Washington State Department of Services for the Blind

Individual Plan for Employment*

General Definition and Description

The Individual Plan for Employment (IPE) is both a plan of action and a tool for focusing and organizing informed choice toward the goal of employment. This employment goal may be an occupational cluster rather than a specific occupation and should be consistent with the participant’s strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, career interests and needs, in the context of active informed choice. The participant’s long-term vocational goal should, whenever possible, enable the individual to become self-supporting at a competitive wage in an integrated setting consistent with the participant’s informed choice.

Components

The IPE documents the following information:

• Full name of participant
• Social Security Number of participant
• Name of participant’s Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor
• Description of the employment outcome
• Plan cost
• Effective begin date of the plan
• Expected end date of the plan
• Responsibilities of the department in completing this plan
• Responsibilities of the participant in completing this plan
• Responsibilities of the service providers or other organizations in completing this plan
• Activities leading to employment, with a description of and need for this activity
• Services needed, with service providers and method of selection identified
• Begin date for services
• Comparable Benefits (I.e. name(s) of other resources for services)
• Timelines for completion of activities
• Criteria for measuring results
• Participant’s comments regarding participant’s use of informed choice in selecting goal, services, and service providers
• Signature of participant
• Signature of participant’s Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor

Development

The IPE is developed and implemented as soon as possible after eligibility determination and is based upon what is learned through the vocational assessment process. Based upon the results of the vocational assessment process, participants of the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program of the Department of Services for the Blind (DSB) have three options with regard to developing an IPE. Participants may:

1. Develop the IPE in collaboration with the counselor and rehabilitation team,
2. Get technical assistance for developing an IPE from a source outside DSB, or
3. Write the IPE themselves, either with technical assistance from a source of their choice, or without any other assistance than the supporting materials DSB provides.

The rehabilitation team will provide participants with all the information they possess on the availability of technical assistance needed in developing all or part of the IPE. However, DSB does not pay for external technical services for writing an IPE, and participants may have to find some of their own resources as well.

Annual Plan Review

A formal plan review must be done once a year to assess the participant’s progress in meeting the objective identified in the IPE. The plan review includes sharing the history of the plan with the participant, an evaluation of the progress, and adjustments or changes to the plan as appropriate.

Amendment

Major changes in the IPE, such as a change in the vocational goal not related to the same occupational group, requires the preparation of a new IPE. If a new plan is developed, the participant and the counselor sign the new plan. Participant’s comments are documented in the comments section indicating the participant’s involvement in the development of a new plan consistent with informed choice. It should be noted that amendments to any IPE do not take effect until both parties have signed their approval of the changes.

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