| (a) The following statutes and regulations authorize
the procedures established by this subchapter:
(1) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29
United States Code §701 et seq., and
regulations of the United States Department of Education, Rehabilitation
Services Administration, 34 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part
361, as amended, relating to the State Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Program;
(2) 34 CFR Part 367, as amended, relating to the Independent
Living Services for Older Individuals Who Are Blind (ILS-OIB); and
(3) 34 CFR Part 370, as amended, relating to the Client
Assistance Program.
(b) The procedures in this subchapter apply to those
determinations made by Agency personnel that affect the provision
of vocational rehabilitation (VR) services and ILS-OIB.
(1) Unless the determination concerns the denial, reduction,
suspension, or termination of VR services or ILS-OIB, it is not subject
to review under the procedures of this subchapter.
(2) The following decisions or determinations are not
subject to review under this subchapter:
(A) Administrative decisions that are made by Agency
supervisors or managers without reference to any specific applicant
or customer and that apply generally to the provision of VR services
to applicants or customers, including to decisions concerning the
assignment of personnel;
(B) Decisions, diagnoses, judgments, actions, or omissions
of third-party vendors or service providers;
(C) Decisions concerning the content of an applicant's
or customer's record of service for which remedies are provided under
34 CFR §361.38(c)(4) and §361.47(a)(12); and
(D) Decisions allegedly violating any state or federal
antidiscrimination or civil rights statute (as amended), including
the provisions of Texas Labor Code, Chapter 21; the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973, as amended; the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section
504; or the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
(c) Ineligibility. The following may challenge a determination
of ineligibility through the procedures of this subchapter:
(1) Applicants who are found not to be eligible for
VR services; and
(2) Previously eligible individuals who have been determined
no longer eligible for VR services under 34 CFR §361.43.
(d) An individual's decision to seek an informal resolution
of matters about which the individual is dissatisfied shall not prevent,
compromise, or delay the individual's access to formal resolution
procedures in this subchapter.
(e) The Agency shall not suspend, reduce, or terminate
VR services being provided to an applicant or customer, including
evaluation and assessment services and the development of an Individualized
Plan for Employment, pending a resolution of the applicant's or customer's
appeal by mediation or hearing, unless:
(1) the applicant or customer requests a suspension,
reduction, or termination of services; or
(2) the Agency has evidence that the applicant or customer
obtained the services through misrepresentation, fraud, collusion,
or criminal conduct.
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