90th Congress, H. R. 16819 An Act To amend the Vocational Rehabilitation Act to extend the authorization of grants to States for rehabilitation services, to broaden the scope of goods and services available under that Act for the handicapped, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may Vocational Rehabe cited as the "Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments of 1968". AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS bilitation Amendments of 1968. 82 STAT 297 82 STAT. 298 SEC. 2. (a) Section 1(b)(1) of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act 79 Stat. 1282; is amended by striking out "and" and by inserting before the period 81 Stat. 250. at the end thereof the following: ", and for the fiscal year ending 29 USC 31. June 30, 1971, the sum of $700,000,000". 66 (b) Section 1(b) (2) of such Act is amended by striking out "and" and by inserting before the period at the end thereof the following: ", for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1969, the sum of $3,200,000, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1970, the sum of $6,000,000, and for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1971, the sum of $10,000,000"." (c) Section 1(b) (3) of such Act is amended by striking out "and" where it appears after "$104,000,000,", and by inserting before the period at the end thereof the following: ", for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1969, the sum of $80,000,000, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1970, the sum of $115,000,000, and for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1971, the sum of $140,000,000". (d) Section 1(b) (4) of such Act is amended by striking out “1969" and inserting "1972". MINIMUM ALLOTMENTS TO STATES SEC. 3. Section 2(a) of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act is 29 USC 32. amended by inserting at the end thereof the following: "The allotment to any State (other than the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Guam) for any fiscal year under the preceding two sentences which is less than $1,000,000 shall be increased to that amount, the total of the increases thereby required being derived by proportionately reducing the allotments of each of the remaining such States under the preceeding two sentences, but with such adjustments as may be necessary to prevent the allotment of any of such remaining States from being thereby reduced to less than that amount." LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR CONSTRUCTION SEC. 4. Section 2(b) of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act is amended by inserting after "for such year" the first time it appears the following: "and such payments shall not be made in an amount which would result in a violation of the provisions of the State plan required by section 5(a) (14)" and by striking out "1965" and inserting in lieu Post, p. 300. thereof "1969". PRIVATE CONTRIBUTIONS FOR CONSTRUCTION OR ESTABLISHMENT OF FACILITIES SEC. 5. Section 2 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act is amended by adding at the end thereof following new subsection: "(c) For the purpose of determining the amount of payments to States for carrying out this section and section 3 with respect to Post, p. 299 expenditures under a State plan approved under section 5, State funds Post, p. 300. 82 STAT, 299 shall, subject to such limitations and conditions as may be prescribed in regulations of the Secretary, include contributions of funds made by any private agency, organization, or individual to a State to assist in meeting the costs of construction or establishment of a public or other nonprofit rehabilitation facility, which would be regarded as State funds except for the condition, imposed by the contributor, limiting use of such funds to construction or establishment of such facility." ALLOTMENTS TO STATES FOR THE INNOVATION OF VOCATIONAL SEC. 6. Effective with respect to fiscal years ending after June 30, 79 Stat. 1283. 1969, section 3 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection: 29 USC 33. 68 Stat. 655; 79 Stat. 1289. 29 USC 34. 79 Stat. 1290. "(d) Whenever the Secretary determines that any amount of an allotment to a State for any fiscal year will not be utilized by such State in carrying out the purposes of this section, he shall make such amount available for carrying out the purposes of this section to one or more other States which he determines will be able to use additional amounts during such year for carrying out such purposes. Any amount made available to a State for any fiscal year pursuant to the preceding sentence shall, for purposes of this Act, be regarded as an increase in such State's allotment (as determined under the preceding provisions of this section) for such year." PROJECTS WITH INDUSTRY; TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS OF SECTION 4 SEC. 7. (a) (1) The first sentence of section 4(a) of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act is amended by (A) inserting "(1)" after "Secretary shall", (B) striking out "(1)" after "grants", (C) inserting in clause. (1) thereof after "several States" the following: ", and problems related to the rehabilitation of the mentally retarded", and (D) amending clause (2) thereof to read as follows: "(2) (A) make grants to States and public and other nonprofit organizations and agencies for paying part of the cost of planning, preparing for, and initiating special programs to expand vocational rehabilitation services in those States where, in the judgment of the Secretary, such action holds promise of yielding a substantial increase in the number of persons vocationally rehabilitated, and sums appropriated for grants under this clause shall remain available for such grants through the close of June 30, 1972, (B) make contracts or jointly financed cooperative arrangements with employers and organizations for the establishment of projects designed to prepare handicapped individuals for gainful employment in the competitive labor market under which handicapped individuals are provided training and employment in a realistic work setting and such other services (determined in accordance with regulations of the Secretary) as may be necessary for such individuals to continue to engage in such employment, (C) make grants to State vocational rehabilitation agencies and other public and private nonprofit agencies to enable them to develop new programs to recruit and train individuals for new career opportunities in order to provide appropriate manpower in programs serving handicapped individuals and to upgrade or expand those services and (D) make grants to vocational rehabilitation agencies and other public and private nonprofit agencies to enable them to develop new programs to recruit and train handicapped individuals to provide them with new career opportunities in the fields of rehabilitation, health, welfare, public safety and law enforcement, and other appropriate public service employment.' 82 STAT. 300 (2) The second sentence of section 4(a) of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act is amended by striking out "vocational rehabilitation" and 79 Stat. 1290. inserting in lieu thereof "vocational rehabilitation of the handicapped 29 USC 34. or to the rehabilitation of the mentally retarded": 68 Stat. 655. 79 Stat. 1282. 29 USC 31. Ante, p. 299. (b) Section 4 of such Act is amended by striking out subsection (b) and redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as (b) and (c), respectively. (c) So much of section 1(b) (3) of such Act as precedes "there is authorized" is amended to read as follows: "(8) For the purpose of (A) making grants under section 4(a) (1) for research, demonstrations, training, and traineeships; (B) making grants under clause (2) (A) of section 4(a) for planning, preparing for, and initiating special programs to expand State vocational rehabilitation services; (C) making contracts and jointly financed cooperative arrangements under clause (2) (B) of section 4(a) for projects for providing jobs to handicapped individuals; and (D) making grants under clauses (2) (C) and (D) of section 4(a) to develop new programs to recruit and train individuals for new career opportunities," (d) Section 4 (c) of such Act (as so redesignated by subsection (b)) 79 Stat. 1293. is amended by striking out "section 5 of the Administrative Expenses Act of 1946 (5 U.S.C. 73b-2) and inserting in lieu thereof "section 5703 of title 5, United States Code,”. STATE PLAN REQUIREMENTS SEC. 8. (a) Section 5(a) (1) (A) of the Vocational Rehabilitation 80 Stat. 499. Act is amended by inserting "(i)" after "except that" and by insert- 79 Stat. 1291. ing before the semicolon at the end thereof the following: ", and (ii) 29 USC 35. the Secretary, upon the request of an agency so designated, may authorize such agency to share funding and administrative responsi'bility with another agency of the State in order to permit such agencies to carry out a joint project to provide services to handicapped individuals, and may waive compliance with respect to vocational rehabilitation services furnished under such joint projects with the require ment of section 5(a)(3) that the plan be in effect in all political 68 Stat. 657. subdivisions of the State". (b) Section 5(a) (7) of such Act is amended to read as follows: "(7) provide that evaluation of rehabilitation potential, counseling and guidance, personal and vocational adjustment, training, maintenance, physical restoration, and placement and followup services will be provided under the plan;". (c) Section 5(a) (9) of such Act is amended by striking out "Bureau of Old-Age and Survivors Insurance" and inserting in lieu thereof "Social Security Administration". (d) Section 5(a) of such Act is further amended by striking out "and" at the end of paragraph (11), by striking out the period at the end of paragraph (12) and inserting a semicolon, and by adding 81 Stat. 253. at the end thereof the following: "(18) provide for continuing statewide studies of the needs of handicapped individuals and how these may be most effectively met; and "(14) provide that where such State plan includes provisions for the construction of rehabilitation facilities "(A) the Federal share of the cost of construction thereof "(B) the provisions of subsections (b) (1), (2), and (4), and (e) of section 12 shall be applicable to such construction 79 Stat. 1284. and such provisions shall be deemed to apply to such con- 29 USC 41a. struction, and 29 USC 41. "Vocational "(C) there shall be compliance with regulations of the Secretary designed to assure that no State will reduce its efforts in providing other vocational rehabilitation services because its plan includes such provisions for construction." EVALUATION OF VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION PROGRAM SEC. 9. Section 7 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection: "(e) For any fiscal year ending after June 30, 1968, such portion of the appropriations for grants under section 1 as the Secretary may determine, but not exceeding 1 per centum thereof or $1,000,000, whichever is the lesser, shall be available for evaluation by the Secretary (directly or by grants or contracts) of the programs authorized by this Act." REVISION OF DEFINITIONS SEC. 10. (a) Subsection (a) of section 11 of the Rehabilitation Act is amended to read as follows: "(a)(1) The term 'vocational rehabilitation services' means the rehabilitation following services: services." "A) evaluation, including diagnostic and related services, incidental to the determination of eligibility for and the nature and scope of services to be provided; "(B) counseling, guidance, and placement services for handicapped individuals, including followup services to assist such individuals to maintain their employment; "(C) training services for handicapped individuals, which shall include personal and vocational adjustment, books, and other training materials; "(D) reader services for the blind and interpreter services for. the deaf; and "(E) recruitment and training services for handicapped individuals to provide them with new employment opportunities in the fields of rehabilitation, health, welfare, public safety, and law enforcement, and other appropriate service employment. "(2) Such term also includes, after full consideration of eligibility for any similar benefit by way of pension, compensation, and insurance, the following services and goods provided to, or for the benefit of, a handicapped individual: “(A) physical restoration services, including, but not limited to (i) corrective surgery or therapeutic treatment necessary to correct or substantially modify a physical or mental condition which is stable or slowly progressive and constitutes a substantial barrier to employment, but is of such nature that such correction or modification may reasonably be expected to eliminate or substantially reduce the handicap within a reasonable length of time, (ii) necessary hospitalization in connection with surgery or treatment, (iii) prosthetic and orthotic devices, (iv) eye glasses and visual services as prescribed by a physician skilled in the diseases of the eye or by an optometrist; "(B) maintenance, not exceeding the estimated cost of subsistence, during rehabilitation; "(C) occupational licenses, tools, equipment, and initial stocks and supplies; "(D) in the case of any type of small business operated by the severely handicapped the operation of which can be improved by management services and supervision provided by the State agency, the provision of such services and supervision, alone or together with the acquisition by the State agency of vending stands or other equipment and initial stocks and supplies; "(E) the construction or establishment of public or other nonprofit rehabilitation facilities and the provision of other facilities and services which promise to contribute substantially to the rehabilitation of a group of individuals but which are not related directly to the rehabilitation plan of any one handicapped individual; "(F) transportation in connection with the rendering of any other vocational rehabilitation service; "(G) any other goods and services necessary to render a handicapped individual employable; (H) services to the families of handicapped individuals when such services will contribute substantially to the rehabilitation of such individuals." 82 STAT. 302 (b) Subsection (c) of section 11 such Act is amended to read as 68 Stat. 660. follows: 29 USC 41, "(c) The term 'rehabilitation facility' means a facility which is "Rehabilitation operated for the primary purpose of providing vocational rehabilita- facility." tíon services to, or gainful employment for, handicapped individuals, or for providing evaluation and work adjustment services for disadvantaged individuals, and which provides singly or in combination one or more of the following services for handicapped individuals: (1) Comprehensive rehabilitation services which shall include, under one management, medical, psychological, social, and vocational services, (2) testing, fitting, or training in the use of prosthetic and orthotic devices, (3) prevocational conditioning or recreational therapy, (4) physical and occupational therapy, (5) speech and hearing pathology, 76) psychological and social services, (7) evaluation, (8) personal and work adjustment, (9) vocational training (in combination with other rehabilitation services), (10) evaluation or control of special disabilities, and (11) extended employment for the severely handicapped who cannot be readily absorbed in the competitive labor market; but all medical and related health services must be prescribed by, or under the formal supervision of, persons licensed to practice medicine or surgery in the State." Repeal. (c) Subsection (d) of section 11 of such Act is repealed. (d) Subsection (e) of section 11 of such Act is amended by striking "Workshop." out "or a workshop" and "and a workshop, respectively," and by strik- "Nonprofit." ing out "101 (6) of the Internal Revenue Code" and inserting in lieu thereof "501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954". 68A Stat. 163. (e) Subsection (f) of section 11 of such Act is amended to read as 26 USC 501. follows: “(f) Establishment of a rehabilitation facility means (1) the ex- Establishment pansion, remodeling, or alteration of existing buildings necessary to of rehabilitaadapt them to rehabilitation facility purposes or to increase their tion facility. effectiveness for such purposes (subject, however, to such limitations as the Secretary may, by regulation, prescribe in order to prevent impairment of the objectives of, or duplication of, other Federal laws providing Federal assistance in the construction of such facilities), (2) initial equipment of such buildings, and (3) the initial staffing thereof (for a period not to exceed four years and three months)." (f) Subsection (i) of section 11 of such Act is amended by inserting "Federal share." before the period at the end thereof the following: "for the fiscal year 79 Stat. 1294. ending June 30, 1969, and 80 per centum for each succeeding fiscal year; except that with respect to payments pursuant to section 2(b) Ante, p. 298. to any State which are used to meet the costs of construction of reha bilitation facilities (as provided in section 11(a)(2) (E)) in such Supra. State, the Federal share shall be, for the fiscal year ending June 30, |