The promise and the challenge of pre-employment transition services: The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act after ten years

Abstract

As we mark the 10th anniversary of the passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 (WIOA), one of its marquee policies— pre-employment transition services (Pre-ETS)— remains a work in progress. WIOA focused on achieving competitive integrated employment (CIE) for people with disabilities by establishing it as the primary goal for services and by reallocating resources and emphasizing coordinated service delivery to bend the trajectories of youth with disabilities toward CIE and minimize segregated and subminimum wage alternatives. However, along with the promise of opportunity and innovation, WIOA has introduced challenges and complexity in implementing Pre-ETS and other requirements. In this paper, we describe the promise of WIOA and Pre-ETS as well as many of these ongoing challenges related to its implementation. Finally, we provide recommendations for how federal and state leaders can build on the innovation occurring within Pre-ETS implementation to improve outcomes and achieve the promise WIOA set forth.