Vocational Rehabilitative Services NAICS 624310

May 6, 2025 - Trump Administration Proposal Would Cut $163 Billion In Federal Funding

• President Trump unveiled a budget plan with $163 billion in spending cuts to non-military programs. The vocational rehabilitative (VR) services industry is highly dependent on a mix of federal and state government funding. The agencies facing proposed reductions that would start on October 1 include the Environmental Protection Agency, the Energy Department, the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Health and Human Services, according to USA Today. The May 2 Trump administration proposal comes after courts have blocked many of those cuts, however.
• Vocational rehabilitation (VR) professionals are constrained by outdated systems, red tape, and geographic limitations, according to research from Western Governors University (WGU) and vocational rehabilitation solutions firm Daivergent. Vocational rehabilitation professionals know exactly what their clients need, but they’re working with limited resources and outdated tools that make it harder, not easier, to get people into great jobs, according to Byran Dai, co-founder and CEO of Daivergent. About 38% of working-age individuals with disabilities have jobs, compared to 77.3% of their non-disabled peers, according to the WGU researchers. This leaves 10.7 million ready-to-work individuals unemployed while industries struggle to fill roles.

• Vocational rehabilitation agencies should pay for out-of-state services including postsecondary programs for those with autism or intellectual disabilities if similar options cannot be found in state, according to guidance from the US Department of Education’s Rehabilitation Services Administration. The guidance says that if a vocational rehabilitation recipient is seeking services that fall within the needs identified in their individualized plan for employment, or IPE, the agency should accommodate an out-of-state option so long as no comparable in-state option exists. Offerings that individuals with disabilities might seek to access farther from home include postsecondary programs designed to address the specific needs of students with autism or intellectual disabilities, for example, or residential training centers for individuals who are blind, officials said.
• Vocational rehabilitation service industry revenue increased 6.2% year over year and 6.8% quarter over quarter during Q4 2024, according to the US Census Bureau. Vocational rehabilitative service sales are forecast to increase at a 3.99% compounded annual rate from 2025 to 2029, slower than the growth of the overall economy, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. Community vocational rehabilitative service revenue typically comes from contracts with state vocational rehabilitation agencies, which authorize billable services. Fee-for-services contracts base payment on hourly, daily, half-day, or other unit-based rates. Vocational rehabilitative service industry employment and average wages for nonsupervisory employees increased slightly during the first month of 2025, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.