1 of 4 General Policies Rev. 10/2012
Section II
Policy:
At any time Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) resources do not permit all eligible individuals to be served, an order of selection for services shall be implemented giving first priority to individuals with the most significant disabilities. Second priority shall be given to individuals with significant disabilities and third priority to those with non-significant
disabilities. If all eligible customers within a priority category cannot be served, they shall be served in the order in which they applied.
Eligible individuals who do not meet the order of selection for services priority criteria shall, at a minimum, be referred to other federal and state programs within the statewide workforce
investment system, including the Michigan Works! program. Referrals are to be made to those programs best suited to address the specific employment needs of an individual with a disability.
Each referred individual shall have a notice of referral to present to the agency carrying out the program, information identifying a specific point of contact within the agency carrying out the program and, information and advice regarding the most suitable services to assist the individual to prepare for, secure, retain, or regain employment.
An order of selection for services does not affect individuals who have begun to receive services under an approved Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) or who are in need of post
employment services prior to the date a priority category or categories are closed. Eligible individuals in priority categories not able to be served are placed on a waiting list.
Individuals shall be informed in writing of their disability priority category assignment at the time they are notified of their eligibility determination. Any customer who does not agree with the disability priority category to which they are assigned may appeal this decision within 30 days. Customers may submit additional information in an effort to demonstrate assignment to a higher disability priority category.
The AWARE letters identified in job aid 2300c-JA shall be used to inform customers throughout the order of selection process.
Procedure:
The decision to provide services to fewer than all priority categories is reviewed periodically throughout the fiscal year. A full review of the need for an order of selection for services occurs as part of the annual planning process. The MRS Director is responsible for determining how many priority categories and how many eligible customers within each priority category shall receive services at any given time based on the resources available.
The MRS Director will notify MRS staff and major statewide agencies and organizations of the priority categories it is expected MRS will be able to serve in the new fiscal year. Any changes
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Section II
in the priority categories to be served during the fiscal year will also be communicated in writing by the MRS director to MRS staff and pertinent others.
Within the AWARE system, “significance of disability” and “order of selection for services”
priority codes are combined in the “disability priority code” as follows: Most Significantly Disabled is Category 1; Significantly Disabled is Category 2 and Not Significantly Disabled is Category 3.
Applicants placed in extended evaluation or trial work must be given a disability priority category assignment. At a minimum, individuals placed in extended evaluation or trial work must be categorized as “significantly disabled”. The disability priority category assigned in extended evaluation or trial work status might not be the disability priority category assigned at the time eligibility is determined.
If the MRS Director determines that vocational rehabilitation services must be provided under an order of selection for services, an information and referral system will be implemented. This will ensure that eligible individuals with disabilities who do not meet order of selection for services priority categories will be referred to federal and state programs within the statewide workforce investment system including referral to the local Michigan Works! program for assistance with core, intensive and training services, or for other services as appropriate.
Individuals are assigned to the highest priority category for which they are eligible at the time eligibility is decided.
The MRS priority categories are as follows:
Most Significantly Disabled:
A) Individuals with a severe physical or mental impairment that seriously limits three or more of the seven functional capacities in terms of an employment outcome and
B) Whose vocational rehabilitation can be expected to require three or more services over at least six months.
Significantly Disabled:
A) Individuals with a severe physical or mental impairment that seriously limits two of the seven functional capacities in terms of an employment outcome and
B) Whose vocational rehabilitation can be expected to require three or more services over at least six months.
An eligible SSDI or SSI recipient is automatically considered to be, at least, an individual with a significant disability. An SSDI or SSI recipient may be determined most significantly
disabled with additional supporting documentation.
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Not Significantly Disabled:
A) Individuals with a physical or mental impairment that seriously limits one of the seven functional capacities in terms of an employment outcome and
B) Whose vocational rehabilitation does not require multiple services over six months.
The codes to be used for priority categories are as follows:
1. Most Significantly Disabled
2. Significantly Disabled
3. Not Significantly Disabled
For the purpose of determining the disability priority, serious limitations are defined as:
• the individual’s impairment imposes limitations to the degree that the individual’s functioning in the area is poor or below common expectations, or
• that the individual, due to the impairment, may require accommodations* not typically made for other individuals for employability/work.
Determining the appropriate priority category for an eligible individual is based solely on identification of serious limitations in one or more of the seven functional capacity areas. Other factors may affect employability but should not be considered for purposes of defining the significance of an impairment. Such factors may include:
• geographic location,
• poor public transportation, or
• lack of training
Defining limitations in these functional capacity areas relies on the professional rehabilitation counselor’s interpretation of the effect of the impairment on the individual as well as on medical or diagnostic/evaluative information.
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Planning for services to address serious limitations is consistent with the third component of eligibility that requires services to achieve an employment outcome (see Rehabilitation Services Manual (RSM) Item 3100 – Eligibility Criteria). The IPE shall therefore include treatment, supports or other interventions that address substantial barriers to employment by ameliorating, reducing or removing serious limitations in one or more of the functional capacity areas.
Information:
*Accommodations are defined as special working conditions, rehabilitation technology, or substantial support and/or supervision.
The table in job aid 2300b-JA lists each of the seven functional capacity areas, identifies serious limitations in each capacity area and provides examples of interventions that may be required to address or reduce presenting serious limitations through the arrangement or authorization of services to be included in the IPE.
Not included in the table is guidance issued by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) regarding eligibility and disability priority considerations for individuals with Borderline
Intellectual Functioning and Specific Learning Disabilities. The guidance provided in the Technical Assistance Circulars (TAC) below are invaluable in the assessment of eligibility and determining the disability priority category for individuals with these disabilities.
RSA-TAC-05-01 issued on January 10, 2005.
Guidelines for Assessing the Functional Capacities of an Individual with Specific Learning Disabilities to Determine Significance of Disability for Order of Selection Purposes
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/rsa/tac-05-01.doc RSA TAC-11-01: issued on January 21, 2011.
Determining Eligibility for Persons with Borderline Intellectual Functioning under the State Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/rsa/tac/2011/tac-11-01.doc
Michigan Rehabilitation Services