REHABILITATION AND VOCATIONAL history

Workers Compensation - In 1910 the State of New York passed a workers compensation law, compensating workers for industrial accidents.

1916 — The National Defense Act provided an opportunity for soldiers to receive instruction to facilitate their return to civilian life; for the first time legislatively the country recognized its obligation to persons injured in service to their country.

1917 — The Smith-Hughes Act established the Federal-State Program in vocational education; created a Federal Board of Vocational Education with the authority and responsibility for vocational rehabilitation of disabled veterans.

The Soldier's Rehabilitation Act of 1918- was the first federally instituted vocational rehabilitation legislation.

In 1920 Congress expanded the veteran's program to include anyone with a physical disability, not just veterans.

By 1923, 36 states participated in the $1.3 million program.

Vocational rehabilitation marked a significant landmark in the thirties, when the passage of the Social Security Act of 1935 established the first permanent base for the federal program.

1936 — The Randolph-Sheppard Act recognized that person who were blind had vocational potential; gave state the authority to license qualified persons with blindness to operate vending stands in federal buildings.

1938 — The Wagner-O’Day Act required the federal government to purchase designated products from workshops for persons who were blind.

The 1943 amendments also allowed states to create separate VR agencies for people with blindness, if the states chose to.

Beginning with the 1954 amendments to the Act, the federal government started funding scientific research into disabilities and rehabilitation, eventually leading to the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, or NIDRR.

1961 — The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) issued the first minimum requirements relating to architectural access to common structures.

Then came the 1965 amendments.

1967 — The Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments provided rehabilitation services for migratory workers, eliminated the state residency requirement, and supported the construction and operation of the National Center for Deaf/Blind Youth and Adults.

In 1973 Congress responded with a completely new Rehab Act.

1984 — The Rehabilitation Act Amendments established Client Assistance Programs in each state and inserted “qualified” before the word “personnel” for training programs in the Act.

IBM Corp.'s National Support Center for Persons with Disabilities, for example, opened in 1985.

The VR system integrated these concepts with new amendments in 1986.

Gice, Jon. "The Relevance of the Americans with Disabilities Act to Workers Compensation." CPCU Journal, June 1992, 79-83.

Using Technology in Vocational Rehabilitation." National Underwriter, 8 November 1993, 2, 13.

Mulcahy, Colleen. "Rehab Saves $35 for Every $1 Spent, Study Finds." National Underwriter, 9 May 1994, 17.

The President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities released a survey in 1996 that indicated 20 percent of workplace modifications cost nothing, and 51 percent cost between $500 and $1, and only 4 percent cost over $5,000.

In 1998, another set of amendments increased supports for informed consumer choice in the VR process, streamlined some administrative requirements, and increased the options to help consumers find high quality jobs.

2008 — The Amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) reiterate who is covered by the ADA civil rights protections.

These amendments took effect January 1, 2009.