2023 Tennessee Code › Title 71 - WELFARE (§§ 71-1-101 — 71-7-103) › Chapter 4 - PROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES (§§ 71-4-101 — 71-4-2303) › Part 6 - VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION OF THE BLIND (§§ 71-4-601 — 71-4-612) › Section 71-4-602 - Part definitions

As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1)
"Blind individual" means any person whose visual acuity with maximum correction does not exceed 20/200 in the better eye, except that in those instances in which the visual acuity exceeds 20/200 but is accompanied by a limitation in the fields of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees (20°), visual acuity is not a factor limiting eligibility. Those clients with serious eye disabilities not covered by this subdivision (1) will be accepted for services when referred to the division by the division of vocational rehabilitation, in the department of education; provided, that such referrals are supported by appropriate justification, and that the client is otherwise eligible. Likewise, when it is determined through careful evaluation of all factors that a client who is eligible under this subdivision (1) for services of the division can more adequately be served by the division of vocational rehabilitation, such client will be referred to that agency for services and will be accepted; provided, that the referral is justified by supporting evidence and the client is otherwise eligible for the services of that agency;
(2)
"Blind individual with an employment barrier" means a person who is blind, and whose blindness constitutes a substantial barrier to employment;
(3)
"Commissioner" means the commissioner of human services;
(4)
"Department" means the department of human services;
(5)
"Director" means the director of the division of services for the blind;
(6)
"Division" means the division of services for the blind in the department of human services;
(7)
"Eligible individual with employment barriers" when used with respect to diagnostic and related services, training guidance and placement, means any blind individual with a disability who is a citizen of this state, whose vocational rehabilitation is determined feasible by the division of vocational rehabilitation, and when used with respect to other vocational rehabilitation services, means an individual meeting the requirements of this subdivision (7) who is also found by the division to require financial assistance with respect to vocational rehabilitation services, after full consideration of the person's eligibility for any similar benefit by the way of pension, compensation and insurance;
(8)
"Establishment of a workshop or rehabilitation facility" means:
(A)
In the case of a workshop, the construction of a new building or the expansion, remodeling, or alteration of existing buildings, necessary to adapt such buildings to workshop purposes or to increase the employment opportunities in workshops, and the acquisition of initial equipment necessary for new workshops or to increase the employment opportunities in workshops; and
(B)
In the case of a rehabilitation facility, the construction of a new building or the expansion, remodeling, or alteration of existing buildings, and initial equipment of such buildings, necessary to adapt such buildings to rehabilitation facility purposes or to increase their effectiveness for such purposes and initial staffing;
(9)
"Maintenance" means the provision of money on behalf of a blind individual with employment barriers to cover the necessary living expenses, and health and maintenance essential to achieving the individual's vocational rehabilitation;
(10)
"Nonprofit," when used with respect to a rehabilitation facility or a workshop, means a rehabilitation facility and a workshop, respectively, owned and operated by a corporation or association, no part of the net earnings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual and the income of which is exempt from taxation under § 101(6) of the Internal Revenue Code (
26 U.S.C. § 101(6)
);
(11)
"Physical restoration" includes:
(A)
Corrective surgery or therapeutic treatment necessary to correct or substantially modify a physical or mental condition that is stable or slowly progressive and that constitutes a substantial barrier to employment, or that necessitates institutional care or attendant care, but that is of such a nature that such correction or modification may reasonably be expected to eliminate or substantially reduce such barrier within a reasonable length of time, and includes psychiatric treatment, dentistry, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech or hearing therapy, treatment of medical complications and emergencies that are associated with or arise out of physical restoration services or are inherent in the conditions under treatment, and other medical services related to rehabilitation;
(B)
Necessary hospitalization, either inpatient or outpatient, nursing or rest home care, in connection with surgery or treatment specified in subdivision (11)(A);
(C)
Prosthetic devices essential to obtaining or retaining employment, or to achieving such ability of independent living as to dispense with the need for expensive institutional care or dispense with or largely dispense with the need of an attendant at home;
(12)
"Prosthetic appliance" means any appliance designed to support or take the place of a part of the body, or to increase the acuity of a sensory organ;
(13)
"Rehabilitation facility" means a facility operated for the primary purpose of assisting in the rehabilitation of physically handicapped individuals:
(A)
That provides one (1) or more of the following types of services:
(i)
Testing, fitting, or training in the use of prosthetic devices;
(ii)
Prevocational or conditioning therapy;
(iii)
Physical or occupational therapy;
(iv)
Adjustment training; or
(v)
Evaluation or control of special disabilities; or
(B)
Through which is provided an integrated program of medical, psychological, social, and vocational evaluation and services under competent professional supervision;
(14)
"Remunerative occupation" includes employment as an employee or self-employed, practice of a profession, homemaking or farm and family work for which payment is in kind rather than cash, sheltered employment, and home industry or other homebound work of a remunerative nature;
(15)
"Vocational rehabilitation" means making an individual able, or increasing an individual's ability to:
(A)
Engage in a remunerative occupation; or
(B)
Dispense with or largely dispense with the need of an attendant at home or expensive institutional care, through providing the individual needed vocational rehabilitation services;
(16)
"Vocational rehabilitation services" means:
(A)
Diagnostic and related services, including transportation, incidental to the determination of whether an individual is a blind individual with employment barriers, and if so, the individual's eligibility for, and the nature and scope of other vocational rehabilitation services to be provided; and
(B)
The following services provided eligible blind individuals with employment barriers needing such services:
(i)
Training;
(ii)
Guidance;
(iii)
Placement;
(iv)
Maintenance, not exceeding the estimated costs of subsistence during vocational rehabilitation;
(v)
Occupational licenses, tools, equipment, initial stocks, including livestock, and supplies, including equipment and initial stocks and supplies for vending stands, books, and training materials to any or all of which the state may retain title;
(vi)
Transportation, other than provided as diagnostic and related services; and
(vii)
Physical restoration; and
(17)
"Workshop" means a place where any manufacture or handiwork is carried on and that is operated for the primary purpose of providing remunerative employment to individuals with severe disabilities who cannot be readily absorbed in the competitive labor market.
Acts 1955, ch. 243, § 3; 1957, ch. 79, § 1; 1959, ch. 174, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1975, ch. 219, §§ 1 (a, b), 2 (a, b); Acts 1977, ch. 19, § 1; T.C.A., §§ 14-626, 14-14-402; Acts 2011 , ch. 47, §§ 98 - 103.