Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Vocational Rehabilitation (Combined or General)
The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services Portion of the Unified or Combined State Plan [13] must include the following descriptions and estimates, as required by section 101(a) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by title IV of WIOA:
__________
[13] Sec. 102(b)(2)(D)(iii) of WIOA
- h. Interagency Cooperation
Describe how the designated State unit will collaborate with the State agency responsible for administering each of the following programs to develop opportunities for competitive integrated employment, to the greatest extent practicable:
- h. Interagency Cooperation
h. 1. The State Medicaid plan under title XIX of the Social Security Act;
Current Narrative:
VR has provided education and outreach regarding Indiana’s Medicaid buy-in program (called M.E.D. Works) to increase access to competitive, integrated employment for individuals with disabilities receiving Medicaid. Through the VR-funded Benefits Information Network (BIN), VR participants also receive information about M.E.D. Works and how this program can enable them to both work and maintain their needed Medicaid benefits. The BIN process also educates VR participants to make overall informed choices about working, providing education not only about the impact on Medicaid, but also the impact on other federal and state benefits, and the use of federal and state work incentives to assist in achieving gainful employment. VR also engaged with the Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning (OMPP) in 2019 to better understand the funding structure for services that support employment carried out by community mental health centers (CMHCs). In 2021, VR, OMPP and Division of Mental Health and Addictions (DMHA) jointly conducted a funding gap analysis related to the delivery of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and provided guidance to CMHC IPS early adopters on billable activities across the VR and Medicaid funding streams.