The State plan shall set forth the standards and policies established for the counseling of handicapped individuals which will assure (a) adequate counseling services to the individual in connection with his vocational potentialities and the health, personal and social problems related to his vocational adjustment; and (b) necessary assistance to him in developing an understanding of his capacities and limitations, in selecting a suitable occupational goal, and in using appropriately the medical services, training, and other rehabilitation services needed to achieve the best possible vocational adjustment. The State plan shall also provide for the securing of reports from agencies, institutions and individuals providing vocational rehabilitation services and for other methods of evaluating the progress in each case which will aid the counselor in his contacts with the handicapped individual. § 401.29 Economic need.

(a) The State plan shall provide that no economic needs test will be applied as a condition for furnishing the following vocational rehabilitation services: (1) Diagnostic and related services (including transportation); (2) counseling; (3) placement.

(b) A State need not condition the provision of any vocational rehabilitation services on the economic need of the handicapped individual. If, however, the State elects to have such a condition, the State plan shall set forth the agency's policies with respect to the determination of economic need, and shall specify the types of vocational rehabilitation services for which the agency has established an economic needs test. The policies so established shall be reasonable and shall be applied uniformly so that equitable treatment is accorded all individuals in similar circumstances.

(a) The State plan shall provide that the agency will give full consideration to any benefit available to the handicapped individual by way of pension, compensation or insurance to meet, in whole or in part, the cost of any vocational rehabilitation services provided to the individual except diagnostic and related services (including transportation), counseling, training, reader services for the blind, interpreter services for the deaf and placement.

(b) The State plan shall provide that when, and to the extent that, an individual is eligible for a benefit by way of pension, compensation or insurance which is available to meet the cost of the particular vocational rehabilitation service, the benefit will be utilized for such service. Such benefits would include (but would not be limited to): (1) Hospital and physicians' services plans, in relation to physical restoration services; and (2) workmen's compensation, veterans' benefits, old age, survivors', and disability insurance benefits, and unemployment compensation, in relation to basic maintenance.

§ 401.31 Recording of case data.

The State plan shall provide that the State agency will maintain a record for each case which will contain pertinent information about the individual and the services provided. For those individuals accepted for service, the case record shall include the following items to the extent pertinent: (a) Data supporting the determination of eligibility and pertinent information secured in the diagnostic study; (b) data supporting the decision to provide services to determine the rehabilitation potential for those cases for which the third condition of eligibility cannot be determined immediately, the extended evaluation plan and progress reports on the extended evaluation; (c) data relating to the establishment of the client's need for financial assistance if the State elects to condition the provision of any services on the economic need of the client; (d) data relating to the eligibility of the individual for similar benefits by way of pension, compensation and insurance; (e) data supporting the clinical status of the client's disabling condition as stable or slowly progressive in the event that the physical restoration services are

provided after the establishment of the three basic conditions of eligibility; (f) a vocational rehabilitation plan, setting forth the vocational rehabilitation objective of the individual, the services needed for his vocational rehabilitation as determined through the case study and extended evaluation, if provided, and the way in which such services will be provided; and (g) the reason and justification for closing the case, including the employment status of the client, and, if the case is closed as employed, the basis on which the employment was determined to be suitable. For those individuals not found eligible, the case record shall include data supporting the finding of ineligibility. § 401.32

Confidential information.

(a) The State plan shall provide that the State agency will adopt such regulations as are necessary to assure that:

(1) All information as to personal facts given or made available to the State or local rehabilitation agency, its representatives, or its employees, in the course of the administration of the vocational rehabilitation program, including lists of names and addresses and records of agency evaluation, shall be held to be confidential.

(2) The use of such information and records shall be limited to purposes directly connected with the administration of the vocational rehabilitation program and may not be disclosed, directly or indirectly, other than in the administration thereof, unless the consent of the client to such release has been obtained either expressly or by necessary implication. Release of information to employers in connection with the placement of the client may be considered as release of information in connection with the administration of the vocational rehabilitation program. Such information may, however, be released to welfare agencies or programs from which the client has requested certain services under circumstances from which his consent may be presumed, provided such agencies have adopted regulations which will assure that the information will be held confidential, and can assure that the information will be used only for the purposes for which it is provided. Such information will be released to an organization or individual engaged in research only for purposes directly connected with the administration of the

State vocational rehabilitation program (including research for the development of new knowledge or techniques which would be useful in the administration of the program) and only if the organization or individual furnishes satisfactory assurance that the information will be used only for the purpose for which it is provided; that it will not be released to persons not connected with the study under consideration; and that the final product of the research will not reveal any information that may serve to identify any person about whom information has been obtained through the State agency, without written consent of such person and the State agency.

(3) All such information is the property of the State agency or of the State and local rehabilitation agency, and may be used only in accordance with the agency's regulations.

(b) The State plan shall further provide that the State agency will adopt such procedures and standards as are necessary to: (1) Give effect to its regulations; (2) assure that all rehabilitation clients and interested persons will be informed as to the confidentiality of vocational rehabilitation information; (3) assure the adoption of such office practices and the availability of such office facilities and equipment as will assure the adequate protection of the confidentiality of such records.

STATE PLAN Content: SERVICES § 401.33 Scope of agency program.

(a) As required by the act, the State plan shall provide as a minimum for the furnishing of the following vocational rehabilitation services to each eligible individual found by the diagnostic study to require such services: Counseling, training, maintenance during rehabilitation, physical restoration, and placement.

(b) The State plan shall describe all the services to be provided, the general scope of agency activities to be undertaken, and the categories of expenditures in which the State agency will request Federal financial participation. § 401.34 Standards for facilities and personnel.

The State plan shall provide that the State agency will establish and maintain standards for the various types of

facilities and professional personnel utilized in providing services to eligible individuals, and shall describe the general content of such standards and the bases on which they were developed. The State plan shall also set forth the methods to be employed for maintaining such standards in accessible form for agency personnel.

§ 401.35 Rates of payment.

The State plan shall provide for the establishment of rates of payment for diagnostic services, training, and physical restoration services purchased for clients, describe the policies used in arriving at such rates, and provide that the State agency will maintain in accessible form information justifying such rates of payment.

The State plan shall set forth the policies that the State agency will follow in furnishing training to eligible individuals to the extent necessary to achieve their vocational rehabilitation. Such training includes vocational, prevocational, personal adjustment training, and other rehabilitation training which contributes to the individual's vocational adjustment; it covers training provided directly by the State agency or procured from other public or private training facilities. The State plan shall also include the State agency's policies with respect to the provision of books and training materials, including books.

§ 401.37 Physical restoration services.

The State plan shall set forth the policies that the State agency will follow in furnishing physical restoration services to individuals to the extent necessary to determine their rehabilitation potential or achieve their vocational rehabilitation. The State plan shall further specify that, with respect to those cases for which the State agency wishes Federal financial participation in expenditures for physical restoration services to clients certified as eligible under § 401.20, the following additional criteria are met in each case: (a) The clinical status of the individual's condition is stable or slowly progressive (i.e., the condition must not be acute or transitory); and (b) physical restoration services may be expected to eliminate or substantially reduce the handicapping condition within a reasonable period of time.

The State plan shall set forth the policies with respect to furnishing transportation incidental to provision of diagnostic or other vocational rehabilitation services under the State plan. Transportation is considered to mean the necessary travel and related costs in connection with transporting handicapped individuals for the purpose of providing diagnostic or other vocational rehabilitation services under the State plan. Transportation includes costs of travel and subsistence during travel (or per diem allowances in lieu of subsistence) for handicapped individuals and their attendants or escorts, where such assistance is needed.

§ 401.39 Maintenance.

(a) The State plan shall specify the policies established for provision of maintenance and shall provide that maintenance will be furnished only in order to enable an individual to derive the full benefit of other vocational rehabilitation services being provided. As needed in the individual case, maintenance may be provided at any time in connection with vocational rehabilitation services from the date of initiation of such services, including diagnostic services, to a reasonable period following placement.

(b) The State plan may provide that the agency will assume responsibility for provision, as a part of maintenance, of amounts to cover the cost of short periods of medical care for acute conditions arising in the course of vocational rehabilitation, which, if not cared for, would constitute a hazard to the completion of the determination of the rehabilitation potential or the achievement of the vocational rehabilitation objective. § 401.40

Placement.

The State plan shall provide that the State or local rehabilitation agency will assume responsibility for placement of individuals accepted for service. The State plan shall set forth the standards established for determining if the client is suitably employed, and shall provide for a reasonable period of followup after placement to assure that the vocational rehabilitation of the client has been successfully achieved.

§ 401.41

Tools, equipment, initial stocks and supplies, occupational licenses.

The State plan shall describe the policies governing the provision of tools, equipment, initial stocks (including livestock) and supplies, and equipment, initial stocks and supplies for vending stands. The State plan shall further describe the conditions governing the provision of occupational licenses.

§ 401.42 Special services for the blind and deaf.

The State plan shall set forth the policies that the State agency will follow in providing reader services for the blind and interpreter services for the deaf. § 401.43 Other goods and services.

The State plan shall set forth the policies that the State agency will follow in providing other goods and services necessary to render a handicapped individual fit to engage in a gainful occupation or to determine his rehabilitation potential. § 401.44 Small business enterprises including vending stands.

If the State agency wishes Federal financial participation in establishing small business enterprises (including vending stands) or in the management services and supervision provided to such small business enterprises, the State plan shall, to the extent pertinent, (a) describe the types of small business enterprises to be established under the program; (b) describe the policies governing the acquisition of vending stands or other equipment and initial stocks (including livestock) and supplies for such businesses; (c) describe the policies governing the management and supervision of the program; (d) describe how management and supervision will be accomplished either by the State or local rehabilitation agency, or by some other organization as the nominee of such agency, subject to its control; and (e) provide that only those persons defined as severely handicapped in the State plan will be selected to participate in this supervised program.

§ 401.45 Establishment of workshops.

If a State agency desires Federal financial participation in establishing public or other nonprofit workshops, the State plan shall: (a) Provide that the State agency will determine that needs for individual workshops exist prior to

their establishment and that such establishment is consistent with the State workshops and rehabilitation facilities plan; and (b) set forth criteria and standards applicable to such workshops with respect to physical plant, equipment, personnel, administration and management, health, safety, wages, hours, working conditions, workmen's compensation or liability insurance, and other pertinent conditions. In setting forth such standards, the State plan may incorporate, insofar as applicable, the standards of the Commissioner as developed with the advice of the National Policy and Performance Council. The State plan shall further provide for coordination between the State agency and the State agency administering the Medical Facilities Survey and Construction Act of 1954 (P.L. 482, 83d Cong.) as amended, the Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963 (P.L. 164, 88th Cong.) as amended, and any other act concerned with the establishment and development of workshops, in order to prevent duplication of workshops and impairment of the objectives of the State rehabilitation program. The State plan shall also provide that reports concerning the establishment of workshops shall be submitted in such form and shall contain such information as the Commissioner may require.

§ 401.46 Establishment of rehabilitation facilities.

If a State agency desires Federal filnancial participation in establishing public or other nonprofit rehabilitation facilities, the State plan shall: (a) Provide that the State agency will determine that needs for individual rehabilitation facilities exist prior to their establishment and that such establishment is consistent with the State workshops and rehabilitation facilities plan; and (b) set forth the criteria and standards applicable to such facilities with respect to physical plant, equipment, personnel, administration and management, safety and other pertinent conditions. In setting forth such standards, the State plan may incorporate, insofar as applicable, the standards of the Commissioner as developed with the advice of the National Policy and Performance Council. The State plan shall further provide for coordination between the

State agency and the State agency administering the Medical Facilities Survey and Construction Act of 1954 (P.L. 482, 83d Cong.) as amended, the Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963 (P.L. 164, 88th Cong.) as amended, and any other act concerned with the establishment and development of rehabilitation facilities in order to prevent duplication of rehabilitation facilities and impairment of the objectives of the State rehabilitation program. The State plan shall also provide that reports concerning the establishment of rehabilitation facilities shall be submitted in such form and shall contain such information as the Commissioner may require.

§ 401.47 Services to civil employees of the United States.

The State plan shall provide that vocational rehabilitation services will be made available to civil employees of the U.S. Government who are disabled in line of duty, under the same conditions as are applied to other handicapped individuals.

§ 401.48 Authorization of services.

The State plan shall set forth the State agency's policies with respect to authorization of services, and shall provide that written authorization will be made either simultaneously with or prior to the purchase of services, and that a record of such authorization will be retained. Where agency policy permits that oral authorization may be made in an emergency situation by an employee of the State or local rehabilitation agency, the State plan shall provide for documentation of such oral authorization in the client's case record.

§ 401.49 Funds made available to private nonprofit agencies for establishment of workshops or rehabilitation facilities.

The State plan shall provide that funds made available to a private nonprofit agency for the establishment of a workshop or rehabilitation facility (see §§ 401.45, 401.46) shall be expended by that agency in accordance with procedures and standards equivalent to those applicable to the State agency in making direct expenditures for similar purposes.

(4) Books and training materials, including tools necessary for training. (5) Physical restoration services.

(6) Maintenance, except that Federal financial participation will not be available in payments for maintenance made in connection with the placement of a handicapped individual after he actually receives remuneration for his employment or, in the case of a handicapped individual placed in self-employment, after 30 days from the time the individual is so placed. Federal financial participation in expenditures for short periods of medical care for acute conditions arising during the course of rehabilitation, which, if not cared for. would constitute a hazard to the determination of the rehabilitation potential or to the achievement of the vocational objective, will be available only for & period not to exceed 30 days in the case of any one illness.

(7) Transportation.

(8) Reader services for the blind. (9) Interpreter services for the deaf. (10) Other goods and services (such as attendant services), not contra-indicated by the act and this part, necessary