Pre-Employment Transition Services: What Secondary Special Education Teachers Need to Know

In July 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was signed into law, amending the Rehabilitation Act of 1998 and establishing new workforce initiatives for state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies. The passage of WIOA led to the expansion of VR services, including the requirement to provide pre-employment transition services (Pre-ETS) to eligible and potentially eligible students with disabilities to support their transition from school to postsecondary employment and education. Pre-ETS afford students with disabilities an early start at job exploration, maximizing their potential to enter competitive integrated employment. It is imperative for secondary special education teachers to inform students and their families of the availability of Pre-ETS. To do this, school personnel must first be knowledgeable about Pre-ETS themselves. This column provides secondary special education teachers with a general understanding of Pre-ETS and furnishes them with strategies for securing these services on behalf of students with disabilities.