Texas Workforce Disability Services: VR Eligibility and How to Apply

If you live in Texas and a physical or mental disability is making it hard to get or keep a job, you can apply for Texas Vocational Rehabilitation eligibility and services through the Texas Workforce Commission. The program is free to apply for, serves a wide range of disabilities, and can pay for everything from career counseling and college tuition to hearing aids, wheelchairs, assistive technology, and job placement help. In program year 2024, VR served more than 94,000 Texans through counselors stationed inside local Workforce Solutions offices.¹

Who Qualifies

Four things have to be true for you to be eligible:

You live in Texas.
You have a physical or mental disability.
That disability is a substantial barrier to getting or keeping a job.
You need VR services to become or stay employed, and it’s reasonable to expect you can work after receiving them.²

If you already receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) based on a disability, you are presumed eligible. That presumption gets you in the door; it does not entitle you to any specific service, which is still decided case by case.²

The disabilities VR works with are broad. They include vision loss and blindness, deafness and hearing loss, physical disabilities such as spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries, mental health conditions, intellectual and learning disabilities, neurodevelopmental conditions like autism and ADHD, and substance use disorders.³

One boundary to be aware of: unlike some states, Texas is not currently operating under an “order of selection,” the federal rule that forces states to prioritize the most significantly disabled applicants when they can’t serve everyone. Texas is not on the federal list of states with an active order of selection as of mid-2026, so eligibility is not being rationed on that basis.⁴

How to Apply and What Happens Next

You can apply three ways: fill out the online “Start My VR” referral form, contact a local VR office through the TWC website, or walk into a Workforce Solutions office. Bring (or be ready to provide) your Social Security number, any medical or psychological records that document your disability, and information about your work history and education. If the counselor needs more evaluations to decide eligibility or figure out which services fit, VR arranges and pays for them.²

Two deadlines matter after you apply:

The counselor must decide eligibility within 60 days of your application date.
Once you’re found eligible, the counselor has 90 days to work with you on an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE), the written plan that lists your job goal and every service VR will provide to help you reach it.³

The IPE is the document that drives everything after. Services are not standardized; your plan reflects your interests, strengths, and barriers.³

What Services You Can Get

What ends up in your plan depends on your goal and what’s getting in the way of it, but the program’s menu is wide:

Vocational counseling, career assessments, and planning with a rehabilitation professional.
Tuition for college or vocational certifications, on-the-job training, and job coaching.
Help purchasing hearing aids, wheelchairs, prosthetics, and other medical devices, plus speech, physical, psychological, and behavioral therapy.
Workplace accessibility evaluations, assistive technology, and help working through disability issues with your employer.
Bus pass vouchers and vehicle modifications tailored to your disability.
Direct job placement assistance and referrals to community agencies for longer-term supports.

What’s Free and What You May Pay Toward

Some core services are free to every eligible person, no matter your income: assessments, vocational counseling, job search and placement assistance, interpreter services for people who are deaf, and reader services for people who are blind.²

For other services, VR may ask you to contribute financially based on your resources. If you receive SSI or SSDI, you are exempt from any cost-sharing.²

Supported Employment for People With the Most Significant Disabilities

If your disability is among the most significant, VR offers a separate track called supported employment, available for up to 24 months. It includes job development, on-site training from a skilled job trainer, social skills instruction, and follow-up monitoring at least twice a month. The target is competitive integrated employment, typically within six months, with extensions to 12 months possible in limited cases where you can show progress.⁵

“Competitive integrated employment” is a defined term under federal law. It means work in the community that pays at least minimum wage and no less than what non-disabled workers earn in comparable roles, takes place in an integrated setting with regular contact with non-disabled coworkers and customers, and offers the same chances for advancement.⁵ That is the outcome the program is pushing toward.

Services for Students and Young Adults Ages 14 to 22

VR runs a distinct set of transition services for students with disabilities between 14 and 22, built to help them move from school into work or college.⁶ Federal law requires Texas to reserve 15% of its VR funding for pre-employment transition services for this age group.⁷

Those pre-employment transition services cover five required areas: career exploration, work-based learning, counseling on post-secondary opportunities, workplace readiness training, and self-advocacy instruction. Beyond those, youth services can include summer work programs, assistive technology, diagnostic evaluations, and family training in things like braille, social skills, and technology. VR counselors coordinate with schools and attend Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) meetings when it’s useful.⁶ In fiscal year 2023, VR served more than 36,000 customers under 22 and provided pre-employment transition services to nearly 34,000 students.⁸

If You Are Blind or Deafblind: The Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center

Adults who are legally blind can be referred by their VR counselor to the Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center in Austin, a residential training facility operated by TWC. Programs typically run three to six months.⁹ The center offers three tracks:

Proficiency Training in braille, orientation and mobility, assistive technology, and daily living skills.
Career Focus Training on job-seeking, career exploration, and employment preparation.
A Deafblind Training Program with individualized accommodations and communication training that includes American Sign Language.¹⁰

To enroll you must be legally blind, be a Texas resident, and be referred by a VR counselor.¹¹ The center also partners with the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired on a post-secondary program and runs a two-week college prep program each summer at Texas State University.⁹

If You Disagree With a Decision

Any decision in your case can be challenged. Start by talking it through with your counselor or the counselor’s supervisor. If that doesn’t resolve it, you can file a formal appeal and ask for mediation or a due process hearing. You have 180 days from the decision to file.¹²

You don’t have to handle it alone. The Client Assistance Program (CAP) is free, confidential, and run by Disability Rights Texas, a private nonprofit independent of state government. CAP staff can explain your rights, walk you through the appeals process, provide legal assistance, and advocate for you. CAP also helps people seeking services from federally funded Independent Living Centers.¹² Disability Rights Texas has offices in Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso, and Lubbock and can be reached at 1-800-252-9108.¹³

How to Start

Submit the “Start My VR” referral form on the TWC website, call a local VR office, or walk into any Workforce Solutions office. VR counselors are collocated in 105 Workforce Solutions offices across the state, so there is almost certainly one near you.¹ Gather your Social Security number, disability documentation, and work and education history before you go; if anything is missing, the counselor will arrange evaluations at no cost to you.² From the day you apply, the 60-day eligibility clock starts.

1
Texas Workforce Commission. WIOA Annual Report Program Year 2024
2
Disability Rights Texas. Vocational Rehabilitation System in Texas
3
Texas Workforce Commission. Vocational Rehabilitation for Adults
4
Rehabilitation Services Administration. Order of Selection Information
5
Texas Workforce Commission. Competitive Integrated Employment and Supported Employment Federal Regulations
6
Texas Workforce Commission. VR Transition Services
7
Office of the Governor, Texas. Vocational Rehabilitation Services – A Texas Primer
8
Rehabilitation Council of Texas. Rehabilitation Council of Texas 2023 Annual Report
9
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center Prepares Young Adults With Lifelong Skills
10
Texas Workforce Commission. Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center Brochure
11
Texas Workforce Commission. Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center
12
Texas Workforce Commission. Appeal a Vocational Rehabilitation Decision
13
Disability Rights Texas. Client Assistance Program in Texas