A scoping review of pre-employment transition services for transition aged youth with disabilities

BACKGROUND: The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (2014) requires state vocational rehabilitation agencies to dedicate 15% of their budget to providing pre-employment transition services (Pre-ETS) to transition aged youth (TAY) with disabilities. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to summarize the peer-reviewed, empirical literature focused on Pre-ETS for TAY with disabilities. METHOD: An initial search was completed on October 24th, 2023. A second search was conducted on January 1, 2024 to determine whether any additional publications that met inclusion criteria were published. We used scoping review methods to review, summarize, and identify gaps within the existing literature about Pre-ETS for TAY with disabilities. We identified study characteristics and main areas of foci for each study. RESULTS: A total of 26 peer-reviewed articles published in the United States between 2017–2023 focused on Pre-ETS for TAY with disabilities. Articles focused on (a) participants’ perceptions of Pre-ETS, (b) program and TAY outcomes, and (c) policy analyses. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that Pre-ETS are a promising set of practices to increase the postschool outcomes of TAY with disabilities. Implications for practice, research, and policy are discussed.