6.1 Eligibility Requirements

The eligibility criteria for vocational rehabilitation services require three determinations and one presumption.

1. The individual has a physical or mental impairment.

2. The impairment(s) constitutes or results in a substantial impediment to employment that is consistent with the individual’s abilities and capabilities.

3. The individual requires vocational rehabilitation services to prepare for, secure, retain, advance in, or regain employment consistent with their unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice.

DVR presumes that an applicant who meets all other eligibility criteria can benefit in terms of an employment outcome from the provision of vocational rehabilitation services. If this presumption is questionable due to the severity of the applicant’s disability, the DVR counseling team shall provide trial work experiences in order to determine eligibility or ineligibility.

The first DVR eligibility criterion requires documented evidence of a physical or mental impairment. The determination of a physical or mental impairment shall be made by qualified personnel. For the purposes of this eligibility criterion, DVR considers qualified personnel to be individuals, practitioners, or organizations that are licensed and regulated by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies to determine the existence of an impairment for their specific area of medical or psychological practice, or who otherwise meet established state or national licensing and certification requirements for that area of practice. In addition, the Social Security Administration (SSA) and education officials responsible for the public education of students with disabilities are considered by DVR to be qualified personnel for this eligibility criterion. Documented evidence of the physical or mental impairment shall be contained within the DVR service record. 

If information from the applicant, and when appropriate, the applicant’s family or authorized representative, is obtained by DVR that indicates the probability of an existing physical or mental impairment that could be an impediment to employment, the DVR counseling team shall procure appropriate diagnostic information, to the degree needed, to establish the presence of a disability. If the individual has a physical or mental impairment, the individual meets the first criterion. If not, the individual shall be determined ineligible.

Some impairments, which are episodic or slowly progressive, may require identification of the limitations that typically worsen in an exacerbation or that have strong likelihood of increasing as the condition progresses. The existence of an impairment is determined without regard to any medication or assistive device that the individual may use. 

Although medication or an assistive device may reduce the impact of the impairment, the individual is still considered to have an impairment.

The second eligibility criterion requires documented evidence by qualified personnel that the impairment(s) constitutes or results in a substantial impediment to employment. DVR Counselors are the qualified personnel who will determine if there are medical, psychological, vocational, educational, communication, and other related factors that interact with the impairment(s) to create a vocational impediment. Substantial impediment to employment means a physical or mental impairment that hinders an individual from preparing for, entering into, engaging in, advancing in, or retaining employment consistent with the individual’s abilities and capabilities. If a substantial impediment to employment is determined by the DVR Counselor to exist, the second eligibility criterion is met. If not, the individual is ineligible.

Extensive employment and/or education history does not preclude a determination that an individual has an impediment to employment. The DVR Counselor will consider all of the information available, including the ways in which the individual’s impairment has impacted their ability to prepare for, enter into, engage in, advance in, and retain competitive integrated employment. If the impairment, including attendant medical, psychological, vocational, educational, communication, and other related factors, hinders the individual in any of these areas, they have a substantial impediment to employment, regardless of current employment status, employment history, level of education, and/or attainment of occupational credentials. If the individual does not experience disability-related barriers in any of these areas as a result of their impairment, they do not have a substantial impediment to employment and are not eligible for vocational rehabilitation services.

Questions to consider that may assist in determining whether an individual with extensive work and/or educational history has substantial impediments to employment include:

● Does the current job, or employment history, reflect employment consistent with the individual’s capabilities and abilities or is this job below the person’s potential?

● Does the job offer wages and hours that enable the individual to be economically self-sufficient?

● Is the individual in a part-time position but capable of full-time employment?

● Can the individual advance with vocational rehabilitation assistance? Are advancement opportunities restricted or limited based on the disability?

If the individual has only a limited work history or no work history, they have a substantial impediment to employment if the impairment(s) and disability-related barriers hinder them in preparing for, entering into, engaging in, advancing in, and retaining employment consistent with their abilities and capabilities. If not, there is no vocational impediment and the individual is ineligible.

The third eligibility criterion requires determination by the DVR Counselor that the applicant requires vocational rehabilitation services to prepare for, secure, retain, advance in, or regain employment consistent with the applicant’s unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice. If there is no necessary vocational rehabilitation service, the individual is ineligible.