Labor director tells committee initial screening can delay vocational rehab as lawmakers weigh S73

Dirk Anderson, director of workers compensation and safety at the Vermont Department of Labor, told the House Committee on Commerce & Economic Development on March 26 that an initial screening step in Vermont's workers' compensation system can slow access to vocational rehabilitation services and reduce the chances injured workers return to work.

"I am Dirk Anderson. I am director of workers compensation and safety for the Vermont Department of Labor," Anderson said in opening testimony, then summarized the benefits available under Vermont's workers' compensation act, including medical coverage, wage-replacement and vocational rehabilitation for workers who cannot return to their prior jobs.

Under current law, Anderson explained, a claimant on temporary total disability for 90 days triggers an initial screening conducted by state staff to determine whether the worker should be referred to a vocational rehabilitation entitlement assessment. The screener evaluates whether the employee has been medically released to work, whether the evidence indicates the employee will be able to return to the prior job, and whether the employer has suitable work available; if two or more answers are negative, the worker is referred for a full VR entitlement assessment.

Anderson said that, while the screening was intended to provide a neutral check, in practice it "adds an element of uncertainty and delay" and "bogs things down" for claimants who are unfamiliar with the process. He warned those delays can reduce the likelihood a worker eventually receives VR services or returns to gainful employment.

The department provided rough annual volumes to the committee: "on an annual basis they receive roughly 400 referrals for both rehab, see roughly 200 entitlement assessments. Of those entitlement assessments we see on the average of 50 VR plans that are approved by the department," Anderson said. He and members discussed how relatively few approved plans follow from a larger set of referrals and assessments.

Committee members pressed the department on staffing and oversight. Anderson said the division had posted a vacancy after a VR specialist retired and described the office's capacity: multiple specialist positions that could cover the work, but limited staff overall. On certification, Anderson said Vermont requires VR counselors to hold a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling or a related counseling master's with an occupational concentration plus about one year of work experience, and he described the state's certification and oversight process as "fairly minimal" given the small division.

The committee asked whether insurance carriers or the state pay for the initial screening. Anderson said he believed screening work is performed by Higher Ability state staff as part of other duties and therefore funded indirectly from the state budget, and he offered to follow up with a precise answer.

Members discussed the Senate version of S73, which would remove the initial-screening step and make the right to request VR services clearer; some members urged caution about fully eliminating the pre-screening without studying alternatives. Several suggestions surfaced: assign the issue to the bill's working group for a study of whether the 90-day trigger remains appropriate, examine certification standards for counselors, and review guardrails to prevent unnecessary referrals while avoiding harmful delay.

No vote was taken. The committee asked the department to return with follow-up data on referral timing, the number of carrier-initiated referrals before 90 days, complaint counts about counselors, and confirmation of how screeners are funded. The panel adjourned and said it would resume at 11:00 a.m. to hear additional witnesses.