We encourage and facilitate the acquisition of the CDMS as a condition of employment. There are Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) required for all of our counseling staff in relation to this national certification.

Ninety-minute training sessions are routinely provided by a VRC supervisor/trainer or by an outside expert on various aspects of vocational rehabilitation counseling. Our staff is encouraged to attend Department-sponsored events, training provided by professional organizations such as IARP and community providers.

A specific training plan is created for each intern, with specific goals and timelines identified. Intensive orientation is initially provided according to our curriculum, and the curriculum is then applied to ongoing case issues over the course of the first year of employment. At one year of employment, the intern and supervisor evaluate progress and performance, and define additional training needs for the internship.

Training begins with an orientation to the Department’s New Vocational Rules for Providers Working With Washington Injured Workers, vocational rehabilitation definitions and standards, relative RCW and WAC selections, vocational report formats, and billing and documentation issues. The intern is trained to utilize appropriate vocational reference materials such as the DOT, COJ, GOE, Employment Security information, and others. A review of the history of worker’s compensation and vocational rehabilitation in the State of Washington, and our company’s philosophy for provision of vocational services within legal and Department guidelines is provided.

The general curriculum, which is utilized throughout the internship period, is as follows:

--Company philosophy

--History of worker’s compensation & vocational rehabilitation

--Introduction to RCW and WAC pertaining to voc rehab.

--ADA, Immigration and Nationality Act

--Definitions (per VSH)

--Medical terminology/common injuries

--Rights & responsibilities of the parties in the system

--Introduction to Department billing codes & documentation standards.

--Introduction to the voc phases, processes, policies, performance expectations, and outcomes (per VSH).

--Introduction to key players in the process (worker, employer, AP, CM, RC). Discussion of communication issues.

--Introduction to timelines & performance expectations (per contract)

Once the intern has been provided with a foundation for provision of services, he/she is teamed with an experienced counselor under supervision to learn and practice the specifics of the vocational rehabilitation process. Successful cases are reviewed and analyzed to demonstrate effective case management styles and decisions in order to provide the intern with examples upon which to draw in their own work.

When the intern has sufficient basic skills and experience, he/she may be assigned several cases to manage. The supervisor organizes the caseload to stimulate success, without overloading the intern. We slowly integrate cases so that the intern will feel confident and secure about his/her case management and approach. Cases are fully reviewed with the supervisor on at least a weekly basis.

We assist interns in developing their own time management sequence in the disposition of each case. A critical requirement is the ability to develop a plan of action and then design a series of activities that will lead clients toward actualizing their goals, while attempting to stay within the Department’s timelines and funding resources.

Training on specific services occurs as the case load requires, so the intern has a supervised learning environment in which to gain new skills.

--Microfiche, voclink, file review

--Labor Market Survey

--Job Analysis

--Job Modification

--Report Writing

--Conducting meetings

--Utilization of all electronic resources

--Working with the medical community & AP’s

--Transferable Skills Analysis

--Use of vocational testing

--Return-to-Work Coordination/Early Intervention

--Incentives and negotiation for return to work

--Ability to Work Assessment

--Job station development

--OJT development

--Coordination with educational institutions & assistance agencies

--Plan Development

--Plan Implementation

--PCE’s, Work Conditioning, Work Hardening, IME’s

--Forensic Analysis

--Legal Issues/Case Law