1. Pre-Employment Transition Services New Opportunities MO-CASE 38th Annual Special Education Administrator’s Conference September 28, 2015
Presented by
Brenda K. Simmons, MS
Director of Transition Services, Vocational Rehabilitation
And
Robert A. (Bob) Simpson, Ed.S.
Project Director, College of Education
University of Missouri

2. Vocational Rehabilitation (VR)
Assist individuals with disabilities who require VR services, prepare for, retain, regain, or advance in employment.
Assist students with disabilities successfully transition from secondary to post-secondary employment, training/education, and independent living. VR

3. 1/6/2011
Once the student has been determined eligible, the VR counselor will work with them to identify an employment goal, and develop an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE), in coordination with the student’s IEP and Personal Plan of Study, to reach that goal.
Some of the services VR may be able to provide include, but are not limited to those listed on the right.
Some VR services are also based on financial need.
VR Services
Career exploration
Career counseling
Job search activities
Job shadowing
On-the-job training Internships
Apprenticeships
Work-Experience (COOP)
Résumé development
On the job supports
Assistive Technology College/Training

4. WIOA Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
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, jobdriven
training, and support services that give them the
chance to advance their careers and secure the good jobs
of the future.”

5. WIOA Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
serve more students with disabilities earlier through “Pre-Employment Transition Services”
provide more opportunities for students to practice and improve workplace skills
promote career pathways and student participation in post- secondary education/training leading to increased employment in “in- demand” occupations and credentialing, skills attainment
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, jobdriven
training, and support services that give them the
chance to advance their careers and secure the good jobs
of the future.”

6. Mizzou Ed
Provide highly qualified personnel who will work in collaboration with local education agencies and Vocational Rehabilitation, in the provision of pre- employment transition services.
Our Purpose

7. Our Target Mizzou Ed Students with disabilities
who are in need of Pre- Employment Transition Services, and
enrolled in Missouri public high schools, and
have not yet been determined eligible for VR services
Our Target

8. Mizzou Ed More services To more students Earlier
Designed to be an early start at job exploration.
Will be provided in collaboration with local educational agencies. Schools still required to provide transition services.
Trained 21 Regional Pre-Employment Transition Specialists to work directly with students this summer in a “Boot Camp.”
Mizzou Ed
More services
To more students
Earlier

10. Our Services Mizzou Ed 5 Required Areas: Job exploration
Work-based learning
Counseling for post- secondary education
Workplace readiness
Instruction in self- advocacy to include peer mentoring
Mizzou Ed
Our Services
VR, in collaboration with the LEA, shall provide for, or arrange for the provision of pre-employment transition services for students with disabilities in need of such services who are eligible or potentially eligible for VR services.

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. Instruction in Self- Advocacy/Peer Mentoring
Required Activity #5
(examples)
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).
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.

16. Standing in the gap … Pre-employment Transition Services Voc. Rehab
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

17. Our Partnerships Mizzou Ed Students Schools Families Businesses
Communities
DESE-VR
DESE – Sp. Ed.
DESE – College & Career Readiness
Dept. of Mental Health
Our Partnerships

18. Mizzou Ed
More supports and services for all students with disabilities
Better coordination
Enhanced communication
Stronger collaboration
Increased successful post- school outcomes
Our Impact

19. Be Thinking About Mizzou Ed How can we work with special education?
How can we work with general education?
What programs/services do you provide that we might work in collaboration?
What are your needs for kids?
What do we need to be mindful of in working with your staff, students, parents?
Mizzou Ed
Be Thinking
About

20. Contact Us For More Information Bob Simpson, Ed.S. Project Director
2 London Hall
Columbia, MO 65211
Brenda Simmons, MS
Director, Transition
3024 Dupont Circle
Jefferson City, MO
65109 or
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, or disability in its programs and activities. Inquiries related to Department programs and to the location of services, activities, and facilities that are accessible by persons with disabilities may be directed to the Jefferson State Office Building, Office of the General Counsel, Coordinator – Civil Rights Compliance (Title VI/Title IX/504/ADA/Age Act), 6th Floor, 205 Jefferson Street, P.O. Box 480, Jefferson City, MO ; telephone number or TTY ;