VOLUME 1, ISSUE 4
PROMISE Wisconsin Newsletter
April 2014 

 



INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Visit our website
April Calendar of Events
Connect with us
National Website
Call Us
Enrollment is Open!
New Promotional Items
Steering Committee Profile
Promise Case Management System to Serve both Youth and Family
Communication Workgroup Added
Coordinated Training throughout Project
 



Visit our website
 

 
 



April Calendar  
of Events


 
 


Connect with us








 


 


National Website

Can be found HERE

OSEP Ideas that work
U.S. Office of Special Education Programs

 


Call Us 

If you have a group that may be interested in hearing about the grant, recruitment and enrollment, or other aspects of the project. Call 608.261.0050 or email:
 
 


Steering Committee Profile members and emails

Project Director
JoAnna Richard
Project Manager
Ellie Hartman
Members
Cayte Anderson
Wendi Dawson
Meredith Dressel
Janet Estervig
Allison Gordon
Wendy Henderson
Aimee Jahnke
Suzanne Lee
Jessica Thompson



 










 
Wisconsin Promise enrollment is now open!  

We are ready to start helping youth and their families meet their school and work goals! The Promise project is designed to help increase income, improve financial stability, and reduce poverty among eligible youth with disabilities.  

 

Youth between the ages of 14 and 16 who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) from the Social Security Administration are eligible to participate.  Families who participate will receive $30 in gift cards and may be eligible to receive a computer tablet and additional services including career exploration, community work experience, financial literacy training, social and soft skills training, and family training on employment expectations.

 

Youth and their parents or guardians may complete the enrollment materials at home by downloading and completing the enrollment materials available online here or in person at a community event.

 

To learn more, please visit our website at  www.promisewi.com.  If you have any questions or need assistance completing enrollment materials, call our toll-free number at 1-855-480-5618 or send us an email at [email protected].  We look forward to helping you enroll!

 


New Promotional Items

The Promise team is ready to spread the word of the grant enrollment period.  Check out our new materials!  Please call us if you have an event that we can display our materials or make a presentation call Ellie Hartman at 608-261-0215.

 

 

Steering Committee Profile: Aimee Jahnke 
Aimee is an IS Business Analyst for the Wisconsin
Aimee Jahnke
Department of Workforce Development-Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.  She has rich experience in education and vocational rehabilitation and now serves as DVR's business analyst for the Integrated Rehabilitation Information Systems (IRIS).  While not helping to design changes to DVR's case management system, Aimee also serves as the co-lead for the Data Sharing Committee where she coordinates the needed data elements and collaboration needed to meet the grant evaluation specifications.  Aimee grew up in Green Bay and received her bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin.

Promise Case Management System to Serve both Youth and Family 
Case management services will be provided through DVR Promise staff using DVR's IRIS system.  DWD and DVR staff have been busy working on behalf of the Steering Committee to add the needed data and programmatic elements to a new "Family Plan" tab for inputting Promise family information.Some the IRIS Enhancements now added include:
  1. A page in IRIS to record family members of the consumers and help DVR staff track who in the family can receive Promise Grant services.  
  2. A Family Services Plan to outline what services will be provided to Family Members participating in the grant and progress measures to help the family reach their individual goals related to the Promise Grant.
  3. An efficient process to process payments and track spending for Promise Grant specific funds spent on individual enrollees, including information on whether or not the funds were spent on the family or the consumer and what service was purchased. 
  4. A page in IRIS to record what individuals are on the Promise Grant Participant's Resource Team and their contact information.
  5. IRIS collects evaluation data including:
    1. If and where each family member is working and how much they are earning
    2. What type of education each of the family members had when they came to the Promise Grant, and what type of education they obtained while working with the Promise Grant.
    3. If and when a family received certain Promise Grant specific training or services.  
  6. Work was also done with the IRIS Data team in WISARD, to make sure early reports needed for the grant can be generated while the larger MIS data system is being built. 

 


Communication Workgroup Added
The Steering Committee has added a Communications'  Workgroup to the active participatory groups actively working on the grant's behalf.  Kristin Rolling, DVR's Communication's Specialist will facilitate the group and will be joined by agency media contacts, contracted media experts and department liaisons. We look forward to their continued good work as we expand our team.

 


Coordinated Training throughout Project

PROMISE has a new Training Committee to coordinate and enhance efficiencies across trainings and groups throughout the project. The Committee has developed a tool to track training needs across the various target groups and is looking forward to working with key partners to deliver learning opportunities statewide. The group will share training resources and utilize the online and social media resources that the Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute (SVRI) is providing for Wisconsin PROMISE. The committee will meet monthly, starting April 14th. Although many of the training topics were defined in the grant proposal, other needs and opportunities may arise. If you have a training resource you think might be valuable to PROMISE participants or partners, please contact Cayte Anderson at 608-890-4725 or  [email protected].