Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 107 CMR - MASSACHUSETTS REHABILITATION COMMISSION › Title 107 CMR 3.00 - Definitions › Section 3.02 - Meaning of Terms in 107 CMR

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
Adjudicatory Proceeding
refers to a
				proceeding where the legal rights, duties or privileges of an eligible
				individual or applicant are determined. An adjudicatory proceeding does not
				include proceedings:
(a) solely to
			 determine whether the Commission will institute or recommend institution of
			 proceedings in a court;
(b) for the
			 arbitration of labor disputes voluntarily submitted by the parties to such
			 disputes;
(c) for the disposition
			 of grievance of employees of the Commonwealth;
(d) to classify or reclassify, or allocate or
			 reallocate, appointive officers and positions in the government of the
			 Commonwealth. The term "Adjudicatory proceeding" shall also be taken to mean a
			 "fair hearing " and the terms shall be used interchangeably.
Administrative Review or Informal Administrative
				Review
refers to an optional appeal process whereby an eligible
				individual or applicant may elect to request and obtain an informal review and
				reconsideration of Commission decisions, actions, or inaction's affecting that
				individual's service provision.
Applicant
refers to an individual who
				has completed a written, dated and signed application or request for services
				of the Commission but whose eligibility for such services has not yet been
				determined.
Assistive Technology Device
means any
				item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially
				off-the-shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or
				improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.
Assistive Technology Service
means
				any service that directly assists an individual with a disability in the
				selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive device. Such term
				includes:
(a) the evaluation
			 of needs of an individual with a disability, including functional evaluation of
			 the individual in the individual's customary environment;
(b) purchasing, leasing, or otherwise
			 providing for the acquisition of assistive technology devices by individuals
			 with disabilities;
(c) selecting,
			 designing, fitting, customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing, or
			 replacing of assistive technology devices;
(d) coordinating and using other therapies,
			 interventions, or services with assistive technology devices, such as those
			 associated with existing education and rehabilitation plans and
			 programs;
(e) training or technical
			 assistance for an individual with disabilities, or, where appropriate, the
			 family of an individual with disabilities; and
(f) training or technical assistance for
			 professionals (including individuals providing education and rehabilitation
			 services), employers, or other individuals who provide services to, employ, or
			 are otherwise substantially involved in the major life functions of individuals
			 with disabilities.
Center for Independent Living
means a
				consumer-controlled, community-based, cross-disability, nonresidential private
				nonprofit agency that:
(a)
			 is designed and operated within a local community by individuals with
			 disabilities and
(b) provides an
			 array of independent living services.
Client Assistance Program
refers to a
				program of assistance funded pursuant to the federal Rehabilitation Act of
				1973, administered by the Massachusetts Office on Disability as designated by
				the Governor, and independent of any agency providing treatment, services, or
				rehabilitation under the Act. The purpose of this program is to provide
				assistance in informing individuals with disabilities, eligible individuals and
				applicants of all available benefits under the Rehabilitation Act and the
				Americans with Disabilities Act and if requested by eligible individuals and
				applicants to assist and advocate for them in their relationships with
				projects, programs, and facilities providing services to them under the
				Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Community Rehabilitation Program
means a program that provides directly or facilitates the provision of
				vocational rehabilitation services to persons with disabilities, and that
				provides, singly or in combination, for an individual with a disability to
				enable the individual to maximize opportunities for employment, including
				career advancement:
(a)
			 medical, psychological, social, and vocational services that are provided under
			 one management;
(b) testing,
			 fitting, or training in the use of prosthetic and orthotic devices;
(c) recreational therapy;
(d) physical and occupational
			 therapy;
(e) speech language, and
			 hearing therapy;
(f) psychiatric,
			 psychological, and social services, including positive behavior
			 management;
(g) assessment for
			 determining eligibility and vocational rehabilitation needs;
(h) rehabilitation technology;
(i) job development, placement, and
			 rehabilitation services;
(j)
			 evaluation or control of specific disabilities;
(k) orientation and mobility services for
			 individuals who are blind;
(l)
			 extended employment;
(m)
			 psychosocial rehabilitation services;
(n) supported employment services and
			 extended services;
(o) services to
			 family members when necessary to the vocational rehabilitation of the
			 individual;
(p) personal assistance
			 services;
(q) services similar to
			 the services described in 107 CMR 3.02:
Community Rehabilitation
			 Program
(a) through (p).
Competitive Employment
refers to
				gainful work in self-employment or for a private or public employer in the
				competitive labor market for which the individual receives wages, salary,
				commission, tips or other compensation in accordance with applicable Department
				of Labor regulations.
Consumer Control
means, with respect
				to an entity, that the entity vests power and authority in individuals with
				disabilities.
Disability
means, except as otherwise
				provided, a physical or mental impairment that results in a substantial
				impediment to employment.
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 (including
				satisfying the vocational outcome of supported employment) or satisfying any
				other vocational outcome the U.S. Secretary of the Department of Education may
				determine, consistent with the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Extended Services
means ongoing
				support services and other appropriate services needed to support and maintain
				an individual with the most severe disability in supported employment that
				are:
(a) provided singly or
			 in combination and are organized and made available in such a way as to assist
			 an eligible individual in maintaining integrated, competitive
			 employment;
(b) based on a
			 determination of needs of an individual, as specified in an individualized
			 written rehabilitation program; and
(c) provided by a state agency, a nonprofit
			 private organization, employer, or any other appropriate resource, after an
			 individual has made the transition from support provided by the Commission
			 pursuant to Title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and supported employment
			 services pursuant to Title VI Part C of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Impartial Hearing Officer
refers to
				an individual who is selected to conduct a fair hearing for an eligible
				individual, who is receiving or seeking services from the Commission's
				vocational rehabilitation program or from independent living programs funded by
				Title VII B of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, provided that the
				individual selected shall:
(a) have knowledge of the delivery of
			 vocational rehabilitation services, the Commission's state plans for vocational
			 rehabilitation and independent living services, the federal and state rules
			 governing such services, and training with respect to performing the official
			 duties of a hearing officer;
(b)
			 not have been involved in previous decisions regarding independent living
			 services of the consumer who has requested the appeal, or the vocational
			 rehabilitation of the eligible individual who has requested the
			 appeal;
(c) have no personal or
			 financial interest that will be in conflict with the individual's objectivity
			 as a hearing officer;
(d) not be an
			 employee of the Commission or another public agency, except that payment by the
			 Commission solely for services as a hearing officer shall not constitute
			 employment by the Commission for the purpose of determining the individual's
			 impartiality; and provided further that the term "impartial hearing officer" or
			 "fair hearing officer" when applied to an individual assigned by the Commission
			 to conduct a fair hearing involving an eligible individual appeal relative to
			 state-funded programs shall not require adherence to 107 CMR 3.02:
Impartial Hearing Officer
(d);
(e) not be a member of the State
			 Rehabilitation Advisory Council or the Independent Living Council;
			 and
(f) be selected from among a
			 pool of qualified individuals who have been identified jointly by the
			 Commission and the State Rehabilitation Advisory Council.
Independent Living Core Services
means:
(a) information and
			 referral services;
(b) independent
			 living skills training;
(c) peer
			 counseling (including cross-disability peer counseling); and
(d) individual and systems advocacy.
Independent Living Services
refers to
				independent living core services and:
(a) counseling services, including
			 psychological, psychotherapeutic, and related services;
(b) services related to securing housing or
			 shelter, including services related to community group living, and supportive
			 of the purposes of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the titles of the Act,
			 and adaptive housing services (including appropriate accommodations to and
			 modifications of any space used to serve, or occupied by, individuals with
			 disabilities);
(c) rehabilitation
			 technology;
(d) mobility
			 training;
(e) services and training
			 for persons with cognitive and sensory disabilities, including life skills
			 training, and interpreter and reader services;
(f) personal assistance services, including
			 personal assistance and the training of personnel providing such
			 services;
(g) surveys, directories,
			 and other activities to identify appropriate housing, recreation opportunities,
			 and accessible transportation, and other support services;
(h) consumer information programs on
			 rehabilitation and independent living services available under the
			 Rehabilitation Act of 1973, especially for minorities and other individuals
			 with disabilities who have been unserved or under served by programs under the
			 Rehabilitation Act;
(i) education
			 and training necessary for living in a community and participating in community
			 activities;
(j) supported
			 living;
(k) transportation,
			 including referral and assistance for such transportation;
(l) physical rehabilitation;
(m) therapeutic treatment;
(n) provision of needed prostheses and other
			 appliances and devices;
(o)
			 individual and group social and recreational services;
(p) training to develop skills specific
			 designed for youths who are individuals with disabilities to promote
			 self-awareness and esteem, develop advocacy and self-empowerment skills, and
			 explore career options;
(q)
			 services for children;
(r) services
			 under other federal, state, or local programs designed to provide resources,
			 training, counseling, or other assistance, of substantial benefit in enhancing
			 the independence, productivity, and quality of life of individuals with
			 disabilities;
(s) appropriate
			 preventive services to decrease the need of individuals under the
			 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for similar services in the future;
(t) community awareness programs to enhance
			 the understanding and integration into society of individuals with
			 disabilities; and
(u) such other
			 services as may be necessary and not inconsistent with the provisions of the
			 Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Individual with a Disability
, as used
				in vocational rehabilitation, is any individual who:
(a) has a physical or mental impairment which
			 for such individual constitutes or results in a substantial impediment to
			 employment; and
(b) can benefit in
			 terms of an employment outcome from vocational rehabilitation services.
Individual with a Severe Disability
means an individual who has a significant physical, mental, cognitive or
				sensory impairment whose ability to function independently in family or
				community or whose ability to engage or continue in employment is so limited
				that independent living rehabilitation services are required in order to
				achieve a greater level of independence in functioning in family or community
				or engaging or continuing in employement.
Individual with a Significant
				Disability
, as used in vocational rehabilitation, is an
				individual:
(a) who has a
			 significant physical or mental impairment which seriously limits one or more
			 functional capacities (such as mobility, communication, self-care,
			 self-direction, interpersonal skills, work tolerance, or work skills) in terms
			 of an employment outcome; and
(b)
			 whose vocational rehabilitation can be expected to require multiple vocational
			 rehabilitation services over an extended period of time or who has been
			 recently determined to have a disability by the Social Security Administration
			 under Title II ( SSDI) or Title XVI (SSI) of the Social Security Act;
			 and
(c) who has one or more
			 physical or mental disabilities resulting from amputation, arthritis, autism,
			 blindness, burn injury, cancer, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, deafness, head
			 injury, heart disease, hemiplegia, hemophilia, respiratory or pulmonary
			 dysfunction, mental retardation, mental illness, multiple sclerosis, muscular
			 dystrophy, musculoskeletal disorders, neurological disorders, (including stroke
			 and epilepsy), paraplegia, quadriplegia, and other spinal cord conditions,
			 sickle cell anemia, specific learning disability, end-stage renal disease, or
			 another disability or combination of disabilities determined on the basis of an
			 assessment for determining eligibility and vocational rehabilitation needs to
			 cause comparable substantial functional limitation.
Individual with a Most Significant
				Disability
, as used in vocational rehabilitation is an
				individual:
(a) who has a
			 significant physical or mental impairment which seriously limits three or more
			 functional capacities in terms of an employment outcome; and
(b) whose vocational rehabilitation can be
			 expected to require two or more separate and distinct vocational services over
			 an extended period of time of no less than six months that may include:
			 Interpreter or CART services for individuals who are deaf; vocational and other
			 training services; diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental impairments;
			 occupational licenses; tools; equipment and initial stocks and supplies;
			 technical assistance and other consultation services to conduct market
			 analysis; develop business plans and provide other services for self
			 employment, telecommuting or small business as an employment outcome;
			 rehabilitation technology including vehicle modification, telecommunications,
			 sensory and other technological aids and devices; supported employment
			 services; transportation; job placement services of a specialized nature;
			 transition; and personal assistance services as well as post employment and
			 services to family members which may include any of the services listed above
			 to assist the individual attain, regain or maintain an employment outcome.
Ongoing Support Services
, as used in
				the definition of
Supported Employment Services
, means
				services:
(a) provided to
			 individuals with the most severe disabilities;
(b) provided, at a minimum, twice monthly:
1. to make an assessment, regarding the
			 employment situation, at the worksite of each individual in supported
			 employment, or, under special circumstances, especially at the request of the
			 eligible individual, off site and
2. based on the assessment, to provide for
			 the coordination or provision of specific intensive services, at or away from
			 the worksite, that are needed to maintain employment stability; and