10 Participant Financial Participation

Revised: 08/03

10-03 Comparable Services and Benefits

Prior to providing any vocational rehabilitation service to an eligible individual, or to members of the individual's family, except those services listed below, DVR shall determine whether comparable services and benefits exist under any other program and whether those services and benefits are available to the individual.

The purpose of using comparable benefits and services is to ensure that agency counselors make maximum use of the other resources available to their participants before DVR funds are committed toward purchasing goods and services. Participants must be made aware of their potential eligibility for comparable services and benefits and given assistance including timely referral, in obtaining such benefits.

If comparable services and benefits exist under any other program and are available to the eligible individual at the time needed to achieve the rehabilitation objectives in the individual's IPE, DVR shall use those comparable services or benefits to meet, in whole or in part, the cost of the vocational rehabilitation services.

If comparable services or benefits exist under any other program, but are not available to the individual at the time needed to satisfy the rehabilitation objectives in the individual's IPE, DVR shall provide vocational rehabilitation services until those comparable services and benefits become available.

The following services are exempt from a determination of the availability of comparable services and benefits:

Assessment for determining eligibility and priority for services.
Assessment for determining vocational rehabilitation needs.
Vocational rehabilitation counseling, guidance, and referral services.
Placement services.
Rehabilitation technology.
Post-employment services related to any of the above services.

Note:The services are exempt when the determination of the availability of comparable services and benefits under any other program would delay the provision of vocational rehabilitation services to any individual who is determined to be at extreme medical risk, based on medical evidence provided by an appropriate qualified medical professional; or if an immediate job placement would be lost due to a delay in the provision of comparable services and benefits.

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10-03-01 Guidelines for Documentation

The IPE section 2, "Services", allows for the entry of comparable services and benefits information including the service category, the services description, planned dates of service, chosen provider, estimated service cost and the source of comparable benefit. This shall be completed for each planned service on the IPE.

Below are examples of comparable services and benefits. This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of services available throughout the state. DVR staff are encouraged and expected to familiarize themselves with local services in their communities which would benefit their participants.

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10-03-02 Examples

PROGRAM	WHERE TO APPLY	ELIGIBILITY	SERVICE
County Hospital Indigent	County Indigent Board	County resident; hospitalized; low middle income	Hospitalization partial or full payment
Children's Medical Services	Children's Medical Services	Under age 21; orthopedic/other disability; low income	Medical services; hospitalization; surgery; prosthetics
Early Prevention Screening (EPSDT)	Local HSD (Welfare) Office	Medicaid eligible; under 21 years old	Medical exams and treatment
Private Insurance	Local Insurance Agent.	Paid Insurance Policy	Medical Services
Medicaid	HSD Office	SSI Recipient; TANF Recipient	All medical services; some dental; psychological services; speech; P.T.; O.T.; adaptive devices; medical equipment
Medicare	Social Security Office	Social Security Disability Ins. recipient for two years or more, or Social Security retirement recipient	Hospital, clinic and physician services; some dental; renal dialysis and kidney transplant
Worker's Compensation Medical	Participant's Employer/Former Employer	Employees injured on the job req. medical evaluation or treatment	All medical exams, treatment; P.T.; O.T.; prosthetics; etc., related to injury
Worker's Compensation for Wage Loss	Participant's Employer/Former Employer	Employees injured on the job who suffer loss of wages due to the injury	Weekly payment or lump sum settlement based on degree of handicap and previous earnings; rehabilitation services
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)	Social Security Office	Covered by Social Security as a result of previous work; unable to do any work in the foreseeable future due to disability	Monthly payment based on number of covered quarters and average earnings; medicare after 24 months of payments
Supplemental Income (SSI)	Social Security Office	Indigent; unable to do any kind of work in the future due to disability	Monthly payments; medicaid
TANF	HSD Office	Indigent; single parent family with no child support or some two parent families if one or both is disabled	Monthly payments; medicaid
General Assistance (GA)	HSD Office	Disabled; no income	Small monthly payments
Veterans Administration	Veterans Administration	Disabled Veteran	Varies depending on whether disability is service connected; may include GI bill for training
Community Mental Health	Community Mental Health Program	County resident; mental health treatment needs	Mental health treatment
Social Services Title XX	Local Social Services Office of HSD	Generallyindigent and in need of the services	In-home care; child and adult protection services; other
Drug or Alcohol Treatment	Community Drug or Alcohol Treatment Center	Need for service	In-patient and out-patient treatment
Developmental Disability Services	Community Facility	Need for service	Varies, usually includes evaluation and training as a minimum
Work Force Investment Act Funds	Contact local Employment Comm. for local contact agency.	Almost all eligible DVR Participants are also eligible for WIA support	Job training funds; sometimes job club classroom training and other services
Food Stamps	HSD Office	Indigent	Food Coupons
Student Financial Aid	Student Financial Aid Office on Campus	Attendance at accredited college or vocational school; low-middle income.	Loans, grants, workstudy funds, scholarships, etc. for support of training. *comparable benefits do not include awards and scholarships based on merit.

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