The California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR), which is soon changing its name to Disability Works California, provides vocational services to people with disabilities. It is housed in California's Health and Human Services Agency and is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
The DOR’s mission is to assist individuals with physical and mental disabilities in preparing for, entering into, and retaining or advancing in competitive employment in integrated work settings. The department provides employment services to over 115,000 individuals annually. The DOR has about 80 offices throughout the state of California. (Other states also have DORs, but they may have different names and will vary in terms of services they offer and who qualifies.)
In addition to providing vocational rehabilitation services for adults, the department also offers pre-employment transition services for students with disabilities ages 16 through 21 who are in high school/college or in a recognized program of study (such as homeschool or a district transition program).
Carol Asch, Assistant Deputy Director for the Vocational Rehabilitation Employment Division of the DOR, describes the five pre-employment transition services that are specific to students with disabilities:
These services, which are not always offered by schools and can be provided directly by the DOR, are available to any student who has a 504 plan, an IEP, or a documented disability, such as autism, ADHD, a learning disability, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, etc. To access these services in high school, a student with a disability ages 16–21 (or their representative) may contact any DOR office. A student or their parent may also invite a DOR representative to an IEP meeting.
Asch told us that with the passage of the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA), “the DOR had the opportunity to serve both eligible individuals and potentially eligible individuals, so students with disabilities who have not applied to our services can still receive those five pre-employment transition services.”
It’s important to know that, unlike with Regional Center, students do not have to wait until they exit the public school system to access DOR funding, since the funding is provided by the WIOA.
Students or their parents can apply for DOR services by filling out information on the DOR’s website or by visiting or calling their local Department of Rehabilitation office to request student services. Your local office should have a staff member dedicated to providing services to students with disabilities. It can be important to access the DOR’s Work Incentives Planning benefits counseling service if the student will be earning money while gaining work experience to learn how it’s going to affect their benefits.
Asch explains the enrollment process in this clip:
If your child is a Regional Center client, the DOR might ask for a referral from your Regional Center to help speed up the process for intake; the DOR is required by federal law to serve individuals most severely impacted by their disabilities first. It also helps inform the DOR on the supports they can work with your Regional Center to provide.
Unfortunately, some families are told that the DOR can’t help them because of the nature of their child’s disability. Carey says, “If that happens to you, I would reach out to a supervisor there and maybe reach out to an advocate in your community or Regional Center to assist you because that is not true. [The DOR] works with people with disabilities, and your child isn't too disabled or not disabled enough for their services.”
If your child is age 18 or older and you want to make sure you can stay legally involved in the process, your child can sign this consent release form to give the DOR permission to discuss their case with you.
If your child’s DOR counselor is not responsive or you have another concern, this page on the DOR’s website provides steps for resolving your issue.
Many schools have a Transition Partnership Program (TPP) in place that is provided in collaboration with the DOR to help students explore future career options. In these schools, DOR pre-employment transition services will be offered by school personnel rather than DOR staff. The DOR also has liaison counselors working with each school district who are available to provide pre-employment transition services directly to students.
Asch explains, “Where it’s jointly funded, generally in those situations, there’s a DOR counselor available to work with the student. But for the five pre-employment transition services, those are offered by school personnel dedicated to that contract.”
Some schools may facilitate a partnership with the DOR, TPP, and Workability programs. You'll want to talk to your IEP team and a DOR student services representative about your child’s ability to participate.
Asch says the DOR makes a concerted ongoing effort to reach out to all of the school districts so that they know about the DOR’s services and how to access them. It’s not just about reaching out to parents; rather, says Asch, “It’s making sure that every school district knows how to access them.”
She continues, “The ideal is no wrong door. And that’s what we’ve worked on with our local partnership agreements with Regional Centers and local educational agencies to really do cross-training with other organizations, so they know how to make these referrals.”
As many parents in our community know, the ideal and the reality do not always match up when it comes to our schools. Our advice, based on the experience that families have had trying to access DOR services, is to ask for the DOR representative assigned to your child’s school — and if you do happen to hit a “wrong door,” keep trying other doors. The DOR has excellent services to assist both youth and adults with disabilities in working toward meaningful careers.
Asch says, “Students with disabilities can access the full range of our vocational rehabilitation services if they apply and are found eligible for VR services; these may include support for training, college education, or other services that are needed for that individual — anything that’s needed to reach their career goal as identified in their individualized plan for employment.” The DOR can also help students with greater support needs gain work experience as part of their pre-employment transition services, including funding any auxiliary aids that they need as well as on-site coaching.
An individualized plan for employment (IPE) helps a student map out their career path before they graduate. You can think of an IPE as being similar to an IEP or a IPP in that an IPE sets out a student’s goals and objectives, including the services and supports needed to help them achieve those goals and objectives. In addition to the DOR, an IPE may include other organizations such as community providers, Regional Centers, colleges, and community colleges. Also like an IEP or IPP, an individualized plan for employment can be revisited and changed if the student wants to update their vocational goals.
DOR can help students with disabilities get paid work experience by coordinating employment at local businesses. The DOR will typically talk to the student about what jobs they’re interested in, help them apply, and then arrange work hours. The DOR can then arrange for the student to receive wages — at minimum wage or above — and the student can practice filling out their time card with the DOR.
The DOR can help students with greater support needs gain work experience as part of their pre-employment transition services, including coordinating any auxiliary aids that they need as well as on-site coaching. This fact sheet from Disability Rights California goes into more detail about what the DOR can and cannot provide.
The DOR can also support students with disabilities in taking college classes or vocational/trade school classes that will lead to employment. This can include transportation, books, supplies (such as special shoes for a culinary or automotive program), and assistive technology. For tuition and course fees, students are asked to apply for financial aid first through FAFSA and to apply any awarded financial aid first. The DOR can help cover college courses, trade schools, career and technical education programs, apprenticeships, and transition to independent living programs that accept DOR funding.
In this clip, Undivided Non-Attorney Education Advocate Lisa M. Carey explains more about securing post-secondary education funding from the DOR:
Note that it is unlikely the DOR will pay for full tuition or supplies for an out-of-state college, although the DOR may provide up to Cal State tuition. Your child may need to establish residency in that state and then apply to that state’s vocational rehabilitation agency to seek assistance for education that leads to employment.
Neither the DOR nor Regional Center will fund a 1:1 aide for college classes that are funded by DOR, but these agencies can provide support in other ways, leading to greater independence. For example, Regional Center can provide up to 32 hours per month of 1:1 tailored day services, or a young adult can receive personal assistant hours.
Individuals with disabilities who are no longer served by the school district but are eligible for DOR vocational rehab services can continue to receive employment assistance such as a paid work experience (DOR pays the wages or partners with a vendor in the community) or funding for postsecondary education expenses as part of their individual employment plan.
DOR can provide a job coach when needed for job stabilization. Regional Centers can provide supported employment coaches, tailored day services, adaptive skills teachers, and community integrators (under the Self-Determination Program). The DOR will work with the individual’s Regional Center (including SDP if applicable) to fund these services.
Note that a job coach from Regional Center is not an aide; the DOR will typically try to fade the coach within six months. Adults are expected to be independent for much of the day, so Regional Centers typically only provide a job coach for up to 25% of the day.
Benefits counseling from the DOR
Once an adult age 18 or over is employed, it’s important to help them understand how their wages will affect their public benefits, such as SSI. The DOR offers free benefits counseling to clients to help with future and financial planning. The counselor will start with a Benefits Planning Query, which shows all the benefits the person has received up to that point. The DOR will get a general overview of what their client is currently doing and how much they earn, in addition to what the person wants to do and hopes to make in the future. They then use a calculations worksheet to figure out potential benefits for the person and show them their options for keeping and maximizing their benefits. The counselor will create a benefits plan to give the individual a pathway toward their financial goals, which might include opening an ABLE account or participating in SSI’s Ticket to Work program.
Minors who receive SSI likely don’t have wages high enough to impact their benefits, but an adult age 18 or over who is working should definitely make sure they consider their options for protecting their benefits.
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