Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 37 - EDUCATION (§§ 37-NEW-001 — 37-NEW01-004) › Chapter 33 - CIVILIAN VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION (§§ 37-33-1 — 37-33-263) › VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION LAW (§§ 37-33-11 — 37-33-35) › Section 37-33-13 - Definitions

As used in the Vocational Rehabilitation Law:
(a)
"Competitive employment" means work in the competitive labor market that is performed on a full-time or part-time basis in an integrated setting and for which an individual is compensated at or above the minimum wage, but not less than the customary wage and level of benefits paid by the employer for the same or similar work performed by individuals who are not disabled;
(b)
"Department" or "agency" means the State Department of Rehabilitation Services;
(c)
"Director" means the Director of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation;
(d)
"Executive director" means the Executive Director of the State Department of Rehabilitation Services;
(e)
"Employment outcome" means, with respect to an individual entering or retaining full-time or, if appropriate part-time competitive employment in the integrated labor market to the greatest extent practicable; supported employment; or any other type of employment, including self-employment, telecommuting, or business ownership, that is consistent with an individual's strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice;
(f)
"Individual with a disability" means any individual who has a physical or mental impairment, whose impairment constitutes or results in a substantial impediment to employment, and who can benefit in terms of an employment outcome from the provision of vocational rehabilitation services;
(g)
"Maintenance" means monetary support provided to an individual for expenses, such as food, shelter, and clothing, that are in excess of the normal expenses of the individual and that are necessitated by the individual's participation in an assessment for determining eligibility and vocational rehabilitation needs or the individual's receipt of vocational rehabilitation services under an individualized plan for employment;
(h)
"Occupational license" means any license, permit or other written authority required by any governmental unit to be obtained in order to engage in an occupation;
(i)
"Office" means the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation of the State Department of Rehabilitation Services;
(j)
"Personal assistance services" means assistance in a range of services provided by one or more persons designed to assist an eligible individual with a disability to perform daily living activities on or off the job that the individual would typically perform without assistance. The services must be designed to increase the individual's control in life and ability to perform every day activities on or off the job. The services must be necessary to the achievement of an employment outcome and may be provided only while the individual is receiving other vocational rehabilitation services. The services may include training in managing, supervising, and directing personal assistance services;
(k)
"Physical restoration services" means
(i)
corrective surgery or therapeutic treatment that is likely, within a reasonable period of time, to correct or modify substantially a stable or slowly progressive physical or mental impairment that constitutes a substantial impediment to employment;
(ii)
diagnosis of and treatment for mental or emotional disorders by qualified personnel in accordance with state licensure laws;
(iii)
dentistry;
(iv)
nursing services;
(v)
necessary hospitalization (either inpatient or outpatient care) in connection with surgery or treatment and clinic services;
(vi)
drugs and supplies;
(vii)
prosthetic and orthotic devices;
(viii)
eyeglasses and visual services, including visual training, and the examination and services necessary for the prescription and provision of eyeglasses, contact lenses, microscopic lenses, telescopic lenses, and other special visual aids prescribed by personnel that are qualified in accordance with state licensure laws;
(ix)
podiatry;
(x)
physical therapy;
(xi)
occupational therapy;
(xii)
speech or hearing therapy;
(xiii)
mental health services;
(xiv)
treatment of either acute or chronic medical restoration services, or that are inherent in the condition under treatment;
(xv)
special services for the treatment of individuals with end-stage renal disease; and
(xvi)
other medical or medically-related rehabilitation services;
(l)
"Prosthetic appliance" means any artificial device necessary to support, to take the place of a part of the body, or to increase the acuity of a sense organ;
(m)
"Regulations" means regulations made by the executive director with the approval of the state board.
(n)
"Rehabilitation engineering services" means the systematic application of engineering sciences to design, develop, adapt, test, evaluate, apply, and distribute technological solutions to problems confronted by individuals with disabilities in functional areas such as mobility, communications, hearing, vision, and cognition, and in activities associated with employment, independent living, education, and integration into the community;
(o)
"Rehabilitation training" means all necessary training provided to an eligible individual with a disability to enable him or her to overcome his or her employment handicap, including, but not limited to, manual, preconditioning, prevocational, vocational and supplementary training and training provided for the purpose of developing occupational skills and capacities;
(p)
"State board" means the State Board of Rehabilitation Services;
(q)
"Substantial impediment to employment" means that a physical or mental impairment (in light of attendant medical, psychological, vocational, educational, communication, and other related factors) hinders an individual from preparing for, entering into, engaging in, or retaining employment consistent with the individual's abilities and capabilities;
(r)
"Supported employment services" means ongoing support services and other appropriate services needed to support and maintain an individual with a most significant disability in supported employment that are provided by the designated state unit (i) for a period of time not to exceed eighteen (18) months, unless under special circumstances the eligible individual and the rehabilitation counselor jointly agree to extend the time to achieve the employment outcome identified in the individualized plan for employment; and (ii) following transition, as post-employment services that are unavailable from an extended services provider and that are necessary to maintain or regain the job placement or advance in employment;
(s)
"Vocational rehabilitation" and "vocational rehabilitation services" mean, for an eligible individual with a disability, services as appropriate and required to assist in preparing for, securing, retaining, or regaining an employment outcome that is consistent with the individual's strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice, including, but not limited to, services in accordance with definitions in the most current amendment of the Rehabilitation Act:
(i)
assessment for determining eligibility and priority for services by qualified personnel, including, if appropriate, an assessment by personnel skilled in rehabilitation technology;
(ii)
assessment for determining vocational rehabilitation needs by qualified personnel, including, if appropriate, an assessment by personnel skilled in rehabilitation technology;
(iii)
vocational rehabilitation counseling and guidance, including information and support services to assist an individual in exercising informed choice;
(iv)
referral and other services necessary to assist applicants and eligible individuals to secure needed services from other agencies, including other components of the statewide workforce investment system and to advise those individuals about client assistance programs;
(v)
physical and mental restoration services, to the extent that financial support is not readily available from a source other than the State Department of Rehabilitation Services (such as through health insurance or a comparable service or benefit);
(vi)
vocational and other training services, including personal and vocational adjustment training, books, tools, and other training materials, except that no training or training services in an institution of higher learning (universities, colleges, community or junior colleges, vocational schools, technical institutes, or hospital schools of nursing) may be paid for with funds under this law unless maximum efforts have been made by the state unit and the individual to secure grant assistance in whole or in part from other sources to pay for that training;
(vii)
maintenance;
(viii)
transportation in connection with the rendering of any vocational rehabilitation service;
(ix)
vocational rehabilitation services to family members of an applicant or eligible individual if necessary to enable the applicant or eligible individual to achieve an employment outcome;
(x)
interpreter services, including sign language and oral interpreter services, for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and tactile interpreting services for individuals who are deaf-blind provided by qualified personnel;
(xi)
reader services, rehabilitation teaching services, and orientation and mobility services for individuals who are blind;
(xii)
job-related services, including job search and placement assistance, job retention services, follow-up services, and follow-along services;
(xiii)
supported employment services:
(xiv)
personal assistance services;
(xv)
post-employment services;
(xvi)
occupational licenses, tools, equipment, initial stocks, and supplies;
(xvii)
rehabilitation technology including vehicular modification, telecommunications, sensory, and other technological aids and devices;
(xviii)
transition services;
(xix)
technical assistance and other consultation services to conduct market analyses, develop business plans, and otherwise provide resources, to the extent those resources are authorized to be provided through the statewide workforce investment system, to eligible individuals who are pursuing self-employment or telecommuting or establishing a small business operation as an employment outcome;
(xx)
other goods and services determined necessary for the individual with a disability to achieve an employment outcome.
Codes, 1942, § 6504.2; Laws, 1948, ch. 289, § 2; Laws, 1983, ch. 521, § 8; Laws, 1989, ch. 544, § 69; Laws, 1990, ch. 522, § 5; Laws, 1991, ch. 608, § 3, eff. 7/1/1991 (became law without the Governor's signature); Laws, 2002, ch. 463, § 2, eff. 7/1/2002.