Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-08-11-.02 - DEFINITIONS

(1) "Supported Employment" means competitive integrated employment including customized employment when appropriate, or employment in an integrated work setting in which an individual with a most significant disability, including a youth with a most significant disability, is working on a short-term basis toward competitive integrated employment that is individualized and customized consistent with the unique strengths, abilities, interests, and informed choice of the individual, including with ongoing support services for individuals with the most significant disabilities:
(a) For whom competitive integrated employment has not historically occurred, or for whom competitive integrated employment has been interrupted or intermittent as a result of a significant disability; and
(b) Who, because of the nature and severity of their disabilities, need intensive supported employment and extended services after the transition from support provided by VR, in order to perform this work; or
(c) Who may require transitional employment services for individuals with the most significant disabilities due to mental illness consisting of sequential placement and support, coordination with mental health services to integrate an individual's mental health treatment with career development and placement, and job stabilization.
(2) "Extended Services" means ongoing job supports and other appropriate services that are:
(a) Needed to support and maintain an individual with a most significant disability, including a youth with a most significant disability, in supported employment;
(b) Organized or made available, singly or in combination, in such a way as to assist an eligible individual in maintaining supported employment;
(c) Based on the needs of an eligible individual, as specified in an IPE;
(d) Provided by a State agency other than VR, a private nonprofit organization, employer, or any other appropriate resource, including natural supports, after an individual is stable on the job and has made the transition from support from VR;
(e) Provided at a minimum, twice-monthly monitoring at the worksite, or under specific circumstances, off-site monitoring, of each individual in supported employment to assess employment stability and to provide for the coordination and provision of specific services at or away from the worksite that are needed to maintain employment stability;
(f) Provided to a youth with a most significant disability for a period not to exceed four years, or at such time that a youth reaches age 25 and no longer meets the definition of a youth with a disability, whichever occurs first. VR may not provide extended services to an individual with a most significant disability who is not a youth with a most significant disability.
(3) "Plan for Supported Employment" means an IPE developed in accordance with Rule 1240-08-04-.03 that also:
(a) Specifies the supported employment services to be provided by VR;
(b) Specifies the expected extended services needed, which may include natural supports;
(c) Identifies the source of extended services or, to the extent that it is not possible to identify the source of extended services at the time the IPE is developed, includes a description of the basis for concluding that there is a reasonable expectation that those sources will become available;
(d) Provides for periodic monitoring to ensure that the individual is making satisfactory progress toward meeting the weekly work requirement established in the IPE by the time of transition to extended services;
(e) Provides for the coordination of services provided under an IPE with services provided under other individualized plans established under other Federal or State programs;
(f) To the extent that job skills training is provided, identifies that the training will be provided on site; and
(g) Includes placement in an integrated setting for the maximum number of hours possible based on the unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice of individuals with the most significant disabilities.

Notes

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-08-11-.02
Original rule filed August 22, 1988; effective November 29, 1988. Amendment filed July 12, 2002; effective September 25, 2002. Repeal and new rule filed June 30, 2009; effective September 13, 2009. Amendments filed October 5, 2017; effective January 3, 2018. Amendments filed February 29, 2024; effective 5/29/2024.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-202 and 71-1-105(a)(12); PL 93-112, as amended by PL 99-506; and 34 C.F.R. §§ 361, 361.5, and 363.6.

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