Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute
Fall Newsletter
Volume 15 ● Issue 3
Fall 2013
UW-Stout
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
A Note from the Executive
Director…………………1
PROMISE
Grant………….………...2
New Department
Chair…….……………...3
BOND Project/New
Staff.………………...….4
Research Update………..…………….5
Spotlight on
AT..……………………..6
Still time for FUN……….7
A Note from the Executive Director
John Lui, Ph.D., MBA, CRC, PVE
A
chill in the air and
the changing of leaves
can only mean one
thing...fall has arrived.
This fall brings exciting
news to SVRI as we recently learned that we
were the recipient of the
PROMISE grant from the
U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special
Education Programs.
The Promoting the Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (PROMISE) grant
is designed to assist
youth with disabilities
who receive Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) to overcome barriers they may face in obtaining and maintaining
employment.
I am also proud to announce that two research projects have
reached their halfway
points. The Benefit Offset National Demonstration project, researching
whether offsetting, rather
than ending, Social
Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits will
lead to beneficiaries actually working more, therefore earning more, and
the Soft Skills Hard Science Project, which examines the impact of soft
skills training to increase
employment success
among college students
with disabilities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
(STEM).
The assistive technology
department has also been
busy this year, take a
look inside to read about
their 2012-2013 highlights, along with a conI am pleased to welcome sumer success story.
on board Tom Tozier,
Hope you enjoy the upthe new SVRI Fabricadates included in our
tion Lab Supervisor, as
Fall newsletter and feel
well as offer a warm welfree to contact me if you
come to Debra Homa as
have any questions or
the new chair of our Decomments. Have a great
partment of Rehabilitarest of the year !
tion and Counseling.
John Lui
A big congratulations to
Cayte Anderson on completing her doctorate in
Rehabilitation Psychology at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison in
August 2013!
PROMISE Grant Provides Exciting Opportunity to Focus on Youth in Transition
T
he Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute
(SVRI) at the University of Wisconsin-Stout will
be working closely with the Wisconsin Division of
Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) in implementing a
new 5-year, $32.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs. The Promoting the Readiness of Minors in
Supplemental Security Income (PROMISE) grant is
designed to assist youth with disabilities who receive
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to overcome barriers they may face in obtaining and maintaining employment.
developing evidence-based practices that move individuals with disabilities toward independence,” said
Mary Hopkins-Best, Dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Services.
“We are thrilled to have this opportunity to work with
our key state partners in the development of systems
to improve outcomes for youth with disabilities.”
Ellie Hartman, SVRI Senior Research Scientist,
played a significant role in developing the grant proposal collaboratively with DVR leaders and representatives from the Department of Health Services, the
SVRI will work closely with DVR and other key
stakeholders to provide leadership with outreach and Department of Public Instruction, and the Department
of Children and Families. As project implementation
recruitment activities. Youth participants will have
access to services including career exploration, com- begins, Ellie, along with SVRI’s Associate Director
Cayte Anderson, will continue to actively participate
munity work experiences, financial literacy training,
as members of the grant’s leadership team. Ellie and
social and soft skills training, and family training on
employment expectations. A unique feature of the pro- Cayte will participate as members of the Wisconsin
delegation at the national kick-off meeting for PROMject involves providing comparable “wrap-around”
ISE grantees taking place in Washington DC, October
services to participant’s family members. John Lui,
29-30th. Comprehensive planning and preparation is
executive director of SVRI says the grant has many
currently taking place and outreach and participant
benefits, “Improving financial awareness, job readiness, employment opportunities, career development recruitment activities will begin in early 2014.
options and employment supports for youth with disabilities and their families may subsequently reduce
future reliance on public benefits and provide opportunities for economic mobility, poverty reduction and
systemic cost savings.”
SVRI will also work closely with researchers at the
University of Wisconsin’s Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education in implementing and providing oversight and management of the
project research and evaluation in Wisconsin. It is estimated that 2,000 youth and their families will participate over the course of the grant period; participants
will be randomly assigned to treatment and control
groups of 1,000 each.
Other activities that SVRI will provide for the project
include developing and maintaining a website on behalf of the project to highlight grant activities, promotion and dissemination of materials and research findings and integration of social media, and provision of
statewide training that teaches workplace readiness
soft skills for youth. “Being selected as a key partner
in the PROMISE grant is a testament to SVRI’s long
and storied role in conducting critical research and
Cayte Anderson
Ellie Hartman
Page 2
UW-Stout’s Department of Rehabilitation and Counseling
Welcomes New Chair
T
he summer of 2013 brought
change to UW-Stout’s Department of Rehabilitation and Counseling. Susie Eberhard is currently
out on medical leave and her presence in the department is greatly
missed but we know she is with us
in spirit. She has been staying in
touch and sending us emails with
ideas and great suggestions, as always.
Debra Homa became the new department chair and we would like to
give you an opportunity to learn a
little more about her. Debra has
had over 25 years of experience
working as a vocational evaluator
and rehabilitation counselor in a
variety of settings including private
rehabilitation agencies, non-profit
community-based rehabilitation
agencies, and hospital-based programs. Previously program director
of the online MSVR program,
Debra is not new to the department.
She has taught undergraduate and
graduate classes in the department
since the fall of 2005, both oncampus and online, and has given
numerous presentations at state and
national conferences. During this
time she was co-recipient of the
2010-2011 College of Education,
Health and Human Services Outstanding Graduate Program Director award. More recent scholarly
activities have focused on the applicability of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability
and Health (ICF) to teaching, job
placement, assessment, and outcomes research in vocational rehabilitation. The ICF provides a holistic framework for understanding the
interactions of biological, individual, and environmental factors and
their impact on health and functioning. She has had two articles addressing the use of the ICF in vocational rehabilitation published in
peer-reviewed journal: Rehabilitation Education and Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and
Rehabilitation. She also has given
two presentations on the ICF at the
annual conference of the National
Rehabilitation Association. In 2010,
she participated as an invited expert
in the Consensus Conference to develop ICF Core Sets for Vocational
Rehabilitation sponsored by the
ICF Research Branch at Swiss Paraplegic Research in Nottwil, Switzerland. In addition, she is currently one of three associate editors for
a textbook entitled Handbook in
Vocational Rehabilitation and Disability Evaluation, which will be
published by Springer in the summer of 2014. She is the lead author
of one chapter and coauthor of another chapter. This textbook will be
one volume in the Springer series,
Handbooks in Health, Disability,
and Work.
As if that is not enough of a fascinating introduction, Debra also was
the recipient of the 2013 VEWAA
Paul R. Hoffman award, “in recognition of innovation and creativity
in service to persons with disabilities through achievements in vocational evaluation.” We would like
to welcome Debra as the new department head!! Also the Rehabilitation & Counseling department
sends cards to Susie every few
weeks. There is a card at the front
desk, VR 250, and we encourage
you to stop by and write a message
or just sign your name. -- She
would love to hear from students
too!
Page 3
BOND Project Reaches Halfway Point
T
his year marks the halfway
point of the Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND) Project! Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute was subcontracted
through Employment Resources.
Inc. out of Madison and began
working on this 5-year project to
study whether offsetting, rather
than ending, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits
will lead to beneficiaries actually
working more, therefore earning
more.
As the system is now, once an individual exceeds Substantial Gainful
Activity (SGA), cash benefits are
lost. Medicare coverage can continue for at least 93 months after
cash payment stops. The fear of losing SSDI cash benefits is thought to
be a barrier for beneficiaries that
would prefer to work, as opposed to
relying solely on SSDI income.
The BOND program is testing a
new way to administer SSDI benefits. It would allow individuals a
for the lifetime of the project. They
will work with their counselor to
report earnings to Social Security
and compute the offset if necessary.
Currently there are 62 people in the
enhanced group that are receiving
services through SVRI. The other
group of beneficiaries will just reThe project is gaining a better un- ceive benefits counseling on an asneeded basis in addition to the offderstanding of how the BOND proset.
cess will affect income by examining 3 groups that are involved in the Wisconsin did participate in a similar research project in the early
study. Those in the control group
2000s which included 4 sites. The
will follow the standard work incurrent project includes 10 sites and
centives for SSDI. When they
will add more evidence to the growdemonstrate earning above SGA,
ing database to support predicted
their cash benefits will stop. The
outcomes. If the BOND project
two remaining treatment groups
will receive the offset once earning provides evidence that individuals
above SGA and will be offered ben- can “Earn More; Keep More”, this
project could change the way earnefits counseling from counselors
ing impacts all SSDI beneficiaries.
knowledgeable in BOND. Of the
two treatment groups, the enhanced For more information on the BOND
project, contact Sara Dekan, dektreatment group will receive enans@uwstout.edu.
hanced work incentive benefits
counseling. In addition they will
receive case management services
60-month period to earn above the
SGA level while benefits are gradually reduced $1 for every $2 earned
over SGA. In addition, individuals
will be eligible for benefits if they
are offered by their employers and
will be able to keep their Medicare
insurance.
Welcome New Staff !!
Tom Tozier was
hired as the SVRI
Fabrication Lab
Supervisor in September of
2013. He previously held a Facilities Maintenance
SpecialistAdvanced position at UW-Stout;
he also owned and join us in weloperated his own coming Tom to
business as “The the SVRI team!
Pool Man.” Tom
graduated from
UW-Stout in
1974. In his free
time, he enjoys
hunting, fishing,
and watching
sports. Please
Page 4
Research Update
T
he “Soft Skills Hard Science”
project continues to move forward
and researchers are gearing up for
the second round of research intervention. This study is being funded
by the National Science Foundation
(NSF) to examine the impact of
soft skills training to increase employment success among college
students with disabilities in Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM). Now in its
second year of the three-year grant,
the project is working to build on
its early success in helping soon-tobe graduates better understand the
social demands of the workplace
and to practice using soft skills before being faced with them in an
actual job environment. An interdisciplinary approach is being used
to build upon individual researcher’s strengths. The key researchers include Michael Lawler,
Senior Rehabilitation Specialist at
SVRI, Dr. Kathleen Deery, Profes-
for learning principles. Participants
are given an iPad to use during the
project, which they are able to keep
if they remain for the full duration
of the study. Participants in the first
cohort indicated that while they
The “Soft Skills Hard Science” pro- were initially drawn to the iPad for
ject uses a combination of group
its ‘coolness factor’, they found the
interaction and online learning to
actual information on soft skills to
reinforce positive work skills and
be a far more valuable tool. In addithen provide an opportunity for in- tion to the eBooks used in the
dividuals to practice their skills
study, they are now using more
during a work-based learning expe- apps for productivity and organizarience. Participants are also paired tion rather than simply surfing sowith individuals already employed cial media sites.
in their field of interest who serve
as an employment mentor. The
project is based upon a Social Rela- Marketing is currently underway to
recruit college seniors with a disational Model of Disability which
advocates for a shared responsibil- bility enrolled in a STEM major at
ity in work readiness, and promotes UW-Stout, UW-River Falls, UWconsumer involvement in reducing Eau Claire, UW-Platteville and UW
-Madison. For more information on
barriers to success. A unique feature of the project is the use of iPad the project or to refer someone for
technology to teach appropriate use participation, contact Kathleen
of social media in the workplace as Deery at deeryk@uwstout.edu.
well as to practice universal design
sor in the Department of Rehabilitation and Counseling, and Dr.
Laura McCullough, Professor and
Chair of the Department of Physics.
CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATE !!
C
ayte Anderson, PhD, CRC, and Associate Director at SVRI, completed her
doctorate in Rehabilitation Psychology at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison in
August 2013.
According to Cayte, “It’s been an amazing
5-year journey” balancing fulltime work,
family, and school and she is now enjoying reclaiming a healthy work-life equilibrium. She looks forward to applying her
research and analytical skills and pursuing
scholarly activity. Along with the talented
SVRI team, Cayte will ensure that SVRI
maintains an excellent reputation as a leader in disability and integrated employment
issues for many years to come.
Page 5
Spotlight on AT !!
S
tout Vocational Rehabilitation
Institute provides assistive
technology (AT) services to UWStout students, enabling them to
fully participate in classroom and
extracurricular activities throughout
campus. These services range from
repairing wheelchairs, to assessing
computer access needs and acting
as a resource for Disability Services
on campus for many accommodation concerns. SVRI also provides
Braille document services upon request and maintains a fleet of loaner mobility scooters for faculty,
staff, and students who are unable
to walk any distance due to injury
or disability. Area agencies are
welcome to tour SVRI and services
to those agencies, along with employers and residents, can be provided.
SVRI also manages WisTech, the
statewide assistive technology program. This program conducts training and outreach throughout the
state, educating professionals and
consumers on assistive technology.
This program allows consumers
with disabilities access to information on assistive technology that
will allow them to be fully integrated into the community in employment and lifestyle. SVRI also conducts assistive technology services
throughout Wisconsin, helping residents achieve gainful competitive
employment and to complete their
education. SVRI provides assistive
technology training to the state Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors
on assistive technology, enhancing
their ability to serve people with
disabilities throughout Wisconsin.
Highlights of the 2012-2013





30 Presentations on Technology Statewide
1006 Attendees of Presentations
12 Wheelchair Clinics
138 Wisconsin Residents served with Assistive Technology services
16 Tours of SVRI to Students, Agencies and Companies
Services, supported by the UniverThe following example of how AT sity of Wisconsin Extension program, was able to provide the serservices can affect consumers has
been offered for your reading pleas- vice and technology to allow Steven to efficiently operate his skid
ure, enjoy! Steven runs a small
farm in Central Wisconsin. Unfor- steer effectively and maintain his
tunately, he was involved in a corn livelihood as a Wisconsin farmer.
picker accident that resulted in the If you would like information relatamputation of his right hand. Sur- ing to AT services contact Paul
Schwartz ,
geons were able to reattach his
hand, but he now has a fused wrist schwartzpa@uwstout.edu 715-232and limited function of his right
2378.
hand. Understandably, this has impacted his ability to farm. SVRI
was contacted to assist Steven.
Since his accident and recovery,
Steven has been unable to effectively drive his skid steer, which is
used every day in a variety of tasks
around the farm, from hauling to
cleanup. The skid steer is operated
by right- and left-handed joysticks.
However, Steven’s control of the
right joystick was limited. SVRI
Technology Services conducted an
assistive technology assessment of
the task and developed a custom
hand grip and forearm support that
Photo: Steven operating
allows Steven to operate his skid
his skid steer with cussteer with full control.
tom hand control and
The Stout Vocational Rehabilitaforearm rest designed
tion Institute Assistive Technology
and fabricated by SVRI
Page 6
Still Time for Fun!
T
he 1st Annual Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Retiree Invitational was
held at Wild Ridge on Monday, September 30, 2013. The team that was under 65
years old won the tournament. Other
SVRI alums and current SVRI staff also
joined the golfers later for further celebration and reminiscence.
Pictured left to right:
Dawn Swan, Mike Wittenberg, Ron Fry,
Charlie George, Tom Modahl, John Lui,
Spencer Mosley, and Jeb Kaiser
Upcoming Events
WHEELCHAIR CLINIC
NOVEMBER 12TH, 2013
9am-12pm Vocational Rehabilitation Building Rm120
KEYS TO SUCCESS CONFERENCE
OCTOBER 26TH, 2013
8am-3:30pm UW-Stout Memorial Student Center
THE DANCE OF PARTNERSHIP
OCTOBER 25TH, 2013
1pm-4pm UW-Stout Memorial Student Center