Virginia Supported Employment and Job Coaching for Students with Disabilities

What Supported Employment Actually Means in Virginia

Supported employment in Virginia is competitive, integrated work in the community — not sheltered workshops, not unpaid internships, and not day programs labeled as "vocational." The person works alongside coworkers without disabilities, earns at least minimum wage, and receives individualized coaching to learn and maintain the job.

For transition-age students with IEPs, this matters because the goal written into the transition plan should point toward this outcome. A postsecondary employment goal that says "the student will be competitively employed in an integrated community-based setting with the support of a job coach" meets VDOE's Indicator 13 compliance standard. A goal that says "the student will explore career options" does not.

How DARS Connects Students to Supported Employment

The Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) is the state agency that funds and coordinates supported employment for Virginians with disabilities. Students with IEPs access this system through two tiers:

Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) start as early as age 14 and require no formal application. Pre-ETS covers five core areas — job exploration, work-based learning, postsecondary counseling, workplace readiness training, and self-advocacy instruction. These services introduce students to real workplace environments before they graduate.

Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services are the next tier. A student applies formally, provides medical documentation, and works with a DARS counselor to build an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE). The IPE spells out the specific vocational goal and what supports DARS will fund — including job coaching.

The ideal referral window for VR is 11th grade. Applying earlier gives the counselor time to complete the eligibility determination and draft the IPE before the student exits school. If you wait until graduation, there can be a gap where the student has no employment supports at all.

What a Job Coach Does Day to Day

A DARS-funded job coach works alongside the student at the actual job site. Their role includes:

• Teaching specific job tasks through systematic instruction (breaking tasks into steps the student can learn and practice)
• Helping the student navigate workplace social norms — breaks, conversations with coworkers, communicating with supervisors
• Fading their support over time as the student gains independence
• Problem-solving when something goes wrong (schedule changes, new tasks, workplace conflicts)

The coaching is intensive at first and gradually tapers. DARS measures success by whether the student can eventually perform the job with minimal or no coaching support. If the student needs long-term ongoing support beyond what DARS provides, the handoff goes to DD waiver-funded services through the local Community Services Board.

What IEP Teams Should Be Doing Now

If your student's IEP has a postsecondary employment goal, the transition plan should include specific steps that connect to supported employment:

• Community-Based Instruction (CBI) placements during school hours, documented in the IEP with the type, frequency, and location of work experiences
• Consent to invite DARS — a signed form authorizing the school to invite a DARS counselor to the IEP meeting
• Work-based learning experiences through Pre-ETS that build real skills before graduation
• Annual IEP goals tied to workplace performance (e.g., "the student will independently follow a five-step visual task list to complete assigned duties with 90% accuracy across three consecutive monthly evaluations")

Schools are required to document these activities. If your student's IEP transition section is vague about employment — "the student will get a job" without specifying the supports, agencies, or skill-building steps — that's a compliance problem you can push back on.

The DD Waiver Connection for Long-Term Support

DARS VR services are time-limited. They are designed to get the person into a job and stabilize them there, not to provide permanent support. For students with more significant disabilities who need ongoing job coaching indefinitely, the long-term funding source is a DD waiver through the local CSB.

The Community Living (CL) waiver and the Family and Individual Supports (FIS) waiver both cover supported employment services. But these waivers have active waitlists — years-long in many parts of Virginia. This is why starting the CSB intake and VIDES screening early (ideally by age 16–17) matters for employment outcomes, not just residential services.

While waiting for a waiver slot, DARS VR services can bridge the gap. Some families also use the CCC Plus Waiver as an interim safety net, since it has no waitlist and can fund certain in-home supports that help the student maintain employment stability.

Getting the Timeline Right

The Virginia IEP Transition to Adulthood Guide maps the complete supported employment timeline from Pre-ETS enrollment through DARS VR referral to waiver-funded long-term job coaching. It includes the consent forms, IPE preparation steps, and IEP goal language you need to make sure employment supports are in place before your student exits school — not scrambled together after.

See more Virginia guides →