Optically induced photonic lattices are periodic optical structures that can control the beam propagation, which has potential applications in all-optical exchange and optical switch etc. An optimized alternative implicit differential wave propagation method is adopted to numerically simulate the nonlinear Schrdinger equation. The propagation characteristics of a vortex beam in optically induced self-focusing square-like lattices, the influence of the lattices on the beam propagation, and the conditions under which vortex solitons are formed are studied. The results show that the vortices will decay into the fundamental solitons due to self-focusing when there is no lattice. When the lattice exists, the stable propagation of the discrete vortex solitons is related to the applied electric field, the lattice depth and the input light intensity. Off-site single-charged first-order vortices can form discrete vortex solitons that propagate stably under appropriate conditions.