What if the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) says they can't help my child?

Unfortunately, some families are told that the DOR can’t help them because of the nature of their child’s disability. If you are told this by someone at the DOR, you can seek out their supervisor. Beginning at age 16, the DOR has to support a person with a disability who wants to work. For more information, see our full article The Transition to Adulthood: How the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) Can Help.

Transition Specialist Nicole Morris encourages people to start with the DOR as soon as possible. If you would like to eventually help your child get Customized Employment, you have to have a “history” or evidence of the traditional Supported Employment model not working.

Morris says that for student work experience, it really helps if someone is already willing to provide the student with the work experience, such as a family friend or local store that may be willing to provide a place for them to work. Then, the student could work there for up to 100 hours and be paid by the DOR.

If the DOR is being unreasonable, you can turn to the Regional Center for employment support. Regional Center has a paid internship program (PIP) where it partners with employers that are invested hiring someone with a disability. The Regional Center client is hired as an intern, and the company pays the person up to a certain amount. At the end of that term, the company can hire the person or not, but Morris cautions that people don’t often get hired at the end. Regional Center can also provide job coaching for clients over age 18.