing process directed at identifying, at the earliest possible time, changes in a person's capabilities which may permit enhanced independence or vocational opportunity.

2.4 Persons with disabilities should participate actively in their vocational assessments, should be informed of results, and should participate in program planning.

2.5 Persons with disabilities and their families are primary sources of information about vocational aspirations, interest, abilities and goals, as well as eligibility and need for services.

2.6 Persons with disabilities have the right to challenge program and placement decision, and shall be informed of the process available and sources of assistance to exercise this right.

2.7 Vocational assessments should be individualized, comprehensive and involved the person and, where appropriate, the family.

2.8 Vocational assessment should be conducted by qualified individuals and whenever appropriate, in work environments.

2.9 Vocational assessment should be used to objectively identify an individual's abilities and strengths, and should lead to the development of a plan for coordinated interventions to capitalize on strengths, address needs and enable the person to become employed.

2.10 To the extent possible, vocational assessments should be conducted by persons or programs independent of the placement options.

2.11 Results of assessments and evaluations for the purpose of making eligibility determinations and for program planning should be accepted by all state agencies providing vocational services.

3. Government should encourage people with disabilities to work in the most integrated setting possible in accordance with their needs and abilities.

3.1 Natural supports available at the work site should be used to the greatest extent possible.

3.2 Government should provide assistance and incentives to employers seeking qualified people with disabilities to meet workforce needs.

3.3 Government should assist people with disabilities in acquiring competencies which will fulfill workforce needs.

3.4 Worksite training programs where people learn appropriate work behaviors and competencies should, whenever possible, replace segregated "readiness" or prevocational programs.

3.5 Less integrated work environments should be made available to persons with disabilities who require this option in order to work successfully.

3.6 Alternative work settings should promote opportunities for interaction with people who are not disabled to the maximum extent possible.

4. Work should help each person with a disability meet personal growth, social and financial needs.

4.1 Providers of vocational services have an obligation to address the individual's personal employment goals.

4.2 Persons with disabilities should be paid fairly based on prevailing wages for work performed.

4.3 All persons should be afforded the same opportunity for occupational health, safety and benefits, regardless of disability or worksite.

4.4 Vocational success is dependent upon satisfying the vocational and non-vocational needs of persons with disabilities, and the work environment should not present unnecessary barriers to the satisfaction of those needs.

5. Government, business, industry and organized labor should support and fund those services necessary to facilitate the ability of persons with disabilities to work.

5.1 To attain integrated employment persons with disabilities should be given appropriate training, adaptations to the work environment and other support services as necessary.

5.2 Government, business, industry and organized labor should support a flexible array of services and supports that a person with a disability can access at various points as needed in lieu of requiring progression through a rigid continuum.

5.3 There should be a unified, consistent and integrated methodology for funding vocational services across state agencies.

5.4 Reimbursement to the provider should be based on the needs of individuals receiving services, and should be based upon the reasonable and necessary cost of service delivery.

5.5 A service provider's program renewal and expansion should be contingent upon meeting performance goals based on specific needs of persons with disabilities.

5.6 Whenever possible, vocational support services should be provided in generic settings (e.g., community services that people without disabilities traditionally access).

5.7 Funding methodologies should permit the separation of the business and service/support components of a program, and should reward providers for good business practices.

5.8 Use of related services (e.g., interpreter, personal care assistant and mobility instructor) necessary to support a vocational program should be maximized.

6. Regulations and monitoring should reflect and promote the above work-related principles.

6.1 Some degree of standardization, regulation, and recordkeeping is desirable but should be kept to the minimum necessary to ensure accountability and quality of services.

6.2 Guidelines for quality services should be issued which emphasize high standards to be attained.

6.3 Internal peer review and self-evaluation should be encouraged, and should utilize a team process involving consumers and professions.

6.4 Regulation and monitoring should be streamlined and coordinated among federal, state and local governing bodies.