The objective of vocational rehabilitation is the return of permanently disabled persons to gainful employment commensurate with their physical or mental impairments, or both, through a program of reevaluation or redirection of their abilities, or retraining in another occupation, or selective job placement assistance.

All injury cases which are likely to result in, or have resulted in, permanent disability, and which are of a character likely to require review by a vocational rehabilitation adviser on the staff of the Director, shall promptly be referred to such adviser by the district director or his designee having charge of the case. A form has been prescribed for such purpose and shall be used. Medical data and other pertinent information shall accompany the referral.

The vocational rehabilitation adviser, upon receipt of the referral, shall promptly consider the feasibility of a vocational referral or request for cooperative services from available resources or facilities, to include counseling, vocational survey, selective job placement assistance, and retraining. Public or private agencies may be utilized in arranging necessary vocational rehabilitation services under the Federal Vocational Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. 31 et seq.

Vocational rehabilitation advisers will arrange referral procedures with State Employment Service units within their assigned geographical districts for the purpose of securing employment counseling, job classification, and selective placement assistance. Referrals shall be made to State Employment Offices based upon the following:

(a) Vocational rehabilitation advisers will screen cases so as to refer only those disabled employees who are considered to have employment potential;

(b) Only employees will be referred who have permanent, compensable disabilities resulting in a significant vocational handicap and loss of wage earning capacity;

(c) Disabled employees, whose initial referral to former private employers did not result in a job reassignment or in a job retention, shall be referred for employment counseling and/or selective placement unless retraining services consideration is requested;

(d) The vocational rehabilitation advisers shall arrange for employees' referrals if it is ascertained that they may benefit from registering with the State Employment Service;

(e) Referrals will be made to appropriate State Employment Offices by letter, including all necessary information and a request for a report on the services provided the employee when he registers;

(f) The injured employee shall be advised of available job counseling services and informed that he is being referred for employment and selective placement;

(g) A followup shall be made within 60 days on all referrals to assure uniform reporting by State agencies on cases referred for a vocational survey.

Referrals to such other public and private agencies providing assistance to disabled persons such as public welfare agencies, Public Health Services facilities, social services units of the Veterans Administration, the Social Security Administration, and other such agencies, shall be made by the vocational rehabilitation adviser, where appropriate, on an individual basis when requested by disabled employees. Such referrals do not provide for a service cost reimbursement by the Department of Labor.

Vocational rehabilitation training shall be planned in anticipation of a short, realistic, attainable vocational objective terminating in remunerable employment, and in restoring wage-earning capacity or increasing it materially. The following procedures shall apply in arranging for or providing training:

(a) The vocational rehabilitation adviser shall arrange for and develop all vocational training programs.

(b) Training programs shall be developed to meet the varying needs of eligible beneficiaries, and may include courses at colleges, technical schools, training at rehabilitation centers, on-the-job training, or tutorial courses. The courses shall be pertinent to the occupation for which the employee is being trained.

(c) Training may be terminated if the injured employee fails to cooperate with the Department of Labor or with the agency supervising his course of training. The employee shall be counseled before training is terminated.

(d) Reports shall be required at periodic intervals on all persons in approved training programs.

(a) An injured employee who, as a result of injury, is or may be expected to be totally or partially incapacitated for a remunerative occupation and who, under the direction of the Director is being rendered fit to engage in a remunerative occupation, shall be paid additional compensation necessary for this maintenance, not exceeding $25 a week. The expense shall be paid out of the special fund established in section 44 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. 944. The maximum maintenance allowance shall not be provided on an automatic basis, but shall be based on the recommendation of a State agency that a claimant is unable to meet additional costs by reason of being in training.

(b) When required by reason of personal illness or hardship, limited periods of absence from training may be allowed without terminating the maintenance allowance. A maintenance allowance shall be terminated when it is shown to the satisfaction of the Director that a trainee is not complying reasonably with the terms of the training plan or is absenting himself without good cause from training so as to materially interfere with the accomplishment of the training objective.

The following safeguards will be observed to protect the confidential character of information released regarding an individual undergoing rehabilitation:

(a) Information will be released to other agencies from which an injured employee has requested services only if such agencies have established regulations assuring that such information will be considered confidential and will be used only for the purpose for which it is provided;

(b) Interested persons and agencies have been advised that any information concerning rehabilitation program employees is to be held confidential;

(c) A rehabilitation employee's written consent is secured for release of information regarding disability to a person, agency, or establishment seeking the information for purposes other than the approved rehabilitation planning with such employee.