In this manual, references to DARS now refer to TWC. The manual includes both links to public content and links to content available only to staff.

TWC Rehabilitation Services Division Standards for Providers Chapter 8: Standards for Employment Services

Revised July 12, 2017

…

8.8 Supported Employment Overview

Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS) Supported Employment is a comprehensive service package for both blind and visually impaired and for general vocational rehabilitation customers. It includes a variety of services formerly purchased separately.

VRS Supported Employment enables customers with the most significant disabilities to enter competitive integrated employment by:

  • providing individualized assistance finding an appropriate job match;
  • providing Ongoing Support Services; and
  • establishing Extended Services, sometimes called long-term supports, to help the customer to maintain a long-term competitive integrated employment outcome by:
  • identifying resources to deliver the Extended Services;
  • training Extended Service providers;
  • confirming Extended Services are in place, if needed, to make sure that the job is stable; and
  • ensuring all known needs are met before achievement of Benchmark 6, Service Closure.

The VRS Supported Employment Outcome-Based System (SE) places and then trains customers in order to support them in obtaining and maintaining long-term competitive integrated employment.

By matching the customer to a job and then providing ongoing supports and training, the customer develops job readiness skills while on the job. An employer who hires a VRS customer should provide training for the customer just as it does for other new employees, with help and support from the vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselor and the supported employment specialist.

8.8.1 Customized Employment Approach

Customized employment is used to develop the best job match for the customer through the use of flexible strategies to meet the needs of both the individual and the unmet business needs of the employer. It addresses the unique skills, interests, abilities, capabilities, and support needs of an individual with a significant disability. Many times these jobs must be created or carried out by means of flexible strategies to ensure a good job match.

8.8.2 Role of the Supported Employment Specialist and/or Job Skills Trainer

The supported employment specialist:

  • identifies and develops the best possible job match and provides short-term supports to address the customer's barriers to employment;
  • arranges for paid supports from resources other than VRS and natural supports, such as peers or and co-workers, to meet the customer's long-term needs;
  • ensures the job skills trainer provides adequate and regular support to the customer; and
  • works in coordination with the VR counselor throughout the Supported Employment process to ensure the best possible employment outcome.

8.8.3 Ongoing Support Services

Supported Employment Services must include such ongoing support services as:

  • social skills training;
  • job skills training;
  • observation of customer performance;
  • setting up or training of "natural supports" or Extended Service providers; and
  • setting up accommodations at the worksite.

Ongoing Support Services must be provided at least twice each month to monitor the customer at the work site and as necessary off-site to ensure the customer maintains successful competitive integrated employment. Under certain circumstances, especially at the request of the customer and with approval from the counselor, the twice-monthly monitoring meetings with the customer may be held off-site. If off-site monitoring is determined to be appropriate, at least one contact with the employer each month is required.

8.8.4 Extended Services

The VR counselor coordinates the provision of Department of Aging and Disability Services, the Department of State Health Services, and Managed Care Organization funding for long-term support services. These state agencies may provide Extended Services for a customer at completion of Benchmark 5: Job Stability, through such programs as Community Living Assistance and Support Services, Home and Community-Based Service, and Texas Home Living waivers. VRS providers coordinate with and train all Extended Service providers before a case achieves Job Stability.

8.8.5 Benchmarks Required for Payment

VRS Supported Employment includes the following benchmarks and components required for payment to providers:

  • Benchmark 1A: Supported Employment Assessment (SEA) and SEA meeting
  • Benchmark 1B: Supported Employment Service Plan
  • Benchmark 2: Job Placement and Completion of five days worked and Supported Employment Service Plan
  • Benchmark 3: 28 days (four weeks) of Job Maintenance
  • Benchmark 4: 56 days (eight Weeks) Job Maintenance
  • Benchmark 5: Job Stability
  • At least 56 days of employment
  • Completion of Job stability meeting
  • Benchmark 6: Service Closure
  • 146 cumulative days of employment
  • 90 cumulative days after achievement of Benchmark 5: Job Stability

8.8.6 Eligibility for Supported Employment Services

A VR counselor authorizes the purchase of Supported Employment if the customer:

  • has been determined a customer with a most significant disability;
  • will benefit from the "Place then Train" model of job placement;
  • needs extensive comprehensive training and support to compete in the labor market;
  • needs ongoing supports to maintain an employment outcome;
  • requires Extended Services and long-term supports provided by another person, organization, or other resource through on-site or off-site services and/or monitoring after VRS VR-funded services end;
  • requires considerable assistance competing in the open job market;
  • has not had competitive integrated employment or employment has been interrupted or intermittent; and
  • has been able to obtain and maintain a competitive integrated job when necessary supports are in place.

8.8.7 Duration of Supported Employment Services

VRS Supported Employment services should not be longer than 24 months. Services may be extended if the customer needs additional time to reach job stability. The VR counselor and the customer must agree to extend services and document the extension in the customer's Individual Plan of Employment. A DARS3472, Contract Service Modification Request, must be completed and submitted for approval if the VRS Supported Employment Services are longer than 24 months. If VRS grants an extension, the provider receives a copy of the approved DARS3472, and VRS issues a new service authorization and sends it to the provider.

8.8.8 Other Services Not Purchased with Supported Employment

The following vocational rehabilitation services cannot be purchased while a customer is receiving Supported Employment services from an Employment Services provider:

  • Job Development
  • Bundled Job Placement
  • Job Placement—Blind Services only
  • Job Readiness Training—Blind Services only
  • Job Skills Training (Job Coaching)
  • Non-bundled Job Placement
  • On-the-job training (OJT)
  • Personal Social Adjustment Training (PSAT)
  • Vocational Adjustment Training (VAT)
  • Vocational Assessment
  • Vocational Evaluation
  • Work Adjustment Training (WAT)
  • Work Experience (WE)

8.8.9 Referral for Supported Employment Services

The VR counselor completes the DARS1610, Supported Employment Service and Supported Self-Employment–Referral, and submits it to the provider. The VR counselor is responsible for overseeing the Supported Employment services provided to VRS customers.

The Supported Employment provider must receive a:

  • DARS1610, Supported Employment Service and Supported Self-Employment–Referral; and
  • a service authorization and/or purchase order with active service dates for the benchmark.

8.8.10 Documentation Requirements

Forms

All of the VRS forms for these services must be:

  • completed on a computer;
  • completed thoroughly and correctly;
  • unique and individualized for the customer for which the report is being completed; and
  • signed by all the required parties; however, only the Supported Employment specialist and/or job skills trainer who provided the services can sign the form for the provider.

If a section of the form is marked as not applicable (N/A), the section must include an explanation of why the section so marked.

The following forms must be completed before job placement:

  • DARS1613A, Supported Employment Service Plan 1 (SESP–1) Demographics;
  • DARS1613B, SESP–1 Plan and Benchmark Report; and
  • DARS1613C, SESP–1 Extended Supports, which is completed in a Supported Employment Service Plan meeting and approved by the VR counselor.
Signatures on Forms

All signatures must be original, handwritten, and dated; electronic signatures are not accepted.

Before signing a form, the provider reviews the applicable Standards for Providers to ensure the report is complete and accurate before submission. If VRS verification indicates the provider documented inaccurate information, repayment of funds may be required.

Invoices

The following are required when a provider submits an invoice:

  • Completion of services (achieving all required deliverables)
  • Fully complete, accurate, signed, and dated forms documenting services provided
  • A complete and accurate invoice

Use the date on which the benchmark is achieved as the date of service on the invoice (for example, the date of the SEA meeting, the date that SESP–1 was completed, the date of the fifth, 28th, and 56th day of paid employment, the job stability date, and the 90th day after the job stability date.) The billing documentation may not be submitted until the day after achieving the service benchmark.

A Supported Employment specialist verifies a customer's dates of employment through employer or customer contact and documents the verification on the appropriate form for the invoice.

If the customer loses his or her job, the customer's progress within the benchmark is stopped until:

  • the VR counselor, the customer, and the Supported Employment specialist have a Supported Employment Service Plan (SESP–1) meeting to:
  • discuss the reasons the customer lost the job;
  • review the SESP–1 and create a new SESP–1, if needed; and
  • determine the plan for gaining another placement;
  • the customer becomes reemployed in a new position; and
  • a new SESP–2 is completed to reflect the new position.

If an invoice is incomplete or inaccurate, or if supporting documentation is incomplete or inaccurate, VRS sends the provider a DARS3460, Vendor Invoice Additional Data Request, and payment is not made until the provider submits corrections to VRS.

Each benchmark is authorized only one time per customer unless VRS determines it is in the customer's best interest to authorize the benchmark more than once. Any change to the benchmarks must be approved using the DARS3472, Contract Service Modification Request.

Premiums

The following premiums are payable at Benchmark 1B:

  • Autism
  • Deaf

The following premium services are paid after achievement of Benchmark 6:

  • Autism
  • Criminal Background
  • Deaf
  • Professional Placement
  • Wage
Other Changes That Might Occur

If the customer does not work for seven or more days because of illness, injury, vacation, or short-term disability before the completion of Benchmark 5, the customer's progress within the benchmark is stopped until the customer returns to work and works the required hours outlined in the SESP–1 for at least one day in a seven-day work week.

If the customer wants to change his or her targeted job tasks, negotiable employment conditions, or nonnegotiable employment conditions, a SESP–1 meeting must be held to update the DARS1613B, Supported Employment Service Plan 1 (SESP–1) Plan and Benchmark Report.

If the customer obtains a new position with the current employer or begins a new job with another employer, the customer must complete a minimum of 30 cumulative days of employment in the new job before Benchmark 5: Job Stability, is established or re-established;

8.8.11 Provider Staff Qualifications

Before any services are provided to customers, the Employment Service provider director must approve the DARS3455, Provider Staff Information, completed by each staff, such as trainer and aides, and submit the approved form to the provider's assigned TWC contract manager and assigned VRS regional program specialist. The DARS3455 must state the staff's qualifications and provide evidence of meeting all qualifications, such as transcripts, diplomas, reference letters, credentials, and licenses.

Staff qualification for each service is described below. If a qualification requires a University of North Texas Workplace Inclusion and Sustainable Employment (UNTWISE) Texas Credential, see Texas Credential Training for more information.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Provider's staff that provides services to customers who are deaf and who will be paid a premium for their specialized skills must document proficiency in sign language skills by holding a Board for Evaluation of Interpreters (BEI) certification, a Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) certification, or a Sign Language Proficiency Interview (SLPI) rating of "intermediate plus." For more information on the SLPI, go to SLPI ASL.

Autism

Provider's staff that provides services to customers who meet the qualifications for the Autism Premium and have an up to date University of North Texas Workplace Inclusion and Sustainable Employment (UNTWISE) Autism Specialization Endorsement will be paid a premium if the VR counselor has identified a need for specialized skills related to Autism.

Non-Credentialed Staff

A non-credentialed provider staff may provide services to a VRS customer only when the Temporary Waiver of Employment Services Credential Standards is followed. For more information, refer to Chapter 1: Basic Services, 1.13 Staff Documentation, Temporary Waiver of Director and Employment Services Credential.

Supported Employment Specialist

The required qualifications for a Supported Employment specialist are:

  • a current UNTWISE Texas Supported Employment Specialist Credential; and
  • high school diploma or GED; however, a bachelor's degree in rehabilitation, business, marketing, or related human services is preferred.
Job Skills Trainer

The required qualifications for a job skills trainer and/or job coach can be found in 8.7 Job Skills Training (Job Coaching), Staff Qualifications.

Additional staff qualifications are required for Supported Employment specialists or job skills trainers who work with individuals that use sign language or individuals that qualify for the Autism Service Premiums. Refer to 8.4 Employment Premium Services for more information.

8.8.12 Benchmarks for Supported Employment

8.8.12.1 Benchmark 1A: Discovery, Supported Employment Assessment, and the SEA Review Meeting
Service Description

The completion of the SEA, using the Discovery Process, and the SEA review meeting are required for Benchmark 1A.

The provider achieves Benchmark 1A when the provider:

  • completes the Discovery Process;
  • submits the DARS1612, Supported Employment Assessment (SEA); and
  • attends the SEA review meeting.

The SEA and the SEA review meeting may be authorized only one time per customer.

Process and Procedure

The Supported Employment specialist begins the process for achieving Benchmark 1A by completing the Discovery Process.

The Discovery Process helps the provider to collect the information needed to answer the questions on the DARS1612, Supported Employment Assessment (SEA). The Supported Employment Assessment report must describe the customer and the customer's employment goals clearly.

VRS recommends the person-centered planning process be used when collecting information for the SEA.

The Discovery Process completed by the Supported Employment specialist includes:

  • an interview with the customer;
  • development of the person-centered plan;
  • interviews with members of the customer's Circle of Support and discussions with Extended Services providers the customer will use (see Long-Term Supports and Services Quick Reference Guide for additional information);
  • observing the customer's work skills, life skills, and behaviors at home and in the community, and touring current or potential work environments with the customer;
  • identifying and observing vocational interests, preferences, and themes;
  • collecting personal, school, and employer reference information;
  • assessing the customer's learning styles and needs for adaptive technology, accommodations, and on-site supports;
  • assessing and identifying the customer's strengths, challenges, and transferable skills by exploring the customer's interests, capabilities, preferences, motivations, learning styles, challenges, ongoing support needs, and resources;
  • learning about the employment conditions related to the customer's preferences, resources and support needs in order to achieve and maintain employment outcomes (including self-employment outcomes);
  • learning about the customer's need for Extended Services and supports at or away from the job site to ensure competitive integrated employment success;
  • carrying out informational interviews and work-skills observation completed by the customer; and
  • completing an assessment summary.

Best practice indicates the Discovery Process should take between 20 to 30 hours for each customer.

Completing the DARS1612, Supported Employment Assessment (SEA)

When completing the DARS1612, Supported Employment Assessment (SEA), the Supported Employment specialist will incorporate information about:

  • the Discovery Process;
  • benefits planning; and
  • the customer's cognitive and physical abilities.

The DARS1612, Supported Employment Assessment, must include the following information:

  • Findings of the Discovery Interview;
  • Findings of the Circle of Support Interviews;
  • Residential History and Domestic Information;
  • Customer's Community Resources and Supports;
  • Medical and Psychological History;
  • Customer's Volunteer and Work History;
  • Customer's Education History;
  • Discovery of customer's interests leading to information interviews and work skills observations;
  • Customer's vocational themes and interest;
  • Findings of the Informational Interview and Work Skill Observations;
  • Summary of the customer's Present Level of Functioning Observed by the Provider.

The DARS1612 also captures the following information:

  • Supports that family, friends, and professionals provide to help the customer maintain a high-quality life at home and in the community (for example, financial assistance, assistive technology, room and board, supervision for safety, and transportation)
  • Extended Services and supports that may be necessary for a successful employment outcome, including self-employment
Use of Environmental Work Assessment

If an Environment Work Assessment (EWA) is purchased for a customer, the SEA must be prorated. In these cases, the Informational Interview or Work Skills Observations section of the SEA are not completed; information from the EWA will be used in place of this section in the SEA.