281—56.10 (259) Students in high school. The division may serve students in high school, provided the student demonstrates the maturity level, skills, and learning characteristics required to legally work in competitive environments for nonfamily members. If an applicant is in high school and is determined to be eligible for vocational rehabilitation services, such services may begin before the student exits the secondary school system. The services shall not supplant services for which the secondary school is responsible.
When the division determines that a student is eligible for services, the student’s place on the waiting list under rule 281—56.8(259) shall be determined. If the waiting list category appropriate for the student is a category currently being served, the student’s case shall be moved to Status 10-1. Otherwise the case is placed in Status 04-0, and the student’s name is added to the waiting list for that category, based on the student’s date of eligibility. An IPE may be written for a student in Status 10-1 at any time the student’s vocational goal and the services necessary to reach that goal have been agreed upon by the student and the student’s division counselor. The IPE must be in place when the student exits the secondary school system, unless the student has agreed to an extension or is on a waiting list or applied for services in the last quarter of the student’s senior year.
The counselor assigned by the division to work with the student may participate in the student’s individualized education program meetings to provide consultation and technical assistance if the student is on the waiting list for services. Once a student is removed from the waiting list, the counselor may also provide vocational counseling and planning for the student and coordinate services with transition planning teams. When such services do not supplant services for which the secondary school is responsible, the division may begin to provide services specifically related to employment, such as supported employment or job coaching services, as early as the student’s junior year of secondary school. Students in high school or in an alternative high school who have not yet met high school graduation requirements after four years of secondary enrollment may continue to receive said services that do not supplant the responsibilities of the high school. Students in their final year of high school who have made satisfactory progress and who have demonstrated skills to work in their trained profession may receive assistance in purchasing tools to be used on a job.