Disabled Veterans Rehabilitation Act of 1979

Disabled Veterans Rehabilitation Act of 1979 - Title I: Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments - Revises veterans' vocational rehabilitation provisions to declare the purpose of this Act to be to provide all services necessary to enable veterans with service-connected disabilities to attain maximum independence, to become employable, and to obtain and maintain suitable employment. Redefines "vocational rehabilitation" to include the provision of all services required to achieve the purpose of this Act, including diagnostic, medical, social, psychological, economic, and vocational services (presently defined in terms of educational and vocational training to restore employability). Defines "employment handicap" as a disability impairing a veteran's ability to prepare for, obtain, or retain employment consistent with his or her abilities, aptitudes, and interests. Revises entitlement provisions to: (1) make eligibility run as of September 16, 1940, (rather than World War II as at present); (2) require a handicap to be an employment handicap as defined by this Act; and (3) provide for follow-up vocational services to a rehabilitated veteran in order for such veteran to enter new employment more suitable to his or her current capacity or condition. Sets forth the scope of services, including: (1) the evaluation of rehabilitation potential; (2) educational, vocational and personal counseling; (3) a vocational rehabilitation plan; (4) vocational and related services including tutorial services, tuition, books, and other training materials; (5) treatment for mental and emotional disorders; (6) medical care; (7) prosthetic and other corrective devices; (8) placement and postplacement services; (9) services to a veteran's family; (10) special rehabilitation services, including services for the blind and the deaf; (11) subsistence allowances; (12) essential employment equipment and supplies for severely disabled veterans requiring homebound training and/or self-employment; (13) transportation costs, including pre- and post-training services; and (14) work study allowances, loans, and other incidental goods and services. Revises duration of services provisions to: (1) provide basic vocational rehabilitation services for 64 months (presently 48 months); (2) remove the nine year (from discharge) eligibility limitation; and (3) provide a 12 month rehabilitation evaluation period. Revises subsistence allowance provisions to: (1) provide for payments during the evaluation of vocational rehabilitation period; (2) provide payments for unpaid on-job training or work experience in a Federal agency or during such evaluation period; (3) pay room and board expenses for individuals pursuing a program on a residential basis in a specialized rehabilitation facility; (4) provide that vocational payments be paid on a full-time basis for two months following a determination of employability; (5) set forth the rate of payment for individuals in unpaid Federal training or work experience; (6) provide payments to an individual pursuing a vocational program while in Veterans Administration (VA) or other hospital, or VA domiciliary; and (7) set forth payment guidelines for incarcerated individuals pursuing a vocational program. Authorizes personal adjustment counseling and counseling during the evaluation of rehabilitation feasibility period. Sets forth basic requirements of a vocational rehabilitation program, which shall include: (1) participation by the veteran in formulation of a written plan; and (2) a statement of objectives and goals, services and a time schedule for providing such services, and a projected completion date. Revises leave of absence provisions to remove the 30 day per year limitation on such leave. Revises the regulation of conduct provisions to remove the three-month forfeiture of subsistence allowance penalty for unsatisfactory conduct and to replace the permanent disqualification for further vocational rehabilitation penalty with a provision allowing the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to reinstate such benefits upon satisfactory conduct. Increases the maximum amount of loan available to a veteran from $200 to $400. Authorizes vocational rehabilitation to veterans hospitalized (not pending final discharge) in VA or non-VA medical facilities. Authorizes vocational training outside the United States (presently prohibited for post-World War II veterans who were not citizens at the time of their United States military service). Directs the Administrator to assist in the development of employment and on-job training opportunities. Directs the VA to: (1) provide employment assistance; (2) provide vocational rehabilitation staff training and development; and (3) carry out an ongoing program of rehabilitation research and special projects, including grants and contracts with public and nonprofit agencies. Provides that a veteran in need of vocational rehabilitation receiving educational assistance may also receive vocational rehabilitation services as authorized by this Act. Revises provisions concerning the limitation on periods of assistance under two or more veterans' educational assistance programs to include post-Vietnam era benefits within such limitation, and to provide a 64 month aggregate eligibility period for vocational rehabilitation and such other educational assistance. Title II: Technical Amendments - Effective Date - Reduces from 30 percent to ten percent the disability rating required to entitle a veteran to priority consideration for purposes of service-connected disability or death compensation. Prohibits the payment of vocational rehabilitation benefits (as provided by this Act) to individuals on active duty pursuing an educational program or to individuals pursuing such a program under the Government Employees' Training Act. Stipulates that the provisions of this Act shall become effective as of October 1, 1979, or the first day of the second month following enactment of this Act.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on May 16, 1979. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.