Contract Information

This page will have links to all contract types under this manual.

Customized Employment and Supported Employment Program- links to several sub-sections that apply to these two contracts.

Intern Program

Job Support Milestone

Milestone

Purchase Of Service (POS) Adult

Programmatic reminders for all contracts

Services below are paid at an hourly rate and are not paid under a contract. Validation of services is required prior to payment authorization.

Job Retention Cases

Post-Employment Cases.

Short-term job coaching for customers not participating in a job placement contract.

Customers being hired by a Provider- Two Part Approval Process

This approval must occur PRIOR to the start of employment.

IDHS-DRS will not pay a Provider for any milestones related to employment in a job that does not meet the criteria of competitive integrated employment. The burden of proof is on the Provider to demonstrate that any job affiliated with the Provider, or a related organization meets those criteria. Approval of any job as meeting the criteria of competitive integrated employment is solely at the discretion of IDHS-DRS.

Further, IDHS-DRS may decline to fund services leading to any position where the Provider received substantial funds from another government entity for the training and placement services leading to the job. This can include employment sponsored by the Illinois State Use program or the Ability One program, or any other program where hiring is largely limited to persons with disabilities and where the Provider receives funding to support training and placement of individuals with disabilities. Each position will be independently reviewed by IDHS-DRS to determine if it meets the criteria of competitive integrated employment. The burden of proof is on the Provider to demonstrate that any such position meets the criterion of "typically found in the community" as specified by WIOA.

The purpose of this process is to evaluate the nature of the job placement and determine whether it meets the criteria for "competitive integrated employment" as defined in the Federal Work Innovation and Opportunity Act and is consistent with the guidelines provided in Rehabilitation Services Administration Technical Assistance Circular TAC-06-01.

Approval Process:

Employment Review Request Form (ERR)

The Provider will discuss the position with the IDHS-DRS counselor PRIOR to the employment placement and complete the ERR Form IL488-2500, located on the IDHS website www.dhs.state.il.us. This is to be completed each time a Provider intends to serve an individual with a disability under an employment contract with the IDHS-DRS and subsequently become the employer of that individual or arrange to have the individual employed by a business affiliated with the Provider.

The IDHS-DRS counselor will review the ERR Form after the Provider has signed it and sent to IDHS-DRS.

Competitive Integrated Employment Evaluation (CIE) Form IL488-2501 can be found on OneNet for IDHS-DRS

After review of the ERR, an IDHS-DRS Representative will visit the work location and complete the CIE Form. The CIE form only needs to be completed once for each type of position and not for each individual seeking employment. The employment approved will be valid for one year.

Both the ERR and CIE forms will be signed at the local office level and then sent to the Regional ABC, who will approve. At this point, the placement is approved, and the time begins for billing purposes. It will then be sent to TCRS to maintain approved and unapproved sites internally.

Both the ERR and the CIE forms must be completed and approved by the Regional ABC before the Provider can receive funding for the provision of services leading to employment by the Provider or for claiming an employment outcome for hiring the individual. The ABC's signature date begins the count for employment outcomes.

Providers will claim only one outcome per customer no more than once, every 12 months. If an exception is needed, contact the Local IDHS-DRS Office Supervisor.

* For example, if a 15-day Milestone was claimed in March 2024 then another 15-day Milestone could not be claimed until March 2025, and so on.

Successful Closure Verification - Successful outcomes are determined by the IDHS-DRS counselor and are based on the customer's achievement of the vocational goal as identified on the Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE). The customer must demonstrate stability on the job and meet the criteria under each contract for successful closure. There must be a current and active IPE and Notification of Services (NOS) for the Provider claiming the placement.

  • Successful outcomes will be reported monthly on the billing for verification by the appropriate IDHS-DRS supervisor and counselor for verification.
  • Providers will claim only one outcome per customer no more than once every 12 months.
  • Under the following circumstances, the provider will not receive full payment:
    • No reported activity such as intake, documented counseling sessions, job development, job counseling, job placement and support, or staffing's. All written services should be documented by provider to IDHS-DRS.
    • No documented communication made by provider to IDHS-DRS.
    • IDHS-DRS counselor has documentation demonstrating IDHS-DRS counselor has provided more placement services than the provider.
    • No current IPE and NOS.

Milestone Contract Reminders

  •  Job coaching is included in the contractual payment. If the customer is participating under the Milestone contract, job coaching cannot be paid as an additional service.
    • If the customer requires more intensive services, they can be moved into SEP under the following criteria:
    • The customer is certified as Most Significant
    • The determination must be made no later than the 45th day of work. If the customer has been employed longer, they are not eligible to switch to the SEP contract.
    • If the customer has worked only 5 days, they would begin SEP at Phase 3.
    • If the customer has earned the 15-day Milestone, they would begin at Phase 4, which can be paid eight weeks after the previous Milestone was achieved, with continued employment and a staffing.
    • If the customer has worked more than five days and has earned the 45-day Milestone, they would begin at Phase 4 which can be paid eight weeks after the previous Milestone was achieved, with continued employment and a staffing.

SEP Contract Reminder

  • A Customer CANNOT be moved from time-limited SEP into Milestone contract within the same case.

Provider Services for Students and Youth with a Disability

Students interested in working with a Provider, but who are not participating under a Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) contract, would be referred in their last semester of school. Billing for services would not begin until at least 15 days after school exit.

Customers in high school can be served by both the school and a Provider during their final year with the IDHS-DRS counselor's approval. They must be removed from the Pre-Employment Career Training Program (PECT Program) Work Verification Sheet before they can be added to the Provider Group Billing. The PECT Program Provider will ensure students remain on the PECT Program Flow Chart, billing form completed in WebCM, which tracks participation for the entire year. An IPE is required prior to Provider services being initiated. After graduation, the goal for all transition customers is to achieve competitive integrated employment in the community at minimum wage or a wage commensurate to the prevailing wage in the locality and with applicable fringe benefits. Billing information is included per contract type.

Customers in their last year of school who meet the following criteria, may be eligible to participate and be billed for CE and SEP, prior to exiting school.

  • Will be certified as Most Significant, per IDHS-DRS counselor, and meet criteria for Customized Employment or SEP.
  • Will be unemployed.
  • Customer would benefit from intensive service provision to allow for more timely job placement after exiting school.
  • All criteria in the allowed Phases must be met to bill.

Customized Employment- Provision of Phase 1 (Discovery) and Phase 2 (Assessment and Plan). Both Phase1 and 2 can be paid prior to exiting school, Phases 3-9 are NOT eligible for provision or payment until after exiting school.

SEP-Provision of Phase 1 (Assessment and Plan) which can be paid prior to exiting school. Phase 2-8 are NOT eligible for provision or payment until after exiting school.

Customers moving from the PECT Program into a Milestone contract.

Customer will be removed from the PECT Program Work Verification and added to the Provider Group Billing Sheet Roster only. They will remain on the PECT Program Flow Chart, which tracks participation for the entire year. For a Provider to claim a successful placement closure on a graduate, the closure must be 90 days post-graduation.

If the Provider assisted the customer prior to graduation as stated above, but the customer was not employed, they may bill for the Assessment and Plan Milestone prior to exiting school. The Assessment and Plan (Individual Plan for Placement) must follow and contain the components listed in this manual. Upon exiting school, the Provider continues to provide supports post-graduation, once the customer obtains and maintains competitive, integrated employment for a minimum of 15 days, the Provider would be able to bill.

If the Provider assisted the customer prior to graduation as stated above, but the customer was not employed when exiting school, and the Provider continued to provide supports post-graduation, once the customer obtains and maintains competitive, integrated employment for a minimum of 15 days, the Provider would be able to bill.

Customers moving from PECT Program into SEP after graduation.

If the customer is employed at the time of the referral to SEP, they will begin at Phase 3.

If they are not employed, they will begin at Phase 1.

Evaluation services available prior to referral for job placement with a Provider

The traditional use of vocational evaluation may not be appropriate for all individuals and, as such, the value of standard vocational evaluation and/or situational assessment should be assessed and determined by the IDHS-DRS Counselor on a case-by-case basis.

The goal of an evaluation should be to provide for a comfortable transition and an optimal fit with the program and the community environment. When appropriate for the individual's needs, a community employment assessment may be provided.

  • Functional Vocational Assessment - assists the individual with a limited survey of his/her vocational interests and abilities based on local curriculum and IDHS-DRS Counselor request.
  • Vocational Evaluation & Psycho-Social Evaluation - assists the customer with either an assessment of his/her ability to function in a single area (i.e., clerical) or a broad-based assessment of individual interests and abilities utilizing a variety of tests, work samples, and situational assessments. The goal of the vocational assessment is to assist the customer in developing vocational goals by identifying rehabilitation challenges and strategies to address them, and by making recommendations about job categories, specific jobs, and ways to obtain the skills necessary to achieve employment. A psycho-social evaluation may also include intensive counseling and case management in support of clinical services to assist the customer.
  • Community - Based Work Assessment - assists the customer through observation in a community work setting, by assessing his/her work skills, work habits and attitudes, social and personal characteristics, vocational interests, employment preferences, family support, and other needs as determined by the rehabilitation team. This can include an On-the-Job Evaluation (OJE) or On-the-Job Training (OJT). The customer will be paid either minimum or commensurate wage based on the prevailing wages paid by the employer, and/or CRP, and/or IDHS-DRS.

Following the evaluation, if the customer is determined to be able to benefit from job placement services, the same Provider that completed the evaluation cannot bill for services under a Milestone, SEP, or Customized Employment contract as the assessment is included in the services provided within those contracts.

If the customer is referred to the same Provider for job placement services, the voucher will be cancelled for the evaluation prior to being able to bill for placement services.

If the customer is determined not able to benefit from job placement services, the Provider may accept the payment for the evaluation.

Community Based Employment Services

IDHS-DRS continues its emphasis on providing community-based programming which will lead to more competitive integrated community employment. IDHS-DRS may purchase any of the following services for persons with significant to most significant disabilities from Providers.

Competitive Employment Services - Is competitive integrated employment in the community which pays the employee minimum wage or a wage commensurate with the prevailing wage in the locality and applicable fringe benefits.

The following services which lead to competitive integrated employment can only be authorized by the IDHS-DRS counselor, upon his/her approval of the customer's IPE and completion of the NOS. These are available for provision under all job placement contracts. Services provided generally include the following:

  1. Assessment - Assists the individual through observation of job readiness, transferable skills, social and personal characteristics, vocational interests, employment preferences, and retention and coping skills and develops a job match profile.
  2. Job Coaching - Support provided to an individual to maintain competitive, integrated employment. This may be one-on-one training, observations, or by other methods deemed necessary to achieve satisfactory work output or to maintain or retain employment.
  3. Job Development and Placement - Uses job match techniques and assists the individual in identifying specific jobs that are available and accessible in the community. Job readiness, job seeking, and retention skills training can be used to develop necessary skills to enable the individual to secure the job and to develop an understanding of how to keep the job.
  4. Job Stability - Provided to the customer if he or she needs training, monitoring, or job coaching for specific tasks associated with the job. Services may also involve working with the employer, co-workers, and family members to enhance the customer's job stability. These services are expected to decrease in frequency and eventually be discontinued as the individual's performance on the job is stabilized.
  5. Job Training - Trainees become acquainted with the daily routine of work and develop specific vocational skills, including the use of basic occupational tools and equipment. Training is provided for the purpose of employment in a specific occupation.
  6. Career Development Services (CD) - Supports an individual in developing a clear vision regarding the individual's preferred employment outcome, establishes the steps needed to achieve this outcome, and supports the individual in directly connecting with appropriate identified community-based employment opportunities.

Successful Outcome Criteria - To achieve a successful outcome, each of the following criteria must be met as determined by the IDHS-DRS counselor and customer for all contract types:

  1. The customer has an active IPE, NOS and CRP IPP from which competitive integrated employment services were provided; Staffings were held every eight weeks;
  2. The customer has received at least one substantial service other than assessment that has been instrumental in job placement and/or job retention;
  3. The customer has attained a successful employment outcome as determined by the rehabilitation team for which stabilization has occurred and has been maintained with no further need of support. Successful employment is indicated when all the following are present:
    • The customer and employer are both satisfied as evidenced by the customer's continued employment and as expressed by the customer at the time of customer participation, as documented in the final staffing;
    • The customer is maintaining adequate interpersonal relationships and acceptable behavior in the job environment as evidenced by the customer's continued employment and as expressed by the customer at the time of customer participation, as documented in the final staffing;
    • The employment outcome is consistent with the customer's own unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, and capabilities. If the occupation is different than the customer's long-term vocational goal, the customer must approve the difference with documentation in the customer's IDHS-DRS case file regarding this difference and a written IPE/IPP amendment;
    • The customer possesses acceptable skills to perform or continue the work satisfactorily as evidenced by the customer's continued employment;
    • The employment is full-time or, if appropriate, part-time competitive integrated employment (based on the goal established in the customer's IPE) and the customer received a wage commensurate with that paid to others for similar work as determined by wage information obtained by the counselor, i.e., Employment Security, U.S. Department of Labor, under legal requirements in the Illinois Minimum Wage Law respectively; and
    • The employment and working conditions will not aggravate the customer's disability and the customer's disability in the job situation will not jeopardize their health and safety or others based on the information in the case file and the counselor's knowledge of the job description and requirements.
  4. Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services were provided which were necessary and consistent with the customer's goals and objectives in accordance with the IPE/IPP.