Illinois DRS Pre-ETS: Pre-Employment Transition Services for High School Students

What Pre-ETS Actually Provides

Pre-Employment Transition Services are the Division of Rehabilitation Services' early career pipeline for students with disabilities. The program sits inside IDHS/DRS and targets students who are still in school — you don't need to wait until graduation to access vocational rehabilitation in Illinois.

To qualify, a student must be between 14 and 21 (or up to 22 if eligibility was extended under Public Act 102-0172), enrolled in a secondary or postsecondary education program recognized by ISBE, and have a documented disability verified by an IEP, Section 504 plan, or medical record. Students who meet those three criteria are "potentially eligible" for Pre-ETS even if they haven't gone through a full DRS intake.

The Five Core Services

DRS delivers Pre-ETS through contracts with local schools and community partners. Every county in Illinois has access, though the delivery model varies — some areas run school-based programs through PECT (Pre-Employment Career Training) or Early Start contracts, while rural counties may rely on DRS in-house staff.

Job exploration counseling. Group or individual sessions covering local labor market trends, in-demand industries, and career pathways. This is where students start matching interests to realistic job options based on what's actually available in their region.

Work-based learning experiences. Community-integrated opportunities: job shadowing, internships, workplace tours, and paid or unpaid work experiences. These happen in real businesses, not simulated classroom environments. For many students, this is their first exposure to what a typical workday looks like.

Counseling on postsecondary enrollment. Advising on college applications, courses of study, and navigating disability service offices at community colleges and universities. If your child is considering higher education, this service helps bridge the gap between the IEP-supported high school environment and the self-advocacy model colleges require.

Workplace readiness training. Soft skills, social communication, travel and public transit training, and financial budgeting. These are the independent-living skills that make employment sustainable — showing up on time, managing money from a paycheck, getting to the job site without a ride from a parent.

Instruction in self-advocacy. Peer mentoring, understanding rights and responsibilities under disability law, and learning how to request reasonable accommodations. This service directly prepares students for the post-school environment where no one is required to identify their needs for them.

STEP: The School-Based DRS Program

The Secondary Transitional Experience Program (STEP) is a DRS-funded transition program operated through cooperative agreements with local school districts. It provides supervised, community-based work experiences and vocational training while the student is still enrolled in school.

A student in STEP has an open DRS case managed through the school. The critical handoff point comes in the student's final year: the IEP team must coordinate with the DRS counselor to transfer the open STEP case to a Community Rehabilitation Program (CRP) or adult DRS caseload before the student exits school.

If that transfer doesn't happen, the STEP case closes due to inactivity after the student leaves. Once closed, the student must complete the entire DRS referral and eligibility process from scratch — a gap that can mean months without job coaching or community-based supports at exactly the time when consistent support matters most.

Fast Track and Full VR Referrals

DRS Fast Track is a streamlined referral pathway that gets students into the vocational rehabilitation system with minimal delay. For students who are ready to move beyond Pre-ETS into a full vocational rehabilitation plan, the Fast Track process connects them to a DRS counselor who can develop an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE).

The IPE is the adult equivalent of the IEP's transition plan — it lays out the specific employment goal, the services DRS will fund to reach it (training, assistive technology, job coaching, transportation), and the timeline. A well-written IPE is the foundation for everything that follows after school.

To start a referral, the student, parent, or school can submit an application through the DRS online portal or contact the local DRS office directly. The referral can happen while the student is still in school, and it should — waiting until after graduation creates the exact gap that STEP was designed to prevent.

Order of Selection: No Waiting List in 2025

One piece of good news: as of fiscal year 2025, all four DRS Order of Selection categories remain open. That means any eligible Illinois resident with a disability can immediately access full VR services and enter plan status without being placed on a waitlist. This isn't guaranteed to last — if funding tightens, DRS could close lower-priority categories — but right now the door is open for every eligible student.

Supported and Customized Employment

For students with the most significant disabilities, DRS offers two specialized employment models beyond standard job placement.

Supported Employment Program (SEP) provides up to 24 months of intensive, state-funded job coaching. The coaching follows a support-reduction schedule — starting with daily on-site support and gradually transitioning to natural workplace supports or long-term funding sources. This model works for students who can perform job tasks but need extended help learning routines and navigating workplace social dynamics.

Customized Employment uses a "Discovery Process" to negotiate and customize job duties with local employers, matching the student's specific skills to the business's operational needs. This is for students for whom traditional competitive employment isn't immediately feasible — the job is built around what they can do, rather than forcing them into a standard role.

Illinois also enacted the Dignity in Pay Act (2025), phasing out sub-minimum wage certificates under Section 14(c) of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The state's direction is clear: competitive, integrated employment at or above minimum wage is the goal for every worker with a disability.

Connecting the Pieces

The Illinois IEP Transition to Adulthood Guide maps the full DRS referral sequence — from the first Pre-ETS contact at age 14 through the STEP-to-CRP handoff and the IPE development process. It includes the forms, the timeline, and the specific steps for making sure no case falls through the gap between school and adult services.

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