The VR Services Manual:
- helps ensure VR customers receive quality services to assist them in achieving successful competitive integrated employment outcomes as a result of their participation in vocational rehabilitation services;
- helps to ensure taxpayer funds are spent wisely and each purchase paid for with public funds represents full value to the taxpayer; and
- provides published policies and procedures for maintaining compliance with federal and state laws, statutes, and rules or regulations.
The latest update to this manual is reflected in the chapters below. Any printed versions may not contain the latest policy changes.
Notes on the Manual
On September 3, 2024, Texas Workforce Commission’s Vocational Rehabilitation Division redesigned the Vocational Rehabilitation Services Manual (VRSM). If you have any questions about VRSM content, please contact the TWC Vocational Rehabilitation Division Policy Team at state office by sending an email message to vrsm.support@twc.texas.gov.
Part A serves as an overview of the Vocational Rehabilitation Services program, administered by the Texas Workforce Commission Vocational Rehabilitation Division (TWC-VR), including the Legal Authority and purpose of the program; populations served; customer rights; citizenship and authorized identification; voter registration; appeals and due process; protection, use, and release of personal information; access and accommodations; ethical conduct; incident reporting; subrogation; services to business; and performance accountability.
Part B serves as the requirements related to the vocational rehabilitation (VR) process, beginning with a general overview and ending with case closure. The VR process is not always linear, and various steps in the VR process may need to be revisited when circumstances change for the customer. For example, once an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) is completed and services have been initiated, a change in the customer's circumstances might require additional assessments, an updated employment goal, an interruption of services, or a change to the services originally included in the IPE, which would require an IPE amendment.
This section addresses the specific roles and responsibilities of the VR team, which is made up of a group of individuals who share responsibility for informing, educating, advocating, facilitating, and encouraging the customer as the customer makes informed decisions to reach their employment goal.
Additionally, Part B includes competitive integrated employment, informed choice, initial contacts and applications, eligibility determination, Order of Selection, Trial Work Experience, comprehensive assessment, IPE development, Computerized Criminal History search, and case closure.
Part C of the Vocational Rehabilitation Services Manual (VRSM) serves as the requirements related to the provision of VR services, including career, training, and other support services. The VRSM includes services that are provided directly by Texas Workforce Commission Vocational Rehabilitation staff (i.e., in-house services), purchased services, and services provided and/or arranged through a comparable service or benefit.
Additionally, Part C outlines an overview of policy and procedures that apply to all services, detailed descriptions of when customers must participate in the cost of their VR services, as well as when the requirement to seek comparable services and benefits applies.
Part D serves as the requirements related to Budgeting and Purchasing, which describes the requirements and TWC-VR staff responsibilities for customer service budget allocation, distribution, and monitoring. Part D also includes the requirements for purchasing goods and services, statewide operating procedures, vendors/contractors and supports the highest compliance with Federal and State law.
It should be noted that the list of regulations cited in the authority sections of Part D are representative, not a comprehensive list.
Part E serves as the requirements for business procedures related to case record management for the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) process. Part E includes information related to case documentation, opening, phase adjusting, and transferring case records as well as RSA-911 reporting and data validation.
Part E also houses three appendices, which contain a comprehensive list of approvals and consultations, a list of VR acronyms, and a glossary of terms and definitions.
Note: This document contains all chapters of the VRSM. It is a large file and may take a long time to download. When possible, refer to individual chapters of this manual, which are smaller and easier to download.