§ 3104. Scope of services and assistance

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(a)Services and assistance which the Secretary may provide under this chapter, pursuant to regulations which the Secretary shall prescribe, include the following:

(1)Evaluation, including periodic reevaluations as appropriate with respect to a veteran participating in a rehabilitation program, of the potential for rehabilitation of a veteran, including diagnostic and related services

(A)to determine whether the veteran has an employment handicap or a serious employment handicap and whether a vocational goal is reasonably feasible for such veteran, and

(B)to provide a basis for planning a suitable vocational rehabilitation program or a program of services and assistance to improve the vocational rehabilitation potential or independent living status of such veteran, as appropriate.

(2)Educational, vocational, psychological, employment, and personal adjustment counseling.

(3)An allowance and other appropriate assistance, as authorized by section 3108 of this title.

(4)A work-study allowance as authorized by section 3485 of this title.

(5)Placement services to effect suitable placement in employment, and postplacement services to attempt to insure satisfactory adjustment in employment.

(6)Personal adjustment and work adjustment training.

(A)Vocational and other training services and assistance, including individualized tutorial assistance, tuition, fees, books, supplies, handling charges, licensing fees, and equipment and other training materials determined by the Secretary to be necessary to accomplish the purposes of the rehabilitation program in the individual case.

(B)Payment for the services and assistance provided under subparagraph

(A)of this paragraph shall be made from funds available for the payment of readjustment benefits.

(8)Loans as authorized by section 3112 of this title.

(9)Treatment, care, and services described in chapter 17 of this title.

(10)Prosthetic appliances, eyeglasses, and other corrective and assistive devices.

(11)Services to a veteran’s family as necessary for the effective rehabilitation of such veteran.

(12)Such license fees and essential equipment, supplies, and minimum stocks of materials as the Secretary determines to be necessary for a veteran to begin self-employment and are within the criteria and cost limitations that the Secretary shall prescribe in regulations for the furnishing of such fees, equipment, supplies, and stocks.

(13)Travel and incidental expenses under the terms and conditions set forth in section 111 of this title, plus, in the case of a veteran who because of such veteran’s disability has transportation expenses in addition to those incurred by persons not so disabled, a special transportation allowance to defray such additional expenses during rehabilitation, job seeking, and the initial employment stage.

(14)Special services (including services related to blindness and deafness) including—

(A)language training, speech and voice correction, training in ambulation, and one-hand typewriting;

(B)orientation, adjustment, mobility, reader, interpreter, and related services; and

(C)telecommunications, sensory, and other technical aids and devices.

(15)Services necessary to enable a veteran to achieve maximum independence in daily living.

(16)Other incidental goods and services determined by the Secretary to be necessary to accomplish the purposes of a rehabilitation program in an individual case.

(b)A rehabilitation program (including individual courses) to be pursued by a veteran shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary. To the maximum extent practicable, a course of education or training may be pursued by a veteran as part of a rehabilitation program under this chapter only if the course is approved for purposes of chapter 30 or 33 of this title. The Secretary may waive the requirement under the preceding sentence to the extent the Secretary determines appropriate.

(1)The Secretary shall have the authority to administer this chapter by prioritizing the provision of services under this chapter based on need, as determined by the Secretary, including with respect to providing priority for services under subsection (a)(12) to veterans with the most severe service-connected disabilities who require homebound training or self-employment, or both homebound training and self-employment. In evaluating need for purposes of this subsection, the Secretary shall consider disability ratings, the severity of employment handicaps, qualification for a program of independent living, income, and any other factor the Secretary determines appropriate.

(2)Not later than 90 days before making any changes to the prioritization of the provision of services under this chapter as authorized under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a plan describing such changes.

(d)The Secretary may not assist a veteran in acquiring adaptations to the residence of the veteran under this chapter. Any such assistance may be furnished only under section 2102B of this title.

(e)In the case of any veteran whom the Secretary determines is satisfactorily following a program of employment services provided under subsection (a)(5) during the period of an emergency situation, the Secretary may pay the veteran a subsistence allowance, as prescribed in section 3108 of this title for full-time training for the type of program that the veteran was pursuing, for two additional months, if the Secretary determines that the veteran is negatively affected by the emergency situation.

(Added Pub. L. 96–466, title I, § 101(a), Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2174, § 1504; amended Pub. L. 100–323, § 11(a)(3)(A), May 20, 1988, 102 Stat. 568; Pub. L. 101–237, title IV, § 423(b)(1)(A), Dec. 18, 1989, 103 Stat. 2092; Pub. L. 102–16, § 3(b)(1), Mar. 22, 1991, 105 Stat. 49; Pub. L. 102–54, § 14(c)(3), June 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 285; renumbered § 3104 and amended Pub. L. 102–83, § 5(a), (c)(1), Aug. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 406; Pub. L. 104–275, title I, § 101(d), Oct. 9, 1996, 110 Stat. 3324;

Pub. L. 114–315, title IV, §§ 402(a), 403, Dec. 16, 2016, 130 Stat. 1553, 1554; Pub. L. 115–177, § 1(c)(1), June 1, 2018, 132 Stat. 1377; Pub. L. 117–333, §§ 4(a), 14(a), (b), Jan. 5, 2023, 136 Stat. 6128, 6135.)

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