The VR&E family is working to expand on this National Rehabilitation Counselor Awareness Day

Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) will recognize the 40th anniversary of the first National Rehabilitation Counselor Appreciation Day on March 22. First recognized by Congress in 1983, National Rehabilitation Counselor Appreciation Day celebrates the dedication of rehabilitation counselors who work hard every day to help individuals with disabilities gain suitable employment or live independently.

VA’s VR&E is one of the largest employers of Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors (VRCs) in the United States. VR&E has over 1,000 VRCs working out of the 56 Veterans Benefits Administration regional offices, as well as out-based sites, college campuses through the VetSuccess on Campus (VSOC) program, and military bases through the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES).

These counselors provided services and support to over 124,000 Veterans in Fiscal Year 2022. With the passage of the PACT Act, VR&E anticipates an increasing number of service members and Veterans becoming eligible and applying for VR&E in future years. As a result, we plan to hire many more VRCs during 2023!

A day in the life

On a typical day, VR&E’s VRCs will meet one on one with transitioning service members and Veterans in individual sessions to review the individual’s experience, education and job training history, and ask them about their personal skills, interests, goals and personality traits to determine their employment strengths and weaknesses. The VRCs will take all this information into account and work with each program participant on a plan to help them achieve suitable goals. Think of a plan as an individualized agreement between VA and each recipient. VR&E’s VRCs will continue to work closely in partnership with each service member or Veteran as long as needed by providing ongoing counseling assistance and coordination of services until the goals laid out in the plan are met.

We’re hiring!

Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor positions at VR&E require a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling, including an internship; or a master’s degree in counseling psychology or a related field, including 30 semester hours of course work in foundations of rehabilitation counseling, human growth and development, counseling theories and techniques, vocational assessment, career development, job placement, case management, and medical/psycho-social aspects of disability. Total graduate study must have included or been supplemented by a supervised internship. For master’s degree programs without a supervised internship/practicum, substitution is allowed for successful professional experience following completion of the master’s degree. Experience suitable for substitution must be one full year in direct delivery of vocational rehabilitation services to adults with disabilities in rehabilitation programs, other than those in correctional facilities. The experience or internship/practicum must have been supervised by a professional in vocational rehabilitation or a closely related professional field that typically has oversight for vocational rehabilitation programs.

Serving Veterans as a VRC can be a rewarding experience for all involved. The structure and guidance VRCs provide changes the lives of service members, Veterans, their families, and their communities at large. In exchange, VA offers VRCs stable employment, opportunities for advancement, competitive pay, and generous federal employment benefits that include paid leave, a pension, retirement savings matching and subsidized health benefits.

VR&E will be posting Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor positions throughout 2023, in both local and national announcements on the federal government job board, USAJobs. When a national announcement posts, the Veterans Benefits Administration will promote the post on VBA’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, VA Careers Facebook and LinkedIN accounts. Follow these pages to stay updated. If interested, you can also periodically check this USAJobs link for VBA’s Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor job postings.