1. Welcome and Introductions…..
Kim Gee, MS, LPC,CRC, Dir of Transition Services & 511 Compliance Missouri VR
Bob Simpson, ED.S. – MU Pre-ETS Project Director
Dr. Pat Bauer, Ed.D – MU Pre-ETS Specialist
INTRODUCTION – THAT’S ME!
Kim Gee, MS, LPC,CRC, Dir of Transition Services & 511 Compliance Missouri VR
Bob Simpson, ED.S. – MU Pre-ETS Project Director
Dr. Pat Bauer, Edd – MU Pre-ETS Specialist
INTRODUCTION – THAT’S ME!

2. What’s Up With the Neighbors: Missouri’s Implementation of Pre-ETS Services

3. Attendees will have a better understanding of the Workforce Innovation & Opportunities Act (WIOA)
Attendees will have the opportunity to hear how Missouri agencies and schools are collaborating
Attendees will have an opportunity to see what resources & curriculum the University Pre-ETS Specialists are using to provide Pre-ETS services.
Our Purpose
Our Purpose: Attendees will have a better understanding of the Workforce Innovation & Opportunities Act (WIOA)
Attendees will have the opportunity to hear how Missouri agencies and schools are collaborating
Attendees will have an opportunity to see what resources & curriculum the University Pre-ETS Specialists are using to provide Pre-ETS services.

4. WIOA Signed into law July 22, 2014
“WIOA is designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy.”
WIOA is about new opportunities:
for more students with disabilities
for more impactful services
At an earlier age
WIOA is about new partnerships:
That will enhance post-secondary outcomes
That will better prepare youth for todays workforce
WIOA
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
With the passage of the Workforce Innovation
and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Congress has
reauthorized the Workforce Investment Act of 1998
(WIA), including the Rehabilitation Act, through 2020.
Commenting on the bill’s passage, President Obama
stated that the bill “will help workers, including workers
with disabilities, access employment, education, job driven
training, and support services that give them the
chance to advance their careers and secure the good jobs
of the future.”

5. Pre-employment Transition Services
6/24/2018
More coordinated services at an earlier age with meaningful opportunities for real world work experience and training relevant to business needs leading to competitive, integrated employment
There are many important aspects of the new law and it’s implementing regulations, but for this presentation we are focusing on Pre-employment Transition Services, which is a new required service for Vocational Rehabilitation.
In Missouri, Pre-employment Transition Services are provided for students with disabilities who are in need of such services and are:
eligible or potentially eligible for VR services
16 – 21 years of age (or younger if determined appropriate by the IEP team)
currently enrolled in secondary school
Pre-employment transition services are really about providing more coordinated services to those youth, especially students and youth with disabilities, at an earlier age, to ensure they have meaningful opportunities to receive the training and other services they need to achieve employment outcomes in competitive, integrated employment.

6. A New Partnership
6/24/2018
Pre-employment transition services is designed to be an early start at job exploration for every student with a disability that may need those services to obtain successful, competitive integrated employment. This is a big expansion of services for VR, and quite simply, VR staff capacity is limited.
VR entered into a new partnership! VR has contracted with the University of Missouri, Hook Center for Educational Renewal, to provide pre-employment transition services to students with disabilities in Missouri high schools who are potentially eligible for VR services. The Hook Center Pre-Employment Transition Specialist, or Pre-ETS Specialist is now a valuable resource in Missouri for the provision of pre-employment transition services to students with disabilities.

7. 6/24/2018
Common Foundation
Ensure students with disabilities have every opportunity to maximize receipt of pre-employment transition services for as long as they need those services, prior to graduation or high school exit.
Ensure Pre-ETS services supplement IDEA transition or 504 services.
Ensure Pre-ETS are provided in collaboration with the school, aligned within a career pathways model, and promote competitive, integrated employment.
Our partnership is built on the foundation that we will…..
Ensure students with disabilities have every opportunity to maximize receipt of pre-employment transition services for as long as they need those services, prior to graduation or high school exit. Not every student will need all five of the required Pre-ETS services, but these services should be made available if they need them.
Ensure Pre-ETS services supplement IDEA transition or 504 services, are provided in collaboration with the LEA, align within a career pathways model, and promote competitive, integrated employment. There is a lot in this statement, so let’s break it down a little bit.
First of all, we want to make sure the services provided supplement and not supplant those transition services schools are already obligated to provide; and that services are coordinated with those services provided by the school.
Second, we need to make sure the job exploration, work-based learning, and other activities within each of those five areas build upon a career pathway that has multiple on and off ramps, and help teach the student skills that align with labor market trends and business needs.
Third, we need to make sure that all roads lead to competitive, integrated employment. It is important that work experiences are provided in an integrated environment in the community to the maximum extent possible.

8. Our Columns - WIOA Job Exploration Work Based Learning
Post-secondary Counseling
Work Place Readiness
Self Advocacy/Peer Mentoring
As you may know, in WIOA, there are five required pre-employment transition service activities. We call those five areas columns, keeping in the spirit of MU.
Job Exploration
Work Based Learning
Post-secondary Counseling
Work Place Readiness
Self Advocacy/Peer Mentoring

9. Internal Communication
Weekly Scrum Calls Monthly Regional Gatherings Bi-Annual Boot Camp Closed Facebook Page
Methods of communication include:
Weekly Scrum Calls
Monthly Regional Gatherings
Bi-Annual Boot Camp
Closed Facebook Page

10. External Communication
1:1 Contacts
Quarterly Meetings in VR Offices
Pre-AWARE Software & Reporting
Outward facing Facebook Page
External communication methods include:
1:1 Contacts
Quarterly Meetings in VR Offices
Pre-AWARE Software & Reporting
Outward facing Facebook Page

11. How We Deliver Services
Regional Transition Specialists
Teachers vs. Counselors
Meet Schools Where They Are
Never add to their plate
Relationships/Friend Making Business
Results Orientation – Baldridge
On-going Staff Training
How our service delivery is modeled includes:
Regional Transition Specialists
Teachers vs. Counselors
Meet Schools Where They Are
Never add to their plate
Relationships/Friend Making Business
Results Orientation – Baldridge
Training

12. Data – First three weeks
8/14/17 –
Job Exploration % = 24.8
Workplace Readiness % = 23.3
Self-Advocacy % = 22.8
Post-Secondary Counseling % = 16.6
Work-Based Learning % = 12.6
Data from the first three weeks of the year:
8/14/17 –
Job Exploration % = 24.8
Workplace Readiness % = 23.3
Self-Advocacy % = 22.8
Post-Secondary Counseling % = 16.6
Work-Based Learning % = 12.6

13. Data – First three weeks
Job Exploration Total = 588
Workplace Readiness Total = 619
Self-Advocacy Total = 560
Post-Secondary Counseling Total = 439
Work-Based Learning Total = 416
Data from the first three weeks of the year:
Job Exploration Total = 588
Workplace Readiness Total = 619
Self-Advocacy Total = 560
Post-Secondary Counseling Total = 439
Work-Based Learning Total = 416

14. Data – First three weeks
Total Activities = 2,622
Total Students = 974
Data from the first three weeks of the year
Total Activities = 2,622
Total Students = 974

15. Data – Last Year Total Districts = 398 Total Building = 466
Total Building = 466
Data from last year:
Total Districts = 398
Total Building = 466

16. Data – Last Year
Referrals to VR (Doesn’t indicate if case opened) =1,425
Job Exploration Contacts = 14,479
Profiles Opened = 3,788
Work Readiness Contacts = 21,044
Work Readiness Profiles = 5,112
Data from last year:
Referrals to VR (Doesn’t indicate if case opened) =1,425
Job Exploration Contacts = 14,479
Profiles Opened = 3,788
Work Readiness Contacts = 21,044
Work Readiness Profiles = 5,112

17. What Worked Educational approach vs. case mgmt.
Individualizing for schools
Not adding to their load
Scaling up
Continuous improvement
Ongoing training
Relationship building
Allowing innovation
What has worked in terms of approach:
Educational approach vs. case mgmt.
Individualizing for schools
Not adding to their load
Scaling up
Continuous improvement
Ongoing training
Relationship building
Allowing innovation

18. Moving Forward Increasing # of Pre-ETS Specialists
Expanding Students Served (Horizons Pilot Program)
Guiding Questions – Are We Making A Positive Difference
We have expanded our folks from
We have increased our contract with VR to include a pilot program serving students in Missouri State Schools.
As we move forward, we need to keep asking ourselves the following questions that will help guide our work:
Are the services we are providing helping to ensure more quality referrals to VR, increased competitive employment outcomes, and…
Do youth with disabilities have more opportunities to practice and improve their workplace skills, to consider their career interests, including participation in internships and apprenticeships, and to get real world work experience.
Do youth with disabilities’ have every opportunity to participate in postsecondary education that will enable them to obtain and advance in high-demand jobs and careers, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers.
Are we increasing opportunities for greater partnerships with workforce development and career/technical education that will focus on career pathways and sector strategies to help increase employment opportunities in in-demand occupations

19. Job Exploration Counseling
Required Activity #1
(examples)
Job Exploration Counseling
Assist the special education teacher(s)
Assist the school counselor (s)
Input for IEP or 504 plan
Input for Personal Plan of Study/Four Year Plans
Develop a Missouri Connections account profile to highlight and share student info
Use career interest inventories and self-assessments for early career planning
Explore jobs/careers in the local community
Activities in Job Exploration:
Missouri Connections
Interest Inventories
Local jobs/careers
Assistance to Sp. Ed Teacher/Counselor
Input on 504 or IEP

20. Work-based Learning Experiences
Required Activity #2
(examples)
Work-based Learning Experiences
Facilitate a job-shadowing day
Facilitate a field day to the local career center
Counsel students to identify and explore job fields that require apprenticeship training
Coordinate mock job interviews
Identify and connect students to career tech, School Flex, Pathways to Prosperity, and/or other work- based learning programs that are available to all students.
Assist the LEA and VR staff identify work experience opportunities for students in the local community.
Work Based Experiences:
Job Shadows Month
Field Day to Career Center
Exploring apprenticeships/internships
Mock interviews
Connect to career tech, School Flex, Pathways to Prosperity, and/or other work-based learning programs that are available to all students.
Work experience opportunities in the local community

21. Counseling opportunities for post- secondary educational programs
Required Activity #3
(examples)
Counseling opportunities for post- secondary educational programs
Participate in LEA Career and Transition Fairs, FAFSA Frenzy events, etc.
Identify accommodations for success in a training or academic setting.
Share MO AHEAD resources
Assist students and their families in understanding the financial aid process.
Educate and inform students:
Short and long term post-
secondary training programs
Local disability support services offices at local colleges
Strength based career planning activities.
Research degree or credential requirements for jobs within the student's career pathway of interest.
Post-Secondary Counseling Activities:
Educate and inform students:
Short and long term post-
secondary training programs
Local disability support services offices at local colleges
Strength based career planning activities.
Research degree or credential requirements for jobs within the student's career pathway of interest.
Participate in LEA Career and Transition Fairs, FAFSA Frenzy events, etc.
Identify accommodations for success in a training or academic setting.
Share MO AHEAD resources
Assist students and their families in understanding the financial aid process.

22. Workplace Readiness Training
Required Activity #4
(examples)
Identify and measure work readiness skills.
Support the student's social connectedness and overall health.
Identify ways to engage the student's family as an active and positive partner
Connect students with the local career center.
Connect students and their families to the local Center for Independent Living.
Review and discuss transportation options available for students in getting to and from work.
Identify and measure work readiness skills by utilizing a work readiness inventory that will address specific areas through a volunteer or work experience opportunity on-off campus.
Support the student's social connectedness and overall health by counseling the student on the importance of participating in school based activities.

23. Instruction in Self-Advocacy/Peer Mentoring
Required Activity #5
(examples)
Counsel students and their families about empowerment through self- determination and self-advocacy.
Work with students to identify self- advocacy skills and why they are important.
Help students learn how to effectively lead their IEP, 504, other individual planning meetings.
Work with the schools to pair students with a peer mentor.
Work with students to practice self- advocacy and skill building through real life activities (i.e. ordering a meal in a restaurant).
Mo Youth Leadership Forum
Self- Advocacy Activities:
Working with families
Teaching what self-advocacy is
Student led IEPs
Peer Mentors
Work with students to practice self-advocacy and skill building through real life activities (i.e. ordering a meal in a restaurant).
Mo Youth Leadership Forum

24. Voc. Rehab Schools Helping connect …
Career Counseling
Job Seeking & Placement
Vocational Training
Pre-employment Transition Services
Pre-Employment Counseling
Work Based Learning
Posy-secondary Counseling
Work Place Readiness
Self-advocacy
Schools
Career Awareness
Academic Planning
Helping connect VR career counseling, job seeking and placement, and vocational training with Pre-ETS pillars; Pre-employment Counseling, Work Based Learning, Post Secondary Counseling, Work Place Readiness, and Self-Advocacy to Schools who emphasize Career Awareness and academic planning.

25. Closure, Reflection and Evaluation
September 8, 2014