Experts Document a Decade of Progress Under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Benefiting Students with Disabilities
A special issue of the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, published by IOS Press, explores the state-of-the-art of pre-employment transition services (Pre-ETS) practices, and scholarship. The issue also highlights promising innovations evolving within the field and recommendations for policymakers, state leaders, researchers, and practitioners with the intention to level the persistently disproportionate rate of unemployment among people with disabilities.
“After a decade of planning and implementing Pre-ETS, we have reached a timely juncture to parse out what has and has not been accomplished as a result of the landmark legislation—WIOA. This is vital for envisioning pathways for future refinement through policy implementation and reauthorization,” said Holly N. Whittenburg, PhD, who served as the issue’s Guest Editor with Joshua P. Taylor, PhD. Dr. Whittenburg and Dr. Taylor are both affiliated with the Department of Teaching and Learning, Washington State University.
In the accompanying editorial, the Guest Editors succinctly lay out the key issues and challenges covered in the collection of articles. “Taken as a whole, the articles in this issue represent a comprehensive set of insights into a system in flux, as well as offer best practices in refining and guiding effective Pre-ETS delivery. Our hope is they illuminate both where we currently are in terms of Pre-ETS implementation and point the way forward to the types of innovation, programming, and systems changes that will allow us to significantly improve the trajectories of youth with disabilities as they move from school to work,” explained Dr. Taylor.
The research presented articulates a need for targeted technical assistance, support, and innovation that fits the specific contexts of individual states and communities. According to Dr. Whittenburg, lead author of an article on how state vocational rehabilitation agencies are responding to the unique needs and contexts of their states and local communities, “States continue to face a considerable challenge in designing and delivering effective Pre-ETS programs.” She and her colleagues provide a broad view of how the service delivery patterns among the states differ in the type of Pre-ETS provided, how many services were provided to each recipient, disability characteristics of students, and provider types.
“State differences in Pre-ETS implementation require further research to investigate best practices within and across states. Additional differentiated training and technical assistance models aligned with these state-level differences are needed.” She cited the unfortunate trend that work-based learning experiences—supported by the strongest research data—are received least frequently by students, “There’s still a lot of work to be done to better align what’s happening in the field with what actually works.”
“Many states are still struggling to spend the required 15% budget allotment each year for Pre-ETS, and so millions of federal dollars are not put to good use,” noted Paul Wehman, PhD, Rehabilitation Research and Training Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation.
A contribution by Dr. Wehman and colleagues offers a comprehensive set of recommendations for how Pre-ETS could more effectively provide a foundation for achieving competitive integrated employment for individuals with disabilities, focusing on expanding effective partnerships, rethinking professional development and training, and building and proliferating models of success. “In moving into a second decade of WIOA, we must find ways to coordinate service delivery more effectively with partners, strengthen relationships with schools, and engage with employers, families, and others. Additional research and knowledge translation is needed to pollinate the best ideas and approaches across states and communities,” he explained.
Other articles in the collection point to additional recommendations for future success: identify effective approaches to evaluating/assessing services delivery in terms of student access and service types; guide a shift toward Pre-ETS delivery models that are successful in providing high-quality services to expanding student populations across different contexts; and develop targeted technical support and training that supports implementation of the approaches most likely to achieve the goals of Pre-ETS and WIOA.
An important objective of Pre-ETS is to leverage additional support from and engagement with vocational rehabilitation programs to provide more meaningful transition activities from an earlier age. Using the funding awarded to several states by the Department of Education’s Rehabilitation Services Administration through the Disability Innovation Fund – Pathways to Partnerships program to work with other state, regional, and national partners to explore, cultivate, and ultimately disseminate different innovative and collaborative models of transition service delivery could result in a better understanding of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to Pre-ETS.
Another recommendation is to provide Pre-ETS within a stages of learning framework where students start by exploring career interests and subsequently move to more meaningful, community-based work experiences before they graduate.
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NOTES FOR EDITORS
SPECIAL ISSUE
Examining the impact of pre-employment transition services
Guest Editors: Joshua P. Taylor, PhD, and Holly N. Whittenburg, PhD, Department of Teaching and Learning, Washington State University
https://content.iospress.com/journals/journal-of-vocational-rehabilitat…
Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, Volume 60, Issue 2 (March 2024), published by IOS Press.
FEATURED ARTICLES
“The promise and the challenge of pre-employment transition services: The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act at ten years old,” by Joshua P. Taylor and Holly N. Whittenburg (http://doi.org/10.3233/JVR-240002).
“State-level characteristics and trends in pre-employment transition service delivery to students with disabilities,” by Holly N. Whittenburg, Lauren Avellone, Joshua P. Taylor, Sara Park, Marcus Poppen, Yazmin Castruita Rios, and Tim Tansey (https://doi.org/10.3233/JVR-240005).
“Building a foundation for competitive integrated employment: What does the future hold for pre-employment transition services?” by Paul Wehman, Tim Tansey, Joshua P. Taylor, Wendy Parent-Johnson, Holly N. Whittenburg, and Judy Averill (https://doi.org/10.3233/JVR-240011).
The special issue is openly available for 90 days after publication at https://content.iospress.com/journals/journal-of-vocational-rehabilitat… featured articles will be permanently open access.
The full text of the articles in the special issue and additional information are also available to credentialed journalists upon request; contact Diana Murray, IOS Press, at +1 718-640-5678 or d.murray@iospress.com. Journalists who wish to interview the authors should contact Dr. Joshua Taylor at josh.taylor@wsu.edu or Dr. Holly Whittenburg at holly.whittenburg@wsu.edu.
ABOUT THE JOURNAL OF VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION
The Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation provides a forum for discussion and dissemination of information about the major areas that constitute vocational rehabilitation. Emphasis is on publishing rehabilitation articles that have immediate application for helping rehabilitation counselors, psychologists, and other professionals in providing direct services to people with disabilities. www.iospress.com/journal-of-vocational-rehabilitation
ABOUT IOS PRESS
IOS Press is an international scientific, technical, medical (STM) publishing house established in 1987 in Amsterdam. We produce around 90 journals and 70 books annually in a broad range of subject categories, primarily specializing in health and life sciences (including neurosciences, medical informatics, cancer research, and rehabilitation) and computer sciences (including artificial intelligence, data science, and semantic web). In addition, we offer specialized services that support scientific advancement. www.iospress.com