Work your own way

Self-employment is a real job goal. Your state VR agency can help you plan a business and may help pay for start-up costs, tools, and training.

• Tell your VR counselor that self-employment is your goal. It can be written into your plan.
• Get free business mentoring from SCORE and the Small Business Administration.
• If you get SSI, a PASS plan (Plan to Achieve Self-Support) lets you set aside money for a work goal, like starting a business, without losing SSI. A benefits counselor can help you write one.
• Business income counts for SSI and SSDI. Talk to a benefits counselor before you start.

Customized employment starts with you, not a job opening. A trained specialist gets to know your strengths and interests, then works with an employer to create a job that fits. It is a good fit for people who have not done well in the usual application process.

Ask your VR counselor whether they offer customized employment, sometimes called Discovery.

Supported employment means you work in a regular job, for regular pay, with a job coach who helps you learn the job and keep it. VR usually pays for the start. Long-term support is often paid by a Medicaid waiver.

Search job coaching and supported employment

A federal law called Section 14(c) still lets some employers pay certain workers with disabilities less than the minimum wage. Several states have ended it. Everyone has the right to aim for competitive integrated employment: a regular job, at full pay, next to coworkers without disabilities.

• If you are under 24, federal law says you must get the chance to try VR or transition services before you can start a job that pays less than minimum wage.
• If you work for less than minimum wage now, you must be offered career counseling and information about other options every year.
• VR can help you move to a full-pay job. Ask for an appointment.