Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) - Is This an Option for You?

This state program helps people with disabilities find and keep a job. VR counselors work for either the Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation or the Idaho Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

To qualify for VR services, a person must:

• Have a physical or mental impairment (disability) which constitutes or results in a substantial barrier to employment; and
• Require vocational rehabilitation services to prepare for, secure, retain or regain employment and can benefit in terms of an employment outcome;
  OR
• Be a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) recipient who intends to achieve an employment outcome.

Contact Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation

Contact Idaho Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Working and Keeping your Social Security Benefits

Special rules make it possible for people receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) disability benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to work and still receive monthly payments.

• Ticket to Work is a free program to help those receiving SSI or SSDI get a job leading to a career that pays enough to support them and still keep Medicare or Medicaid. If you are a veteran, the Ticket to Work program has vocational services designed to meet veteran needs.
• Independent Living Centers (ILCs) provide job coaching, training and information on disability in the workplace to help people with disabilities stay independent. Find your nearest ILC.
• SSI, SSDI and Employment - short, animated videos on how Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and employment can work together.

Identify your Skills, Interests and Values

Assessments ask questions about what you like, don’t like, what’s important to you and what your strengths are. Knowing these things puts you on a path to the career or job that is right for you.

Try these assessments to start:

• CareerOneStop’s Interest Assessment - a quick 30–question assessment matching interests to careers.
• O*NET's Interest Profiler - a more in-depth 60-question assessment measuring interests and how they relate to careers.
• CareerOneStop’s Skills Matcher – matches skills to careers.
• CareerOneStop’s my Skills my Future assesses your previous occupations and suggests types of careers your skills will transfer to.
• O*NET’s six core work values – matches values to occupations.
• Online Values Assessment ties work values to related careers.

Find out about a free registration on IdahoWorks at their registration page. For more assessments and help focusing your job search, talk with a career planner at your local Labor office.