How can my child get school supplies covered by DOR?

The California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) can help fund education expenses that will lead to future employment for clients. If your young adult is looking to get school supplies such as textbooks covered, there are several ways they might be reimbursed.

If they do it the traditional way, reimbursement must be made within 45 days under the California Prompt Pay Act. This is done by obtaining approval for the purchase, submitting receipts, and completing any paperwork your counselor needs for processing.

If your young adult has a DOR payment card, they can get their payment much faster than if they were to get it traditionally. With this card, the money can be loaded as quickly as an hour. But they still need to get the purchases approved by their DOR counselor. The average wait is a week, and you will have an account you can verify. You still need to upload receipts to a portal. Funds will only work for the merchant codes under which they are loaded. This is the best method because your young adult does not need to pre-pay, but they do need to enroll in this program.

Some Undivided families have been told that DOR will purchase books and supplies on their behalf, and then the young adult needs to come pick them up at the DOR office. You may want to push back and tell the DOR that they would need to arrange transportation for your young adult to get there and back if they insist. The DOR might also want to order the supplies for you and have it delivered to your home. Send them information about what you need with the proof as soon as you have it, and let them know the deadline by which you need the books and supplies. You may want to email every few days as a reminder because DOR responses can be slow.