Service to the BlindVocational Rehabilitation Services
Professional Rehabilitation Counselors provide guidance and deliver services that allow consumers to select occupations of their own choosing. The counselor and consumer jointly develop a plan that will result in employment. SBVI can pay for training and employment preparation costs that lead to meaningful employment in a broad range of careers for blind citizens.
Eligibility Requirements
Services are available to individuals who have a visual disability that interferes with obtaining or retaining employment. The individual must be able to benefit from services in terms of an employment outcome and must require vocational rehabilitation services to achieve that outcome.
Services Available
All services must be part of an Individualized Plan for Employment and must be jointly agreed to by the consumer and counselor. Services may include, but are not limited to:
- Vocational Counseling
Throughout the process, a skilled counselor, knowledgeable about disability issues, will assist you in planning for the future and help you resolve problems along the way.
- Work Skills
In order for people to become employed they must have vocational skills needed by employers. If lacking such skills, training may be provided on-the-job, through supported employment, at a vocational technical school, or at a college or university.
- Skills of Blindness Training
SBVI staff are trained to assist individuals who are blind or visually impaired in the areas of orientation and mobility (independent travel), communications (Braille, money identification, writing guides), computers, and home making (cooking, cleaning).
- Job Site Accommodations
For some individuals, special equipment or changing the way the job is done will be necessary in order to meet the work requirements of an employer. This may involve purchasing special equipment or redesigning a work area for an employer.
- Medical Services
Medical services such as laser treatment or corrective surgery may be needed for an individual to obtain work or maintain employment.
- Job Placement
The focus of all services is to enable individuals to get or keep a quality job. Individuals and their counselor will develop a placement plan that will help in finding a job in the work force.
- Employer Services
Many employers have questions about how best to accommodate the needs of a worker with a disability. Free technical assistance is available to employers in our state.
An audio version of the Information and Application Packet for for SBVI Vocational Rehabilitation is provided here as a tool.
The following topics are discussed:
- Letter from the Division Director (found at 0:10)
- Table of Contents (found at 2:50)
- Application and Eligibility Information (found at 7:38)
- VR Services (found at 16:47)
- Employment and Closure (found at 25:44)
- Financial Needs Test - Will You Have to Pay for Services (found at 28:36)
- Rights and Responsibilities (found at 33:19)
