Prevocational Services

What are Prevocational services and what is the intent of these services?

Prevocational Services are individually designed to prepare a youth (age 14 or older) to engage in paid work, volunteer work, or career exploration. The service is intended to be directed to teaching skills rather than explicit employment objectives. Prevocational Services assist with facilitating appropriate work habits, acceptable job behaviors, and learning job productivity requirements.

B. Service Components

Prevocational Services may include volunteer work, such as learning and training activities that prepare a person for entry into the paid workforce.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Ability to communicate effectively with supervisors, co-workers, and customers.

• Generally accepted community workplace conducts and dress.

• Ability to follow directions.

• Ability to attend to and complete tasks.

• Punctuality and attendance

• Appropriate behaviors in and outside the workplace

• Workplace problem solving skills and strategies.

• Mobility training

• Career planning

• Financial literacy skills

• Proper use of job-related equipment and general workplace safety

• The ability to navigate local transportation options.

Prevocational Services include activities that are not primarily directed at teaching skills to perform a particular job, but at underlying habilitative goals (e.g., attention span, motor skills, interpersonal relations with co-workers and supervisors) that are associated with building skills necessary to perform work and optimally to perform competitive, integrated employment, such as the examples listed below:

• Resume writing, interview techniques, role play, and job application completion.

• Exploring career options, facilitating appropriate work habits, acceptable job behaviors, and learning job productivity requirements.

• Assisting in identifying community service opportunities that could lead to paid employment.

• Helping youth to connect their educational plans to future career/vocational goals.

• Helping youth to complete college, technical school, or other applications to continue formal education/training.

• Helping youth to research and apply for financial aid or scholarship opportunities.

• Assisting a participant to understand appropriate work behavior in preparation for obtaining employment including navigating relationships with co-workers, taking directions from a supervisor, professional interactions with customers, etc.

• Activities geared towards teaching how to dress and act professionally.

• Activities geared towards teaching time management skills related to employment.