New Hampshire State Policies & Resources
Policies:
New Hampshire Vocational Rehabilitation
Policy Summary on Self-Employment:
A New Hampshire Vocational Rehabilitation/customer partnership to create a self-employment venture must show: a significant commitment of customer time and personal or family resources to the new venture, a well thought out, realistic first-year business plan that includes the best possible estimate of revenues and expenses, plan evaluation by an outside expert, when necessary, and acknowledgement that the guidelines utilized by NHVR personnel and the customer to consider, evaluate, plan, and implement a self-employment rehabilitation are a multi-stage process that may require extended time to complete.
NHVR has two processes or levels of support for meeting the self-employment goals of customers. The first level:
- Tier 1: applies to self-employment plans that are intended to supplement other income and require minimal approval processes. NVRH may provide up to $3,000 for Tier 1 business ventures.
- Tier 2: applies to self-employment plans that lead to self-sufficiency and involve highly critical analysis and approval by the agency staff and an objective outside consultant. NHVR may provide up to $10,000 for ventures intended to lead to self-sufficiency.
Costs for either Tier should be outlined before dollar amounts to be provided by the Agency are discussed. NHVR’s allowable contribution shall not be viewed as an ‘automatic grant.
Prior to the development of an Individualized Employment Plan that includes self-employment/business ownership as part of the vocational goal, the following steps need to be completed as part of the Comprehensive Assessment:
- Discussion and Assessment: Customers may participate in a variety of self-assessment activities which can include standardized business assessments, interviewing business owners, or other creative means of assessing their own business potential. The Counselor will have a variety of material for the customer to use to explore their own suitability for being self-employed.
- Exploration: To determine viability of a business, this step of the phase evaluates the feasibility of the proposed business. If it is feasible a proposal is developed and based on what type of business (Tier 1 or Tier 2) it is, there are additional pieces of information that are required for approval.
NHVR uses the following criteria for successful closure of a self-employment case:
- Individually determined at the time of the IPE to define success.
- Expectation of client to be informed of available post-employment services available.
- Business has been in operation for at least 180 days
- Business stability has been achieved (agreed upon by counselor and individual) as recorded on the IPE, where the business has achieved a specified level of income, e.g., (c) The revenue equals or exceeds operating costs as shown on a financial statement, (d) A copy of the most recent financial statement is obtained, and (e) Employment is verified
New Hampshire Policy Manual (see Part 4.1: Self-Employment): https://www.education.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt326/files/inline-documents/sonh/nhvr-policy.pdf
Resources:
The following downloadable PDF contains statewide self-employment resources and links for people with disabilities.
New Hampshire Start-up Resources (PDF)