Wisconsin DVR Supported Employment: Vocational Rehabilitation After High School

What DVR Does (and Doesn't Do)

Wisconsin's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation sits within the Department of Workforce Development and serves adults with disabilities who want to work. DVR provides vocational counseling, job placement assistance, job coaching, training, and sometimes direct funding for things like work clothes, tools, or adaptive equipment.

What DVR is not: a long-term care program, a benefits management service, or a job guarantee. DVR's involvement is time-limited. The goal is to get you into competitive integrated employment — a real job in the community, earning at least minimum wage — and then close your case once you've been successfully employed for 90 days.

For families navigating the transition from school to adult services, DVR is one piece of a larger puzzle. It handles the employment track while the ADRC handles long-term care enrollment and the SSA handles benefits eligibility.

When to Contact DVR

The IEP's Postsecondary Transition Plan should introduce DVR at least two years before your child exits school. In practice, this means making a referral around age 16 — or earlier if your child's transition goals are employment-focused.

DVR assigns a vocational rehabilitation counselor who develops an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) with your child. The IPE identifies the employment goal, the services DVR will provide, and what the student or family is responsible for.

Early referral matters because DVR's intake process includes its own eligibility determination — they need documentation that the disability creates a substantial impediment to employment and that DVR services are needed to achieve an employment outcome. That assessment takes time, and you don't want it competing with the ADRC intake, functional screen, and SSI redetermination that all hit at ages 17.5 to 18.

Pre-Employment Transition Services

For students ages 14 to 21 with disabilities (or suspected disabilities), DVR offers Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) even before a formal DVR case is opened. These include:

• Job exploration counseling — career interest inventories, labor market information, workplace tours
• Work-based learning experiences — internships, job shadows, on-the-job training
• Counseling on postsecondary education — help evaluating college, technical school, and certification programs
• Workplace readiness training — social skills, financial literacy, self-advocacy in employment settings
• Self-advocacy instruction — understanding your rights under the ADA and how to request workplace accommodations

Pre-ETS are delivered in coordination with the school district, often through the IEP transition team. They don't require a full DVR application — the student just needs to be potentially eligible (have a documented disability and be in secondary or postsecondary education).

Supported Employment vs. Customized Employment

DVR offers two primary employment models for adults who need ongoing workplace support:

Supported Employment is for individuals who need continuous or intermittent support to perform their job. DVR funds a job coach who helps with learning job tasks, navigating workplace social dynamics, and solving problems as they come up. The job coach's involvement typically decreases over time as the employee builds competence, but some level of ongoing support can continue through the long-term care system (Family Care or IRIS) after DVR closes the case.

Customized Employment goes a step further by negotiating a job description that matches the individual's strengths to an employer's unmet needs. Instead of fitting into an existing job posting, the DVR counselor and employment specialist work with the employer to carve out or create a position. This approach works well for individuals whose abilities don't align with standard job descriptions but who can be highly productive in the right role.

Both models target competitive integrated employment — the goal is a job that pays at least minimum wage, occurs in a typical workplace setting alongside non-disabled coworkers, and offers genuine advancement opportunities.

How DVR Connects to Other Adult Services

DVR doesn't operate in isolation. Here's how it connects to the other systems you're navigating during the age-18 transition:

DVR + SSI Work Incentives. DVR counselors should be familiar with PASS plans, IRWE deductions, and the Student Earned Income Exclusion. A coordinated approach uses DVR funding for job coaching and training while a PASS plan covers items DVR won't fund — like vehicle modifications or business startup costs.

DVR + Family Care/IRIS. Once DVR closes a case (after 90 days of successful employment), ongoing job coaching transfers to the long-term care system. In Family Care, the MCO arranges supported employment services through its provider network. In IRIS, you can hire your own job coach and pay them from your individualized budget.

DVR + Ticket to Work. DVR accepts Social Security's Ticket to Work, which means your participation with DVR suspends medical Continuing Disability Reviews. This removes the fear that working will trigger a loss of disability status.

If you're planning the school-to-work transition for a young adult with disabilities in Wisconsin, our Wisconsin SSI at 18 & Adult Disability Benefits Guide maps out how DVR, the ADRC, and the SSA all fit together — including the specific order and timing of each application.

See more Wisconsin guides →