RATING: My disability compensation rating is only 10% [or 20% or 40% or 70% or 100%, etc]. Do I qualify for VR&E?
Loaded question. And the answer is the typical lawyer answer, "It depends." The minimum disability rating required for a veteran to be deemed eligible for Voc Rehab benefits is 10%. Eligible is not the same as entitled, which requires an evaluation to see if a veteran has either an Employment Handicap and Serious Employment Handicap. A veteran with only a 10% rating must be found to have an Employment Handicap and Serious Employment Handicap to be deemed entitled. A veteran with a 20% rating or higher rating need only an Employment Handicap to be deemed entitled. During the initial evaluation, the VRC will assess whether the veteran has a vocational impairment, whether the impairment is substantially caused by their service-connected disabilities, and whether the veteran has not overcome the effects of their disabilities. See 38 CFR § 21.51. If these are true, the veteran should meet the criteria for an Employment Handicap. For a Serious Employment Handicap, the main difference is that the vocational impairment must be "significant" when evaluating various factors. See 38 CFR § 21.52. I cover this more in the Voc Rehab Survival Guide.