DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY  
MICHIGAN REHABILITATION SERVICES  
VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION  
Filed with the secretary of state on March 13, 2024  
These rules become effective immediately after filing with the secretary of state  
unless adopted under section 33, 44, or 45a(9) of the administrative procedures act of  
1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.233, 24.244, or 24.245a. Rules adopted under these  
sections become effective 7 days after filing with the secretary of state.  
(By authority conferred on the director of the department of labor and economic  
opportunity by sections 2a and 2b of the proprietary schools act, 1943 PA 148, MCL  
395.102a and 395.102b, and sections 3, 4, and 6 of the rehabilitation act of 1964, 1964  
PA 232, MCL 395.83, 395.84, and 395.86; Executive Reorganization Order Nos. 1999-1,  
2003-1, 2012-5, and 2019-3, MCL 408.40, 445.2011, 445.2033, and 125.1998; and in  
accord with the workforce innovation and opportunity act , Public Law 113-128)  
R 395.51, R 395.53, R 395.54, R 395.76, and R 395.79 of the Michigan Administrative  
Code are amended, and R 395.65 and R 395.83 is rescinded, as follows:  
PART 1. ELIGIBILITY FOR REHABILITATION SERVICE  
R 395.51 Definitions.  
Rule 1. As used in these rules:  
(a) “Clear and convincing evidence” means there is a high degree of certainty that the  
individual is incapable of benefiting from services in terms of an employment outcome.  
(b) The “Client Assistance Program” or the “CAP” means the program under the  
rehabilitation act of 1973, 29 USC 732. The CAP provides assistance in informing and  
advising all applicants and individuals eligible for vocational rehabilitation services of all  
available benefits under the rehabilitation act of 1973, 29 USC 701 to 7961. Upon request  
of such applicants or eligible individuals, the CAP assists and advocates for such applicants  
or eligible individuals in their relationships with projects, programs, and services provided  
under the rehabilitation act of 1973, 29 USC 701 to 7961, including assistance and  
advocacy in pursuing legal, administrative, or other appropriate remedies to ensure the  
protection of the rights of such individuals under the rehabilitation act of 1973, 29 USC  
701 to 7961 and to facilitate access to the services funded under the rehabilitation act of  
1973, 29 USC 701 to 7961 through individual and systemic advocacy.  
(c) “Comparable services and benefits” means services and benefits, not including  
awards and scholarships based on merit, that are provided or paid for, in whole, or in part,  
by other federal, state, or local public agencies, by health insurance, or by employee  
benefits that are available to the individual at the time needed to ensure the progress of the  
November 29, 2023  
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individual toward achieving the employment outcome in the individual’s IPE and that are  
commensurate to the services the individual would otherwise receive from MRS.  
(d) “Competitive integrated employment” means work that complies with the following:  
(i) Is performed on a full-time or part-time basis, including self-employment, and for  
which an individual is compensated at a rate that includes all of the following:  
(A) Is not less than the higher of the rate specified in section 6(a)(1) of the fair labor  
standards act of 1938, 29 USC 206 or the rate required under the applicable state or local  
minimum wage law for the place of employment.  
(B) Is not less than the customary rate paid by the employer for the same or similar work  
performed by other employees who are not individuals with disabilities and who are  
similarly situated in similar occupations by the same employer and who have similar  
training, experience, and skills.  
(C) In the case of an individual who is self-employed, yields an income that is  
comparable to the income received by other individuals who are not individuals with  
disabilities and who are self-employed in similar occupations or on similar tasks and who  
have similar training, experience, and skills.  
(D) Is eligible for the level of benefits provided to other employees.  
(ii) Is at a location where the employee with a disability interacts for the purpose of  
performing the duties of the position with other individuals, for example, other employees,  
customers and vendors, who are not individuals with disabilities, not including supervisory  
personnel or individuals who are providing services to such employee, to the same extent  
that employees who are not individuals with disabilities and who are in comparable  
positions interact with these individuals.  
(iii) Presents, as appropriate, opportunities for advancement that are similar to those for  
other employees who are not individuals with disabilities and who have similar positions.  
(e) “Cost of attendance” means the total amount it will cost a student to attend school in  
a year.  
(f) “Employment outcome” means, with respect to the individual, entering, advancing in,  
or retaining full-time, or, if appropriate, part-time competitive integrated employment,  
including customized employment, self-employment, telecommuting, or business  
ownership, or supported employment that is consistent with an individual’s strengths,  
resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice.  
(g) “Individualized plan for employment” or “IPE” means an individualized plan for  
employment as described in R 395.67 to R 395.71.  
(h) “Michigan Rehabilitation Services or “MRS” means the part of a network of  
vocational rehabilitation programs across the United States authorized by the rehabilitation  
act of 1973, 29 USC 701 to 7961.  
(i) “Part-time employment” means employment that is permanently assigned to an  
employee that is less than 30 hours of work per week.  
(j) “Post-employment services” means one or more vocational rehabilitation services that  
are provided subsequent to the achievement of an employment outcome and that are  
necessary for an individual to maintain, regain, or advance in employment, consistent with  
the individual’s unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities,  
interests, and informed choice.”  
(k) “Pre-employment transition services” or “Pre-ETS” means the required activities and  
authorized activities specified in 34 CFR 361.48(a)(2) and (3).  
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(l) “Rehabilitation technology” means the systematic application of technologies,  
engineering methodologies, or scientific principles to meet the needs of and address the  
barriers confronted by individuals with disabilities.  
(m) “Substantial impediment to employment” means that a physical or mental impairment  
hinders an individual from preparing for, entering into, engaging in, advancing in, or  
retaining employment consistent with the individual’s abilities and capabilities.  
(n) “Vocational rehabilitation services” or “VRS” means those services, if provided to an  
individual, listed in 34 CFR 361.48, and, if provided for the benefit of groups of  
individuals, those services listed in 34 CFR 361.49.  
R 395.53 Purpose.  
Rule 3. (1) MRS shall assess, plan, develop, and provide vocational rehabilitation  
services for eligible individuals with disabilities, consistent with their unique strengths,  
resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice, to  
prepare for and engage in competitive integrated employment and achieve economic self-  
sufficiency.  
(2) MRS shall make available Pre-ETS statewide to all students with disabilities,  
regardless of whether the student has applied or been determined eligible for vocational  
rehabilitation services.  
(3) MRS shall engage with employers to increase job opportunities for individuals with  
disabilities.  
(4) MRS provides services in accordance with the provisions of an IPE. Each IPE must  
be designed to achieve a specific employment outcome that is selected by the customer  
consistent with the customer’s unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities,  
capabilities, interests, and informed choice. Each IPE must include a description of the  
specific vocational rehabilitation services needed to achieve the employment outcome.  
Services provided must be needed to achieve the customer’s employment outcome and  
must be provided at the least cost, and of sufficient quality, to meet the individual’s  
rehabilitation needs.  
R 395.54 General requirements.  
Rule 4. (1) MRS shall not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, age, national origin,  
color, height, weight, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,  
political beliefs, disability, participant status in a workforce innovation and opportunity  
act-funded program, or discriminate against certain non-citizens as defined by section 188  
of the workforce innovation and opportunity act, 29 USC 3248.  
(2) MRS shall not impose, as part of determining an individual’s eligibility for vocational  
rehabilitation services, a duration of residence requirement that excludes any applicant who  
is legally present in this state.  
(3) Throughout the individual’s rehabilitation program, every opportunity must be  
provided to the individual to make informed choices regarding the rehabilitation process.  
MRS shall maintain documentation of opportunities for making informed choices in the  
individual’s case record.  
(4) MRS shall establish and maintain a case record for each individual and recipient of  
vocational rehabilitation services, which includes data necessary to comply with MRS and  
federal Rehabilitation Services Administration requirements.  
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(5) MRS shall make administrative decisions about the district and office boundaries in  
which individuals are served. Individuals do not have a right to select the office or district  
in which they are served or the counselor who will serve them.  
(6) Individuals are served in geographic MRS districts and offices according to their  
residence. Individuals who change their residence may have the option to have their cases  
transferred, with supervisory approval, to the district or office to which they have moved.  
(7) Individuals have the right to appeal the denial of a request to change counselors within  
an office.  
(8) Case service expenditures, whether assessment or IPE services, require written  
authorization by MRS before or simultaneously with the initiation of the service.  
Retroactive authorizations are allowed if the MRS customer made reasonable efforts to  
ensure MRS was able to provide the service and failure to authorize payment for services  
is due to MRS error or delay.  
(9) Goods and services must be provided subject to the statewide availability of funds.  
Each IPE must be developed and implemented in a manner that gives the individual the  
opportunity to exercise informed choice in selecting the vocational rehabilitation services  
needed to achieve the employment outcome, including the settings in which services will  
be provided, and the entity or entities that will provide the vocational rehabilitation  
services.  
(10) When appropriate, MRS counselor shall provide the referral necessary to support the  
individual with disabilities in securing needed services from other agencies and  
organizations.  
(11) The MRS counselor shall inform each individual of the right to obtain review of  
determinations made by MRS that affect the provision of vocational rehabilitation services,  
including the right to pursue mediation and provide applicants and eligible individuals with  
notice of the availability of the CAP to assist the applicant or recipient during mediation  
sessions or impartial due process hearings.  
R 395.65 Rescinded  
R 395.76 Rates of payment.  
Rule 26. (1) MRS shall maintain a fee schedule for select vocational rehabilitation  
services. The fee schedule is a complete list of established rates of payment used to  
authorize and pay for specified services.  
(2) The MRS fee schedule for vocational rehabilitation services is not absolute and MRS  
shall allow exceptions to the fee schedule so that individual needs can be addressed. The  
MRS fee schedule for vocational rehabilitation services must not be so low as to effectively  
deny an individual a necessary service.  
(3) MRS shall authorize for services not listed on the fee schedule at the least cost to MRS  
that will ensure sufficient quality of services to meet the individual’s vocational  
rehabilitation need.  
(4) MRS shall not place an absolute dollar limit on specific service categories or on the  
total services provided to an individual.  
(5) MRS is not responsible for the cost of out-of-state services in excess of the cost of in-  
state services if either service would meet the individual’s vocational rehabilitation needs.  
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R 395.79 Requirements for closing the record of services of an individual who has achieved  
an employment outcome.  
Rule 29. The record of services of an individual who has achieved an employment  
outcome may be closed only if all of the following requirements are met:  
(a) The individual has achieved the employment outcome that is described in the  
individual’s IPE.  
(b) The employment outcome is consistent with the individual's unique strengths,  
resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice.  
(c) The individual has maintained the employment outcome for an appropriate period of  
time, but not less than 90 days, necessary to ensure the stability of the employment  
outcome, and the individual no longer needs vocational rehabilitation services.  
(d) The individual and MRS counselor consider the employment to be satisfactory and  
agree the individual is performing well on the job.  
(e) The individual is informed through appropriate modes of communication of the  
availability of post-employment services.  
R 395.83 Rescinded.  
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