Utah agencies outline Pre‑Employment Transition Services for middle school students

Maria Baldwin, Pre‑ETS program specialist at the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation, told a virtual Utah State Board of Education community-of-practice session that Pre‑Employment Transition Services (Pre‑ETS) are intended to give students with disabilities early exposure to careers and help them develop work skills. “Pre ETS are services designed to provide students with disabilities with information, support, experiences, that really help them explore their vocational interests, their preferences, and really help them to understand what their abilities are,” Baldwin said.

The session on Pre‑ETS, aimed at middle school educators and held as the first in a series of six virtual community-of-practice meetings, presented how vocational rehabilitation (VR) and school-based Pre‑ETS instructors and contractors can support students aged roughly 14–22. Deanna Taylor, a postsecondary transition specialist at the Utah State Board of Education, opened the session and described the community-of-practice’s origins: a survey of 53 middle‑school special‑education educators and a focus group formed from survey respondents to identify needs and barriers.

Why this matters: federal law and resources. Baldwin said VR programs in Utah operate under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, which broadened VR obligations, and that 15 percent of the federal VR allotment is designated for Pre‑ETS. The presenters said early exposure to job exploration and work skills can improve students’ preparedness for high school courses, career and technical education and future employment.

Survey and focus-group findings presented during the meeting showed 79 percent of the 53 survey respondents said they were familiar with postsecondary transition processes. The focus group that followed included 18 participants who helped refine needs. Major barriers reported were family and student buy‑in, limited resources, realistic goal setting and difficulty finding time for school–community collaboration.

Core Pre‑ETS activities explained at the session included: - Job exploration counseling (interest inventories, local labor‑market research, career‑pathway identification). - Work‑based learning (job shadows, workplace tours, summer work experiences) in integrated settings where students work alongside peers without disabilities. - Counseling on postsecondary transition (helping students understand high‑school vs. postsecondary options and begin goal setting). - Workplace readiness training (social skills, applications, interview practice, financial literacy, hygiene and time management). - Self‑advocacy (practicing disclosure, requesting accommodations, participating in IEP meetings).

The presenters clarified roles: Pre‑ETS instructors typically lead group workshops during the school year; Pre‑ETS contractors often work one‑on‑one and can serve students who are potentially eligible for VR as well as students already receiving VR services. Baldwin noted examples used in outreach, such as disability‑mentoring days at businesses, and described a school presentation at Davis High School where 56 percent of students who attended wanted more information about vocational rehabilitation; 45 percent expressed interest in concurrent enrollment, and 44 percent in disability services.

Educators in the session described positive local experiences. One participant said her school had integrated Pre‑ETS over the past two to three years and that students responded enthusiastically: “every student... ‘this is awesome,’” the participant said, adding that virtual schools must coordinate across multiple regional providers because services are assigned by the student’s physical location in Utah.

Practical next steps the presenters recommended for schools included identifying the VR liaison, agreeing logistics (meeting space, check‑in and parking), defining each party’s role, and using a step‑by‑step collaboration document produced jointly by USOR and the Utah State Board of Education. Baldwin also highlighted an evolving Padlet resource for middle‑school transition planning that will host recordings, materials and curated resources. Contact information for statewide VR staff (Amy Langone, Maria Baldwin, Elise Harvard, Annette Kent) was supplied for district follow‑up.

No formal board action or vote occurred during this informational session. Presenters announced the next virtual community-of-practice session will be Oct. 15 and will cover the YouScience tool, with presenter Melanie Allen of Davis School District.

For links and resources discussed, presenters said they would distribute the slide deck and the Padlet link via the Utah State Board of Education distribution list.