Colorado DVR and the Principle of Informed Choice
Understanding Your Right to Informed Choice
One of the most important rights afforded to individuals participating in the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program is the right to informed choice. While many consumers hear the term during the eligibility and planning process, fewer understand the significant role informed choice plays throughout their entire VR journey.
Federal regulations governing vocational rehabilitation services recognize that individuals with disabilities are not passive recipients of services. Rather, they are active participants and primary decision-makers in determining their employment goals and the services necessary to achieve them. This principle is codified in 34 CFR § 361.52, which requires state VR agencies, including the Colorado Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), to provide information, support, and opportunities for individuals to make informed decisions regarding their rehabilitation programs.
The importance of informed choice becomes even more significant once an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) has been developed. The IPE is more than a planning document—it is a written agreement that outlines the employment goal, services, responsibilities, and expectations of both the individual and DVR. Because the IPE serves as the roadmap for achieving employment outcomes, consumers should understand that they have the right to participate meaningfully in decisions affecting the implementation, modification, and delivery of services identified in the plan.
Informed choice is not a one-time event that occurs when an IPE is signed. It is an ongoing right that applies whenever decisions are made about services, providers, training opportunities, accommodations, timelines, or changes to employment goals. Exercising informed choice requires access to accurate information, an understanding of available options, and the confidence to ask questions, request clarification, and advocate for services that align with one's strengths, interests, priorities, and career objectives.
Understanding and exercising the right to informed choice empowers consumers to become effective partners in the vocational rehabilitation process. By actively participating in decisions that affect their employment future, individuals can help ensure that services are responsive to their needs and directed toward meaningful, competitive, and integrated employment outcomes.
The following article provides an overview of the informed choice requirements that guide Colorado DVR's vocational rehabilitation program and explains how these federal protections support consumer participation throughout the rehabilitation process.
The Colorado Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) administers services in accordance with the federal Rehabilitation Act and its implementing regulations, including 34 CFR § 361.52, which requires state vocational rehabilitation agencies to support and facilitate informed choice throughout the rehabilitation process.
Under the principle of informed choice, individuals receiving vocational rehabilitation services are afforded meaningful opportunities to make decisions regarding their vocational goals, the services necessary to achieve those goals, the providers of those services, and the methods used to secure successful employment outcomes. Informed choice recognizes that individuals with disabilities are the primary decision-makers in planning and pursuing their employment objectives.
To support informed decision-making, DVR counselors provide relevant information, guidance, and technical assistance regarding available options, service alternatives, labor market information, training opportunities, provider qualifications, costs, benefits, and potential outcomes. This information enables individuals to evaluate alternatives and make choices that are consistent with their unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice.
Examples of decisions that may involve informed choice include:
Selection of an employment goal
Development of the Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE)
Choice of vocational rehabilitation services
Selection of training, educational, or credentialing programs
Choice of service providers and community resources
Determination of strategies necessary to achieve competitive integrated employment.
The informed choice requirement reflects DVR's commitment to person-centered planning, self-determination, and meaningful participation by individuals with disabilities in all aspects of the vocational rehabilitation process. While DVR counselors provide professional expertise and recommendations, the individual's preferences and informed decisions remain central to the development and implementation of vocational rehabilitation services.
Sources:
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; 34 CFR § 361.52 (Informed Choice); Colorado Division of Vocational Rehabilitation policies and procedures.
This article is based on federal vocational rehabilitation regulations, including 34 CFR § 361.52 (Informed Choice), and the policies and practices of the Colorado Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.
