DC RSA Pre-ETS: How to Get Your Student Referred for Pre-Employment Transition Services

What Pre-ETS Actually Covers

Pre-Employment Transition Services are the earliest vocational services available to DC students with disabilities. RSA's Transition Unit provides five core Pre-ETS activities:

1. Job exploration counseling — career interest inventories, labor market information, workplace visits
2. Work-based learning experiences — internships, job shadowing, and supported employment tryouts
3. Counseling on postsecondary education — college and certificate program exploration, application support
4. Workplace readiness training — soft skills, resume building, interview preparation
5. Self-advocacy instruction — teaching students to communicate their needs and request accommodations

These services are available to students ages 14 through 21 who have a disability and are enrolled in an educational program. The key distinction: students don't need to be formally eligible for Vocational Rehabilitation to receive Pre-ETS. They're "potentially eligible," which means the referral barrier is low.

How to Start the Referral

The referral process is usually coordinated through the school, although families can help move it along.

Step 1: Ask the IEP team to initiate a Pre-ETS referral. This should happen at the transition planning meeting, ideally by age 14 (the OSSE state mandate for formal transition plans).

Step 2: Complete and sign the Pre-ETS Consent Form. This requires the parent's signature (or the student's, if they're 18 and rights have transferred).

Step 3: Submit the signed consent form along with a copy of the student's current IEP to RSA's Transition Unit at [email protected].

Step 4: RSA assigns a Transition Unit counselor who coordinates with the school to deliver services.

The form and IEP copy go directly to the RSA email — not through OSSE, not through a portal. If the school's transition coordinator tells you they've "submitted the referral" but can't show you a sent confirmation, follow up. Email submissions create a paper trail; verbal referrals don't.

The Caseload Problem

RSA Transition Unit counselors manage average caseloads of 75 Pre-ETS cases and over 128 Vocational Rehabilitation cases each. That's not a staffing level designed for proactive outreach.

What this means for families: your student's Pre-ETS referral may sit unprocessed unless someone follows up. After submitting the consent packet, send follow-up emails at two weeks and four weeks if needed. If you still haven't heard back, contact the RSA Transition Unit directly and ask for the specialist assigned to your student's school.

Document every contact. If RSA representatives are invited to an IEP meeting and don't attend, make sure the meeting notes record the absence and the alternative steps the team took to obtain their input. OSSE audits Indicator 13 compliance, and a documented no-show strengthens your position if you need to escalate.

Pre-ETS vs. Formal Vocational Rehabilitation

Pre-ETS is exploratory. It introduces students to career possibilities and workplace expectations, but it doesn't fund individualized employment services like job coaches, technical training, or postsecondary tuition.

For those supports, the student needs to formally apply for Vocational Rehabilitation services — a separate process with its own eligibility determination. The timeline matters: submit the VR Referral Packet at least two years before the student's expected school exit. RSA has 60 days to make an eligibility decision, and the Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) takes additional time to develop.

The transition from Pre-ETS to VR should be seamless, but it requires active coordination. The VR counselor should review the student's transition assessments and school records to align the IPE with the postsecondary goals in the IEP.

Project SEARCH as a Pre-ETS Extension

Project SEARCH Capital Area Region (PSCAR) is a related but separate program that provides immersive internship rotations at host business sites. Students rotate through multiple departments at a single employer, getting exposure to real job demands in hospital, government, or corporate environments.

PSCAR is not a substitute for Pre-ETS — it's a complement. Students can participate in Pre-ETS activities at school while also enrolling in a Project SEARCH rotation. The referral pathway for Project SEARCH runs through the IEP team, and slots are limited by host-site capacity.

What to Do Right Now

If your student has an IEP and is 14 or older, Pre-ETS should already be part of the conversation. If it isn't:

• Ask the IEP team at the next annual review to add Pre-ETS services to the transition plan
• Get the Pre-ETS Consent Form signed and emailed to [email protected] before the meeting ends
• Confirm who the assigned RSA counselor is and record the contact

The DC IEP Transition to Adulthood Guide includes the full RSA referral sequence, agency contact information, and a tracker for managing the handoff from Pre-ETS into formal VR services.

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