Increasing Job Retention Through the Promoting Retention In Meaningful Employment (PRIME) Project

Catherine (Cayte) Anderson, Ph.D., LPC, CRC serves as a research professor with the Innovative Partnership for the Advancement of Rehabilitation Research & Training (IPARRT) housed within the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER). In this role, she is responsible for overseeing the process evaluation of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development’s Worker Connection initiative in addition to actively contributing to the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Quality Employment (VRTAC-QE), the Wisconsin Career Advancement grant, and specific research studies focused on youth in transition.

Dr. Anderson received her Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has provided leadership on numerous research, demonstration, and systems-change grants for over 25 years. She also recently served as President of the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) Board of Directors from 2020-2022. Dr. Anderson regularly publishes in peer-reviewed professional journals, including open-source venues to promote knowledge translation in the field. Her research interests include understanding and improving employment, career, and financial outcomes for students and adults with disabilities, transition-age youth and families, interagency collaboration between education and vocational rehabilitation, cultural responsiveness with low-income and marginalized disability populations, and use of evidence-based practices within vocational rehabilitation.

Dr. Emily A. Brinck, LPC-IT, CRC, CVE is a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) department serving on the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Quality Employment (VRTAC-QE) and the Wisconsin Career Advancement grant. She received her Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Counselor Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, her Master's in Management from Indiana University, and a Bachelor of Education: Intervention Specialist from Miami University. Dr. Brinck has had the opportunity to work on the Wisconsin Promoting the Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (PROMISE) as well as the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employer Practices (RRTC) grants. She has published articles in the Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, and Rehabilitation Psychology. Her research interest includes interagency collaboration between schools, vocational rehabilitation, and employers; transition services to post-secondary employment and education; and counselor supervision.

Dr. Tansey received his Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is a professor in the Rehabilitation Counselor Education program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Tansey has over 20 years of experience as a rehabilitation counselor, educator, or rehabilitation researcher. He has published over 90 peer-reviewed articles in the areas of applying novel technology in vocational rehabilitation and rehabilitation counselor education, evidence-based practices in vocational rehabilitation, self-regulation, and self-determination. Dr. Tansey has extensive experience in adapting technology and utilizing social media for knowledge translation and dissemination activities. Dr. Tansey is the principal investigator on the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Quality Employment, a project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. He is currently the principal investigator, co-principal investigator, or co-investigator on several other federally-funded research or national technical assistance center grants from the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Social Security Administration and the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research). These current projects seek to ascertain evidence-based practices in the vocational rehabilitation of youth with disabilities, identify employer practices in the recruitment, hiring, retention, and promotion of persons with disabilities, and provide technical assistance to state vocational rehabilitation toward increasing competitive, integrated employment of persons with disabilities living in areas of extreme poverty. Dr. Tansey has developed doctoral-level training focused on online and hybrid pedagogy as well as established numerous online, hybrid, and technology-enhanced courses. He serves as the co-editor of the Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin and on the editorial boards for numerous other journals.