Missouri manual section 6.4
Career planning
Official service name: Career Planning
Career Planning is an individualized discovery process that helps a person identify career themes, employment goals, strengths, interests, needed supports, and the next steps toward competitive integrated employment or self-employment. Its main product is a written career plan or discovery profile.
What the manual describes
What this service can help with
- Exploring whether competitive integrated employment fits the person's goals and abilities
- Identifying career themes, strengths, interests, preferences, support needs, and suitable work environments
- Using job exploration, shadowing, informational interviews, labor-market research, and assistive-technology review
- Creating a measurable career plan or discovery profile
- Exploring advancement or a different career direction for a person who is already employed
Source-backed working pathway
To establish you'll probably need:
These steps translate the cited manual section into a practical review sequence. Confirm the current local process before acting.
Identify the employment-discovery question.
With the support coordinator, describe what is not yet known about the person's interests, abilities, preferred work conditions, career direction, or readiness to pursue competitive integrated employment.
Check Vocational Rehabilitation and education-program responsibilities.
Document whether the person is eligible for and able to access applicable Vocational Rehabilitation or IDEA-funded services, has exhausted them, or meets one of the manual's circumstances for waiver authorization without a referral.
Plan individualized discovery activities.
Choose observations, job exploration, shadowing, informational interviews, assistive-technology review, skill and interest assessment, labor-market research, and other activities that answer the person's career question in real settings.
Choose a qualified employment provider and authorize the service.
Confirm the provider's Department of Mental Health certification or accepted accreditation, contract, trained staff, authorized units, and how transportation and any Personal Care Assistance will be coordinated.
Use the completed career plan to choose the next employment step.
Review the documented career objective, strengths, needs, preferred environments, training needs, natural supports, and measurable path. Update the plan at least annually or when the person's goals change.
Important boundaries
Limits that may affect fit or authorization
- Career Planning is time-limited and must be based on individualized assessed need in the person-centered service plan.
- The case record must show that applicable Vocational Rehabilitation or special-education employment services are unavailable, exhausted, inaccessible, or otherwise inapplicable. The manual lists limited circumstances in which Career Planning may begin without a Vocational Rehabilitation referral.
- Personal Care Assistance may support participation but cannot make up the entire Career Planning service.
- Transportation used to carry out Career Planning is included in the service rate.
- The service should be reviewed at least annually and more often when needed or requested.
- The maximum is 32 fifteen-minute units per day and 240 units per annual person-centered service plan. Additional annual units require exceptional approval by the regional director or designee.
- Comprehensive and Community Support waivers remain under a temporary renewal extension through December 27, 2026, or until CMS grants final approval. Confirm the currently approved rules with the support coordinator; proposed renewal changes are not automatically active.
Do not assume this part
Questions to confirm locally
- What employment question or decision should the discovery process answer?
- What Vocational Rehabilitation or education-funded services apply, and how is nonduplication documented?
- Which community-based discovery activities best fit the person?
- What transportation, technology, communication, or Personal Care Assistance is needed to participate?
- What units and timeframe are authorized, and what written outcome will the provider deliver?
- When will the career plan be reviewed and translated into a next employment service or action?