Guideposts: the Predecessors of Pre-ETS

The Mandate

To recap, let's review and check off the positive things youth with disabilities have had.

Did they have dedicated teachers and counselors like you to help them? Check!
Did they have civil rights-inspired laws guiding their education and rehabilitation, and guaranteeing their access to public services? Check!
Did they have evidence-based guideposts for success? Check!

It sounds like a winning hand, right? Not exactly. Even with all these supports in place, the achievement gap between youth with disabilities and their non-disabled peers remained. More muscle was needed to close the gap.

Enter the Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act (WIOA), amending the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

In the 2014 passage of the WIOA, congress introduced Pre-Employment Transitions Services (Pre-ETS). This amendment required that state vocational rehabilitation programs provide services to younger students, including those who are potentially eligible. And it mandated that they spend at least 15% of their budget doing so. In a way, it could be said that good ole Uncle Sam demanded,

"Start sooner, do better, and this time, I mean it."

A cartoon image of Uncle Sam wearing a white beard, a blue high collar jacket, red bow tie, and white top hat with a blue hatband featuring white stars. He is pointing to the audience with a commanding expression on his face.

Guideposts to Pre-ETS

As illustrated in the following graphic, Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) were not plucked from thin air. Rather, the evidence-based practices in three of the Guideposts to Success—School Preparation, Career Preparation, and Youth Leadership—were divided into five Pre-Employment Transition Services.

The five Pre-Employment Transition Services are:

Job Exploration Counseling
Self-Advocacy Training
Workplace Readiness Training
Work-Based Learning
Postsecondary Education Exploration.

The signpost with five signs described in the last unit stands atop 5 colored squares labeled with the five Pre-ETS services: Job Exploration Counseling, Self-Advocacy Training, Workplace Readiness Training, Work-Based Learning, Postsecondary Exploration.

A Call to Action

In the next module, we'll explore Pre-ETS, but first, let's return to "the why."

Why do we do what we do? Why Pre-ETS? By now, I hope it's clear that we are working to close the achievement gap byincreasing the number of youth with disabilities who:

graduate from high school,
go on to college,and/or,
achieve meaningful, gainful employment.

This is our call to action, and you play a crucial role.