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PART II. NEW LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY FOR VOCATIONAL

REHABILITATION-1965

The Vocational Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1965 are designed to send this public program into the next decade equipped with a legal base as modern and forward looking as it had when it entered the last decade. Most important are three features:

1. The new provisions in the Vocational Rehabilitation Act Amendments, in concert, are designed to put the public vocational rehabilitation program on a scale of operation which it should attain in this coming decade.

2. The new provisions aim to strengthen the program's ability to tackle and solve the problems of rehabilitating the very difficult cases, the severely disabled.

3. These provisions also are drawn to make possible a direct drive to build more rehabilitation facilities and workshops and equally important, to strengthen those now operating.

More specifically, the 1965 revisions of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act take aim at seven major points:

(a) The broadening of the base of the Federal-State program to take into the program not only more of the disabled, but also a greater spread of the severe disabilities.

(b) The liberalization of Federal financial support of certain portions of the program to match State money more favorably matched with Federal funds to put State vocational rehabilitation agencies in better position to secure State appropriations for their programs.

(c) A multifaceted, comprehensive program to improve and strengthen the workshops of the Nation.

(d) A rehabilitation facilities construction program directed primarily to construction of vocationally oriented facilities.

(e) A concerted effort to remove and prevent architectural barriers which impede the rehabilitation of the handicapped.

(f) Special projects grants to allow quick, responsive focus on particular program areas, such as the mentally retarded, the victims of heart disease, cancer and stroke, cerebral palsy, and similar groups of the disabled, and for statewide planning.

(g) The establishment of intramural programs of rehabilitation research and data assembling and dissemination.

The principal bills to achieve these objectives considered in the Congress were the administration bills (H.R. 6476 and S. 1525). H.R. 8310, reflecting the views of the House Committee on Education and Labor, was reported by the committee on May 28, 1965. The text of these bills as introduced follows, with a summary comparison of the specific features of both bills.

Also included is a brief chronology of the actions of both houses on these amendments and the text of the Conference Report.

A list of witnesses who appeared or presented statements at the hearings of the House committee is attached as appendix C.

[H.R. 6476, 89th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To amend the Vocational Rehabilitation Act to assist in providing more flexibility in the financing and administration of State rehabilitation programs, and to assist in the expansion and improvement of services and facilities provided under such programs, particularly for the mentally retarded and other groups presenting special vocational rehabilitation problems, 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 be cited as the "Vocational Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1965".

DETERMINATION OF VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION POTENTIAL

SEC. 2. (a) Section 12 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 42) is amended to read as follows:

"GRANTS TO STATES FOR VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION SERVICES TO DETERMINE REHABILITATION POTENTIAL

"SEC. 12. (a)(1)(A) From the sums available for any fiscal year for grants to States to assist them in meeting the costs of providing vocational rehabilitation evaluation services, each State shall be entitled to an allotment of an amount which bears the same ratio to such sums as the product of (i) the population of the State and (ii) its allotment percentage (as defined in section 11(h)) bears to the sum of the corresponding products for all the States.

"(B) The allotment to any State under paragraph (1) of this subsection for any fiscal year which is less than $5,000 (or such other amount as may be specified as a minimum allotment in the Act appropriating such sums for such year) shall be increased to that amount, the total of the increases thereby required being derived by proportionately reducing the allotments to each of the remaining States under that paragraph, 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.

"(2) Any amount allotted under this subsection to any State for any fiscal year which the Secretary determines will not be required for such fiscal year for meeting the costs of providing vocational rehabilitation evaluation services under such State's plan approved under section 5 shall be available for reallotment from time to time, on such dates as the Secretary may fix, to other States which the Secretary determines (A) have need in providing vocational rehabilitation evaluation services under their respective State plans approved under section 5 for sums in excess of those previously allotted to them under paragraph (1) of this subsection, and (B) will be able to use such excess sums for such services during such fiscal year. Any amount so reallotted to a State shall be deemed part of its allotment under paragraph (1) of this subsection.

"(b) (1) From each State's allotment under subsection (a) for any fiscal year, the Secretary shall pay to such State an amount equal to

"(A) the Federal share (determined as provided in section 11(i)), or "(B) 75 per centum, in the case of any State which provides assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that its expenditures from State or local sources under its plan approved under section 5 (except for expenditures with respect to which the State is entitled to payments under section 3) will not be less than such expenditures under such plan for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1964,

of the costs of providing vocational rehabilitation evaluation services to substantially handicapped individuals under such plan (including costs of administration). "(2) No payment may be made from an allotment under subsection (a) with respect to any cost with respect to which any payment is made under section 2, 3, or 4.

"(c) For purposes of this section, the term 'vocational rehabilitation evaluation services' means those services (1) which are provided to any individual under a physical or mental disability constituting a substantial handicap to employment during the period determined, in accordance with regulations of the Secretary, to be necessary for, and which are provided for the purpose of, ascertaining whether it may reasonably be expected that such an individual will be rendered fit to engage in a remunerative occupation through the provision of vocational rehabilitation services, and (2) which would constitute vocational rehabilitation services if his disability were of such a nature that he would be a physically handicapped individual; except that

"(A) such period shall not exceed eighteen months in the case of any such individual who is mentally retarded or has a disability designated for this

purpose by the Secretary, or six months in the case of any such individual with any other disability, and

"(B) such services shall not include placement services, management services and supervision for any business, the acquisition or provision of tools, vending stands, or other equipment, stocks, or supplies for use in any business or remunerative occupation, or the establishment of rehabilitation facilities or workshops."

(b) Section 1 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 31) is amended by striking out "and" at the end of paragraph (2), by striking out the period at the end of paragraph (3) and inserting in lieu thereof "; and", by striking out, in the last sentence, "three types of grants" and inserting in lieu thereof "four types of grants", and by inserting the following new paragraph after paragraph (3):

"(4) grants to States under section 12 to assist them in meeting the costs of vocational rehabilitation evaluation services."

(c) That portion of section 5(c) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 35(c)) which follows paragraph (2), and that portion of section 6 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 36) which precedes paragraph (1), are each amended by striking out "section 2 or 3" wherever it appears therein and inserting in lieu thereof "section 2, 3, or 12".

(d) The amendments made by the preceding subsections of this section shall be effective for fiscal years beginning after June 30, 1966.

CONSTRUCTION OF REHABILITATION FACILITIES; WORKSHOP IMPROVEMENT; EXPERIMENTAL PROJECTS; REMOVAL OF ARCHITECTURAL BARRIERS

SEC. 3. The Vocational Rehabilitation Act is further amended by redesignating section 13 as section 17, and by inserting after section 12 the following new sections:

"GRANTS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF REHABILITATION FACILITIES AND WORKSHOPS

"SEC. 13. (a) Effective for fiscal years beginning after June 30, 1965, the Secretary is authorized to make grants to assist in meeting the costs of construction of public or other nonprofit workshops and rehabilitation facilities. Such grants may be made only for projects for which applications are approved by the Secretary under this section.

"(b) To be approved, an application for a grant for a construction project under this section must

"(1) contain or be supported by reasonable assurances that (A) for a period of not less than ten years after completion of construction of the project it will be used as a public or other nonprofit workshop or rehabilitation facility, (B) sufficient funds will be available to meet the non-Federal share of the cost of construction of the project, and (C) sufficient funds will be available, when construction of the project is completed, for its effective use as a workshop or rehabilitation facility, as the case may be;

"(2) be accompanied or supplemented by plans and specifications which comply with regulations of the Secretary relating to minimum standards of construction and equipment;

"(3) be approved, in accordance with regulations of the Secretary, by the appropriate State agency designated as provided in section 5(a)(1);

"(4) contain or be supported by reasonable assurance that any laborer or mechanic employed by any contractor or subcontractor in the performance of work on any construction aided by payments pursuant to any grant under this section will be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on similar construction in the locality as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act, as amended (40 U.S.C. 276a-276a-5); and the Secretary of Labor shall have, with respect to the labor standards specified in this paragraph, the authority and functions set forth in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (15 F.R. 3176; 5 U.S.C. 133z-15) and section 2 of the Act of June 13, 1934, as amended (40 U.S.C. 276c). "(c) The amount of a grant under this section with respect to any construction project in any State shall be equal to the same percentage of the cost of such project as the Federal share which is applicable in the case of rehabilitation facilities (as defined in section 625(g) of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 2910(g)) in such State, except that if the Federal share with respect to rehabilitation facilities in such State is determined under subparagraph (A) of section 625(b)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2910(b)(1)), the percentage of the cost for purposes of this section shall be determined in accordance with regulations of the

Secretary designed to achieve as nearly as practicable results comparable to the results obtained under such subparagraph.

"(d) Upon approval of any application for a grant for a construction project under this section, the Secretary shall reserve, from any appropriation available therefor, the amount of such grant determined under subsection (c); the amount so reserved may be paid in advance or by way of reimbursement, and in such installments consistent with construction progress, as the Secretary may determine. In case an amendment to an approved application is approved or the estimated cost of a project is revised upward, any additional payment with respect thereto may be made from the applicable allotment of the State for the fiscal year in which such amendment or revision is approved.

"(e) If, within ten years after completion of any construction project for which funds have been paid under this section, the workshop or rehabilitation facility shall cease to be a public or other nonprofit workshop or rehabilitation facility, the United States shall be entitled to recover from the applicant or other owner of the workshop or facility the amount bearing the same ratio to the then value (as determined by agreement of the parties or by action brought in the United States district court for the district in which such workshop or facility is situated) of the workshop or facility, as the amount of the Federal participation bore to the cost of construction of such workshop or facility.

"(f) The Secretary is also authorized to make grants with respect to any workshop or rehabilitation facility for which a grant for a construction project has been made under this section to cover part of the costs (determined in accordance with regulations of the Secretary) of compensation of professional or technical personnel of such workshop or facility during the period beginning with the commencement of the operation of such workshop or facility and ending with the close of four years and three months after the month in which such operation commenced. Such grants with respect to any workshop or facility may not exceed 75 per centum of such costs for the period ending with the close of the fifteenth month following the month in which such operation commenced, 60 per centum of such costs for the first year thereafter, 45 per centum of such costs for the second year thereafter, and 30 per centum of such costs for the third year thereafter.

"(g) The Secretary is also authorized to make grants (1) to the State agency or agencies designated as provided in section 5(a) (1) to assist in meeting the cost of determining the State's needs for workshops and rehabilitation facilities and (2) upon application approved by the appropriate State agency so designated for such State, to public or other nonprofit agencies, institutions, or organizations to assist them in meeting the costs of planning workshops and rehabilitation facilities and the services to be provided thereby.

"(h) Payment of grants under subsection (f) or (g) may be made (after necessary adjustment on account of previously made overpayments or underpayments) in advance or by way of reimbursement, and in such installments and on such conditions, as the Secretary may determine.

“(i) There are authorized to be appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and each of the four succeeding fiscal years such sums as may be necessary for carrying out this section. Sums so appropriated shall remain available for payment with respect to projects approved under this section prior to July 1, 1970.

"(j) For purposes of this section

"(1) 'construction' includes construction of new buildings and expansion, remodeling, alteration, and renovation of existing buildings, and initial equipment of such new, expanded, remodeled, altered, or renovated buildings; "(2) the 'cost' of construction includes the cost of architects' fees in connection with construction, but does not include the cost of acquisition of land or offsite improvements;

"(3) a project for construction of a workshop may include such construction as may be necessary to provide residential accommodations for use in connection with the rehabilitation of mentally retarded individuals.

"WORKSHOP IMPROVEMENT

"Grants for Projects for Training Services in Workshops

"SEC. 14. (a) (1) The Secretary is authorized, during the period beginning July 1, 1966, and ending June 30, 1971, to make grants to States and public and other nonprofit organizations and agencies to pay 75 per centum of the cost of projects for providing training services to physically handicapped individuals in public or other nonprofit workshops.

"(2)(A) Training services, for purposes of this subsection, shall include training in occupational skills; related services, including work evaluation, work testing, provision of occupational tools and equipment required by the individual to engage in such training, and job tryouts; and payment of weekly allowances to individuals receiving such training and related services.

"(B) Such allowances may not be paid to any individual for any period in excess of two years, and such allowances for any week shall not exceed $25 plus $10 for each of the individual's dependents, or $65, whichever is less. In determining the amount of such allowance for any individual, consideration shall be given to the individual's need for such an allowance, including any expenses reasonably attributable to receipt of training services, the extent to which such an allowance will help assure entry into and satisfactory completion of training, and such other factors, specified by the Secretary, as will promote such individual's fitness to engage in a remunerative occupation.

(3) The Secretary may make a grant for a project pursuant to this subsection only on his determination that (A) the purpose of such project is to prepare physically handicapped individuals for a remunerative occupation, (B) the individuals to receive training services under such project will include only individuals who have been determined to be suitable for and in need of such training services by the State agency or agencies designated as provided in section 5(a)(1) of the State in which the workshop is located, (C) the full range of training services will be made available to each such individual, to the extent of his need for such services, and (D) the project, including the participating workshop and the training services provided, meet such other requirements as he may prescribe for carrying out the purposes of this subsection.

"(4) Payments under this subsection may be made in installments, and in advance or by way of reimbursement, as may be determined by the Secretary, and shall be made on such conditions as he finds necessary to carry out the purposes of this subsection.

"Workshop Improvement Grants

"(b) (1) The Secretary is authorized to make grants to workshops during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and each of the four succeeding fiscal years to pay part of the cost of projects to analyze, improve, and increase their professional services to handicapped individuals, their business management, or any other part of their operations affecting their capacity to provide employment and services for handicapped individuals.

"(2) No part of any grant made pursuant to this subsection may be used to pay costs of acquiring, constructing, expanding, remodeling, or altering any building.

"(3) Payments under this subsection may be made in installments, and in advance or by way of reimbursement, as may be determined by the Secretary, and shall be made on such conditions as he finds necessary to carry out the purposes of this subsection.

"Technical Assistance to Workshops

"(c) (1) The Secretary is authorized, directly or by contract with experts or consultants or groups thereof, to provide technical assistance to workshops.

"(2) Any such experts or consultants shall, while serving pursuant to such contracts, be entitled to receive compensation at rates fixed by the Secretary, but not exceeding $100 per diem, including travel time, and while so serving away from their homes or regular places of business they may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 5 of the Administrative Expenses Act of 1946 (5 U.S.C. 73b-2) for persons in the Government service employed intermittently.

"National Policy and Performance Council

"(d) (1) There is hereby established in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare a National Policy and Performance Council, consisting of twelve members, not otherwise in the employ of the United States, appointed by the Secretary without regard to the civil service laws. The Secretary shall from time to time appoint one of the members to serve as Chairman. The appointed members shall be selected from among leaders in the vocational rehabilitation or workshop fields, State or local government, and business and from among representatives of related professions, labor leaders, and the general public. Each appointed member shall hold office for a term of four years, except that any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for

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