(a) The department is authorized to adopt and promulgate regulations with respect to methods of administration, use of medical and other records of individuals who have been provided vocational rehabilitation services and the establishment and maintenance of personnel standards, including provisions relating to the tenure, appointment and qualifications of personnel, which shall govern with respect to such matters notwithstanding any other law; however, such activities must conform with applicable rules and regulations of the department of human resources.
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 49-11-604
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
Maintenance: means the provision of money to cover a handicapped individual's necessary living expenses and health maintenance essential to achieving the handicapped individual's vocational rehabilitation. See Tennessee Code 49-11-602
Nonprofit: when used with respect to a rehabilitation facility or a workshop, means a rehabilitation facility and a workshop, respectively, owned and operated by a corporation or association, no part of the net earnings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual and the income of which is exempt from taxation under §. See Tennessee Code 49-11-602
Physical restoration: includes : (A) Corrective surgery or therapeutic treatment necessary to correct or substantially modify a physical or mental condition that is stable or slowly progressive and: (i) Constitutes a substantial barrier to employment. See Tennessee Code 49-11-602
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Vocational rehabilitation: means making an individual able, or increasing the individual's ability, to:(A) Engage in a remunerative occupation. See Tennessee Code 49-11-602
Vocational rehabilitation services: means :(A) Diagnostic and related services, including transportation, incidental to the determination of whether an individual is a handicapped individual, and if so, the individual's eligibility for, and the nature and scope of, other vocational rehabilitation services to be provided. See Tennessee Code 49-11-602
(b) The department is also authorized and directed to adopt and promulgate regulations respecting:
(1) The establishment and maintenance of minimum standards governing the facilities and personnel utilized in the provision of vocational rehabilitation services; and(2) The order to be followed in selecting those to whom vocational rehabilitation services are to be provided in situations where such services cannot be provided to all eligible physically handicapped people.(c) Pursuant to the general policies of the department, the director and the division are authorized to:
(1) Cooperate with and utilize services of the state agency or agencies administering the state’s public assistance program, the federal social security administration, United States department of health and human services and other federal, state and local public agencies providing services relating to vocational rehabilitation and with the state system of public employment offices in this state, and shall make maximum feasible utilization of the job placement and employment counseling services and other services and facilities of such offices;(2) Cooperate with political subdivisions and other public and nonprofit organizations and agencies in their establishment of rehabilitation facilities and, to the extent feasible in providing vocational rehabilitation services, shall utilize all such facilities meeting the standards established by the board;(3) Enter into contractual arrangements with the federal social security administration with respect to certifications of disability and performance of other services and with other authorized public agencies for performance of services related to vocational rehabilitation for such agencies; and(4)Contract with schools, hospitals and other agencies, and with doctors, nurses, technicians and other persons, for training, physical restoration, transportation and other vocational rehabilitation services.(d) The department shall administer and expend annual appropriations of state funds for vocational rehabilitation, in accordance with a state plan for vocational rehabilitation, approved by the social and rehabilitation services of the United States department of health and human services.
