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To understand Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS), we must first recap our understanding of its parent program, the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program, including its history, purpose, guiding principles, partners, and record of success.

This recap will explain how the respected VR program started serving injured WWI soldiers and evolved to serve students with disabilities today.

More importantly, it will prepare you for key conversations with students regarding their rights and with employers regarding VR's historical contribution to a healthy workforce and economy.

Vocational Rehabilitation—what is it?

VR is a nationwide program that helps people with disabilities prepare for, get, and keep gainful, meaningful employment in integrated settings. In short, vocational rehabilitation is about work.

How did it come about?

The program was started in 1918, at the close of World War I, to help injured soldiers return to work. In 1920, the program was extended to serve civilians with disabilities.

In 1973, through the Rehabilitation Act, the program's scope was broadened to safeguard the civil rights of all people with disabilities. These rights—the foundational principles of VR—specify that individuals with disabilities:

  • Are presumed capable of gainful employment and must be provided the opportunity to engage in gainful employment
  • Must be full participants in their rehabilitation plans, making informed choices about their vocational goals, services, and the providers of those services
  • Have assets (skills and abilities) that must be emphasized, supported, and developed
  • May include their families and natural supports in their rehabilitation plans
  • May rely on qualified VR counselors or staff supervised by qualified personnel to help them accomplish their employment goals
  • May expect comprehensive services that recognize the "whole person" and regular reviews of their progress

In 2014,throughthe Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA), the programevolved to include arenewedemphasison educating and employing youth with disabilities via Pre-Employment Transition Services.

In2020, thepublic vocational rehabilitationprogram celebrated 100 years of success.

An infographic of a timeline labeled "Soldiers to Students in 100 Years." A white vertical timeline on a dark blue field begins at the bottom with the Smith-Fess Act of 1920 and progresses upward through Rehab Act of 1973, IDEA of 1975, ADA of 1990, WIOA of 2014 and ends at the top with the 100-year celebration of the public VR program in 2020. At the top is a compass with the inscription: An evolution of laws pointing VR and its partners true north, setting the course for service delivery to students with disabiities."

Download the graphic with this link.

For a more comprehensive yet brief historical account of the public VR program, click on this accessible link: CSAVR 100 Years of Investing in America

This project is funded through a grant award from the US Rehabilitation Services Administration in Innovative Training (H263C190013). It was awarded to the West Virginia University Research Corporations, the faculty of the West Virginia University Department of Counseling and Learning Sciences, Clinical Rehabilitation, and Mental Health Counseling program; Reed College of Media; the University of West Georgia, and UWGLive Simulation Labs, featuring virtual avatars viaMursionLinks to an external site.simulations and scenarios.

All materials are products of the grantee and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the US Department of Education and no official endorsement should be inferred.