Your Rights & Responsibilities

In addition to meeting the specific goals and obligations outlined in your individual plan for employment (IPE), you will need to:

  • help your counselor to obtain information needed to determine if you are eligible for services
  • inform your counselor of any change in your address, phone number, e-mail address, or methods for contacting you
  • keep appointments or notify your counselor, teacher, or rehabilitation technology specialist when you must cancel an appointment due to unforeseen circumstances
  • commit to putting forth the time and energy needed to practice any skills you are learning between meetings with instructors and completing agreed upon homework
  • help your counselor to obtain reports, grades, or other necessary information
  • tell your counselor about any changes in your income or needs
  • apply for and use money from any source that will help cover the costs of services listed in your plan
  • Contact your counselor to make sure that a particular service is authorized and approved before making any purchases or participating in any training/activity for which you would request IDB assistance or reimbursement.
  • tell your counselor about major changes in your health or general situation that could affect your ability to obtain employment as outlined on your plan
  • when you are participating in an educational or job training program, attend classes regularly and maintain the required grade point average
  • actively participate in an annual review of your IPE
  • actively seek employment which aligns with your IPE goal
  • inform your counselor when you have obtained employment

What if I don’t meet my responsibilities?

Vocational rehabilitation services exist to help you get or keep a job and are most successful when you and your counselor maintain a partnership. If you don’t participate actively to achieve the goals as stated in your plan and if you fail to meet your responsibilities, then it is likely that you will not succeed in getting, not to mention keeping, a job. 

If you are not serious about getting a job, vocational rehabilitation services are not for you, and you may not be eligible for further services. Your counselor, teachers, and rehabilitation technology specialists will work with you and provide support, but success is ultimately up to you!

What if my counselor and I disagree?

If you and your counselor disagree about the provision of services, your plan, or other issues, you have a number of options to address the disagreement. The following steps are recommended to resolve issues as soon as possible:

Step 1: Talk to your counselor to see whether you can resolve the disagreement.

Many times, disagreements can be solved by calling your counselor and having a conversation about the issue. If you proceed to Step 2, the supervisor will ask you if you have discussed the issue with your counselor. Unless your concern involves inappropriate or unethical behavior by the counselor or other IDB staff, if you have not talked to your counselor about the issue, you will be asked to do so.

Step 2: Talk to the person who supervises your counselor.

This is Keri Osterhaus and she can be reached at 515–281–1281; or keri.osterhaus@blind.state.ia.us

Please allow two business days for a response. If you do not receive a response or out-of-office message within two business days, please proceed to Step 3.

Step 3: Contact the Agency Director.

This is Emily Wharton and she can be reached at 515–281–1334 or emily.wharton@blind.state.ia.us. If you do not agree with the response from the program supervisor, you may wish to contact the agency director. Please allow two business days for a response. If you do not receive a response or out-of-office message within two business days, please proceed to Step 4.

Step 4: Seek assistance through the Client Assistance Program (CAP).

You can reach CAP at

Client Assistance Program,
Office of Persons with Disabilities,
Lucas State Office Building,
Des Moines, Iowa 50319;
voice and TTY 1–800–652–4298.

While you have the right to seek assistance from the CAP at any time, going directly to the counselor if at all possible and then escalating the issue to the supervisor if unsatisfied does tend to solve problems more quickly. 

Resolving Disputes

You may also use the following methods for resolving a dispute:

  • ask for mediation. In mediation, an impartial third person works with you and your counselor to resolve the issue
  • ask for a formal hearing before an impartial hearing officer You have 120 days after your counselor or other Department staff inform you about a decision to ask for a formal hearing.

For more information about the above options or to request mediation or a formal hearing, contact the Program Administrator, Keri Osterhaus at 515–281–1281; or keri.osterhaus@blind.state.ia.us

Programs administered by the Iowa Department for the Blind are provided in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the Iowa statutes on civil rights and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. The Department serves all eligible applicants regardless of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identification, national origin, disability, or age. For further information, contact the Director of the Iowa Department for the Blind, 524 Fourth Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50309–2364; phone: 1–800–362–2587 or 515–281–1333.

We at the Department for the Blind look forward to working with you.