Jobs / Education and social services / 21-1015.00
Rehabilitation Counselors
Counsel individuals to maximize the independence and employability of persons coping with personal, social, and vocational difficulties that result from birth defects, illness, disease, accidents, aging, or the stress of daily life. Coordinate activities for residents of care and treatment facilities. Assess client needs and design and implement rehabilitation programs that may include personal and vocational counseling, training, and job placement.
- US jobs
- 94,740
- Median wage
- $46,850 a year
- Job family
- Education and social services
Can agents do the work of rehabilitation counselors?
We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Education and social services:
- Task levelUnexploredNo task-level benchmark in our collection tests teaching, counseling, or casework.
- Project levelPartialThin, adjacent evidence only. GDPval, which spans 44 occupations, is the one benchmark in our collection mapped here. OpenAI reports that GPT-5.5's deliverables won or tied against professionals' work in 84.9% of comparisons across all GDPval occupations. No benchmark tests work with students or clients.
Benchmarks for the job family
These cover work in education and social services, not always this occupation's tasks.
Typical tasks
From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.
- Develop rehabilitation plans that fit clients' aptitudes, education levels, physical abilities, and career goals.
- Confer with clients to discuss their options and goals so that rehabilitation programs and plans for accessing needed services can be developed.
- Prepare and maintain records and case files, including documentation, such as clients' personal and eligibility information, services provided, narratives of client contacts, or relevant correspondence.
- Locate barriers to client employment, such as inaccessible work sites, inflexible schedules, or transportation problems, and work with clients to develop strategies for overcoming these barriers.
- Analyze information from interviews, educational and medical records, consultation with other professionals, and diagnostic evaluations to assess clients' abilities, needs, and eligibility for services.
- Monitor and record clients' progress to ensure that goals and objectives are met.
- Develop and maintain relationships with community referral sources, such as schools or community groups.
- Maintain close contact with clients during job training and placements to resolve problems and evaluate placement adequacy.
- Arrange for physical, mental, academic, vocational, and other evaluations to obtain information for assessing clients' needs and developing rehabilitation plans.
- Participate in job development and placement programs, contacting prospective employers, placing clients in jobs, and evaluating the success of placements.
- Manage budgets and direct case service allocations, authorizing expenditures and payments.
- Confer with physicians, psychologists, occupational therapists, and other professionals to develop and implement client rehabilitation programs.
Other job titles for this occupation (33)
Classification Counselor · CRC (Certified Rehabilitation Counselor) · Employment Advisor · Job Coach · Rehabilitation Specialist · Vocational Counselor · Vocational Placement Specialist · Vocational Services Specialist · VRC (Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor) · Work Counselor · Blind Rehabilitation Specialist · Direct Care Counselor · Disability Counselor · Employment Navigator · Group Counselor · Homemaking Rehabilitation Consultant · LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) · Options Advisor · Psychiatric Rehabilitation Counselor · Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services Coordinator (PRSC) · Psychosocial Rehabilitation Counselor · Psychosocial Rehabilitation Specialist · Rehabilitation Liaison (Rehab Liaison) · Rehabilitation Services Specialist · Rehabilitation Technician (Rehabilitation Tech) · Veterans Rehabilitation Counselor · Veterans' Rehabilitation Counselor · Vocational Rehabilitation Case Manager · Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant · Vocational Rehabilitation Job Coach · Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist · Vocational Rehabilitation Supervisor · Vocational Rehabilitation Technician (Vocational Rehabilitation Tech)