Connecticut State Department of Aging and Disability Services

 

BESB Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-Ets)

Services
  • work-based learning: Informational interviewing, worksite tours, job shadowing, mentor programs, paid work experiences and internships.
  • Workplace readiness: Social skills, independent living programs, financial literacy, mobility, JSS classes and soft skills
  • Self-Advocacy: Learn about rights, learn how to request accommodations, mentoring opportunities, Youth Leadership activities.
  • Prepare for college: Help students understand BESB support. Offer opportunities to experience life on a college campus while still in high school.
  • Counseling on enrollment: Review of programs offered at colleges, trade schools, Review of degrees required for various occupations, Reviewing disability support services and resources.
  • Job exploration: Labor market information, Interest inventories, Job exploration counseling, Career Pathways counseling 
Eligibility
  • Ages 16-22
  • Students attending secondary or post-secondary school
  • Must be legally blind or visually impaired  
  • Have either an IEP or 504 Plan and/or referred by teacher for the visually impaired
What to Expect from the Pre-Ets program
  • Assistive Technology: BESB Vocational Rehabilitation and Children’s Services work collaboratively to provide adaptive technology devices and training to enable students to have success
  • Orientation and mobility training: Orientation and Mobility Specialists work    directly with students to teach travel skills in the community, at a job site, or on a college campus
  • Pre-vocational: VR Pre-Ets counselor will provide guidance and counseling to help students develop and explore their own skills and abilities. We will provide experiences so that students can learn about career opportunities and develop goals for their future
  • On the job opportunities: BESB works with Community Rehabilitation Providers (CRPs) to support students while on the job; students can earn and learn. There are also opportunities for students to work virtually
  • Programs: Offered at local, regional, and national locations, including college campuses, at employer sites and at residential camps
  • Independent Living: Help students to gain skills and confidence in both their homes and in community activities
  • Recreation: These types of activities enhance mobility skills and provide valuable peer mentoring opportunities to students. These activities help students develop self-determination skills and confidence, which transfers to a variety of other settings throughout life
  • Prepare for college: Help students with application process, FAFSA, and understand BESB support. Experience life on a college campus while still in high school
  • Learn self-advocacy: Help students become comfortable discussing their disability in a manner that projects confidence and proficiency to others
  • Meet a mentor: Students can interact with and learn from mentors who are blind, focusing on all aspects of life with special insight about accomplishing career goals
Transitioning to Adult Vocational Rehabilitation
  • BESB strives to create opportunities that enable individuals who are legally blind or visually impaired to work competitively and live independently. Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors provide individualized services, to help prepare for, find and keep a job through a process that allow consumers and their families may make informed choices about the rehabilitation process and employment options.  A student who has worked with VR as a Pre-Ets student is eligible to transfer into the adult VR program
  • BESB adult VR program can provide a full range of individualized services, including: vocational guidance and counseling, benefits counseling, job search assistance, skills training and career education in college and/or vocational schools, on-the-job training in business and industry, assistive technology services such as adaptive equipment for mobility, communication and work activities, orientation and mobility services, supported employment services, help accessing other programs and services
Quarterly Pre-Ets Newsletter - April

 

NEW - Calling all High School Students and Graduating Seniors! Thinking about planning your education and career journey?
Interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)? Think about attending the STEM Career Exploration Lab 2024 3D Printing and Astronomy Camp 

For Parental Consent Forms, Details, and to Register Visit: https://sjsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e9idPooLE587702

 

For more information contact:

Charlotte Copenhaver- Educational Projects Coordinator
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (Pre-Ets)
Email: Charlotte.Copenhaver@ct.gov
Office: (860) 602-4093
Cell: (860) 692-4251