Pre-ETS Kansas: Free Job Readiness Services for Students With Disabilities

What Pre-ETS Actually Covers

Pre-Employment Transition Services are the most underused free resource in Kansas special education. Funded by a mandatory 15% set-aside from the federal Vocational Rehabilitation budget, Pre-ETS provides five categories of services at no cost to the student or family:

Job exploration counseling — career interest assessments, labor market orientation, and informational interviews with local employers.

Work-based learning experiences — job shadowing, internships, and structured community work placements that build real skills in real settings.

Counseling on postsecondary education — guidance on college disability services, trade school programs, and the documentation students need to self-identify at the postsecondary level.

Workplace readiness training — soft skills instruction covering communication, time management, workplace social expectations, and financial literacy.

Self-advocacy instruction — teaching students to understand their disability, articulate their accommodation needs, and navigate adult service systems independently.

These are short-term, introductory services. They build foundational skills but do not replace the more intensive supports available through full Vocational Rehabilitation — funded job coaches, long-term assistive technology, or individualized training programs.

Who Qualifies

The eligibility bar for Pre-ETS is deliberately low. A student qualifies if they:

• Are between 14 and 21 years old
• Are enrolled in a secondary or postsecondary education program
• Have a documented disability (IEP, 504 plan, or medical diagnosis)

That is it. No formal VR eligibility determination is required. A student does not need to apply for Vocational Rehabilitation to receive Pre-ETS. The services are available whether or not the student will eventually pursue full VR.

This matters because Kansas Rehabilitation Services sometimes operates under an Order of Selection when funding is tight. Under Order of Selection, students with less significant disabilities can be placed on a VR waitlist. Pre-ETS has no such restriction — every eligible student can participate.

How to Request Pre-ETS

Submit a Pre-ETS Request for Services form to your local Kansas Rehabilitation Services (KRS) office. You can find the nearest office through the DCF Services Map at dcf.ks.gov, or call 866-213-9079.

The request can come from the parent, the student, or the school's transition coordinator. Many districts have an assigned KRS Transition Specialist who can be invited directly to IEP meetings. Ask your transition coordinator whether a specialist is already connected to the school.

At the next IEP meeting, consider requesting: "Can we invite the local Pre-ETS Transition Specialist to coordinate school-based vocational goals with community work-based learning experiences?"

Pre-ETS as a Bridge to Full VR

Pre-ETS and full Vocational Rehabilitation are run by the same agency — Kansas Rehabilitation Services — but they serve different purposes. Think of Pre-ETS as the on-ramp.

A student might start Pre-ETS at 15 with job exploration and workplace readiness training. By 17, they have completed work-based learning experiences and have a clearer picture of their employment goal. At that point, applying for full VR makes sense: the student and a VR counselor develop an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) that funds specific training, job coaching, or assistive technology tied to a concrete employment outcome.

KRS policy recommends submitting the full VR application roughly 18 months before the expected school exit date. This gives enough time for the 60-day eligibility determination and IPE development to happen while the student is still in school — before the safety net of FAPE disappears.

The IEP Connection

Pre-ETS services should be written into the transition plan of the IEP. When the IEP team identifies a coordinated set of activities to move the student toward their employment goal, Pre-ETS is one of the most accessible tools available. It costs the family nothing, requires no separate eligibility process, and provides real community-based experiences that strengthen the student's transition outcomes.

The Kansas IEP Transition to Adulthood Guide includes a step-by-step Pre-ETS referral timeline and shows how to integrate Pre-ETS into your student's IEP transition plan without waiting for the school to suggest it.

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