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6326 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 28 / Tuesday, February 11, 1997 / Rules and Regulationsof the term ‘‘informed choice’’ to the listof factors to be considered underparagraph (a) of this section is alsoconsistent with the consideration ofinformed choice in connection with theprovision of services under § 361.48 andin connection with the achievement ofan employment outcome under§ 361.56.The Secretary believes that theproposed requirement that DSUsestablish and implement timelines forthe prompt development of IWRPsshould be retained in the finalregulations. The Secretary agrees withthose commenters who indicated thatthese timelines are necessary to guardagainst unreasonable delays in thedevelopment of the IWRP once anindividual is determined eligible for VRservices. It should also be noted thatthis section does not require DSUs toapply an arbitrary time limit to thedevelopment of all IWRPs, as somecommenters had questioned. Instead,DSUs are required to develop generalstandards that ensure the timelydevelopment of IWRPs as long as thestandards include timelines that takeinto account the specific needs of theindividual.Changes in an individual’s vocationalgoal, intermediate objectives, or VRservices must be documented through arevision in the IWRP after obtaining theagreement and signature of theindividual. The Secretary believes thatchanging the reference from ‘‘VR needs’’to ‘‘VR services’’ will help clarify thisprovision.In addition, the Secretary agrees thatminor changes to an individual’sprogram of services do not have to berecorded in a revision to the IWRP. Thismeans, for example, that a slight changein the cost of a previously authorizedVR service would not warrant a revisionto the IWRP. On the other hand, asubstantive change to an existing service(e.g., a change in service provider) or theaddition of a new service must bedocumented by a revision. Regardless ofwhether a particular change to anindividual’s program necessitates arevision to the IWRP, however, theSecretary expects that the DSU willobtain the agreement of the individualbefore the change is implemented.Changes: The Secretary has revised§ 361.45 to clarify that the informedchoice of the individual must beconsidered in the development of theIWRP and the identification of avocational goal. The Secretary also hasamended this section to require the DSUto incorporate into the IWRP anyrevisions necessary to reflect changes tothe individual’s goal, objectives, or VRservices and to obtain the individual’sagreement and signature to therevisions.§ 361.46 Content of the IWRPComments: Some commenters on theproposed regulations questioned certainrequired elements of the IWRP,contending they were inconsistent withthe Act and unnecessarily burdensome.Specifically, several commentersquestioned the basis for requiring thatthe long-term vocational goal identifiedin the IWRP be ‘‘specific.’’ Similarly,other commenters stated thatintermediate rehabilitation objectivesneed not be ‘‘measurable.’’ Additionalcommenters opposed requiring aprojected date for the achievement ofthe vocational goal. Several commentersrecommended that the record of theDSU’s evaluations of individualprogress be removed from the IWRP andadded to the record of services under§ 361.47. Finally, some commentersopposed the requirement that theindividual be provided withinformation concerning the availabilityand qualifications of alternative serviceproviders.Discussion: The Secretary believesthat the long-term vocational goal mustbe stated with some specificity in theIWRP in order for it to be meaningful.The Secretary does not intend that theIWRP identify the exact job that theindividual intends to obtain, butexpects, at a minimum, that thevocational goal be described in terms ofa particular type of profession oroccupation. For example, ‘‘clericalwork’’ is a sufficiently detailedvocational goal under this requirement,whereas a vocational goal of ‘‘supportedemployment’’ or ‘‘self-employment’’would be impermissibly vague.The requirement in the proposedregulations that the intermediaterehabilitation objectives must be‘‘measurable’’ was misplaced and hasbeen eliminated from the finalregulations. The use of this term wasbased on the requirement in section102(b)(1)(B)(vii) of the Act that the DSUshall develop procedures for evaluatingthe individual’s progress towardmeeting the intermediate rehabilitationobjectives. The final regulations alsoclarify that the progress of theindividual in satisfying the objectivesmust be measured periodically by theDSU, but a record of the reviews andevaluations need not be included in theIWRP. These reviews and evaluations,the Secretary agrees, should bemaintained as part of the individual’srecord of services under § 361.47, assome commenters suggested.The Secretary does not expect DSUsto specify a date certain on which anemployment outcome shall be achieved.Thus, the term ‘‘projected date’’ for theachievement of the individual’svocational goal in paragraph (a)(4) ofthis section in the proposed regulationshas been replaced by the term‘‘projected timeframe’’ in the finalregulations. This provision is intendedto ensure that the individualunderstands how long the rehabilitationprocess is expected to take.The Secretary believes that therequirement in this section concerningthe individual’s description of howinformation was provided about theavailability and qualification ofalternative service providers should beremoved from the final regulations sinceit is duplicative of the choicerequirements in § 361.52. Section361.52(b) specifies that the DSU shallprovide the individual, or assist theindividual in acquiring, informationnecessary to make an informed choiceabout VR services and service providers,including information about thequalifications of potential serviceproviders.Changes: The Secretary has revised§ 361.46 by removing the term‘‘measurable’’ from paragraph (a)(2). TheSecretary also has replaced the term‘‘projected date’’ in paragraph (a)(4) ofthis section with the term ‘‘projectedtimeframe’’ in connection with theachievement of the individual’svocational goal. Additionally, the recordof reviews and evaluations of individualprogress has been removed fromparagraph (a)(5) of this section as anIWRP requirement and relocated to§ 361.47(h) as a record of servicesrequirement. Finally, the reference inthe individual’s statement to theavailability and qualifications ofalternative service providers has beenremoved from paragraph (a)(6).§ 361.47 Record of servicesComments: None.Discussion: In the proposedregulations, the Secretary proposed todelete from the record of services anumber of requirements that wereconsidered burdensome or wereadequately addressed in otherregulatory provisions. In particular,several requirements that wereduplicative of IWRP contentrequirements in § 361.46 were proposedfor removal from this section. For thesame reason, the Secretary believes thatproposed § 361.47(h) should be deletedfrom the final regulations. Thisprovision would have requireddocumentation in the record of servicesof the DSU’s reasons for terminatingservices to an individual and, ifappropriate, documentation of the