About Us

2020: ERI responds rapidly to the changing conditions created by the COVID19 Pandemic. This includes staff making the shift to remote services using technology to assure client confidentiality. ERI applies for and receives Paycheck Protection Program funding which stabilizes pay for staff as revenue sources are greatly reduced.

ERI works with partners to use web-based learning management to continue professional development, as well as services for people with disabilities including the Explore Work website. ERI partners with Wisconsin DVR to create an allowable service using Explore Work and training other providers in the state to use this resource.

ERI receives United Way of Dane County funding to assist clients who are struggling due to pandemic limitations. Funds are used to provide cell phones, data plans, and transportation.

ERI celebrates its 30th Anniversary remotely and commissions a painting by Alex Haunty to represent our work and vision of employment for all people with disabilities.

ERI receives a new grant from the University of Wisconsin-Madison - Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center on Quality Employment (VRTAC-QE). This is national training and technical assistance to state Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies.

2021: ERI establishes a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Workgroup to expand our efforts.

ERI creates the Michael Wroblewski fund with a goal of supporting the needs of job seekers that are not covered by other funding sources. This includes clothing and shoes needed for jobs, as well as gas cards and transportation assistance.

ERI partners with Dane County for training on Behavioral, Dementia, and Developmental Disabilities.

ERI is now the sole agency providing services under the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) Project with the Social Security Administration.

2022: ERI moves its main office to the Acewood location. This is a more community-based and accessible location.

ERI received a Main Street Bounceback grant to assist with COVID19 recover efforts.

ERI hosts a summer program for youth in Dane County called Career Frontiers.

ERI partners with George Washington University on new youth efforts called Transition Discoveries.

ERI collaborates with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to create an employment focused for people returning to the community after incarceration.

ERI works with the University of Kansas on website and resource development for Website, Community of Practice, Pre-ETS and Life Hacks Development.

ERI establishes a DEI Internship position to further our efforts and completes an assessment of our current culture with regard to diversity in the workplace. ERI also establishes a DEI statement as follows: At Employment Resources Inc. we celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion in our staff, communities, and people we serve. Our commitment to these values is central to advancing employment, health, and financial security for people with disabilities.
We embrace broad perspectives. We believe this strengthens our ability to create a welcoming, inclusive environment, and an inspired workforce.

ERI resumes an in-person presence at our offices and statewide conferences.

ERI successfully competes for contracts with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to continue to provide professional development in the ADRC, Benefits Specialist field and Competitive Integrated Employment.

2023: ERI is selected to receive a UW Philanthropy grant that will add resources to the Michael fund to assist job seekers with practical resources for employment.
ERI is selected by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to provide Mental Health Forums on addressing diversity and equity in the mental health service system.

ERI establishes additional contracts with Counties to provide employment related services to youth and their families.

2010: ERI became one of ten sites in the country to manage and implement Enhanced Work Incentives Counseling (EWIC) for SSA’s seven-year Benefits Offset National Demonstration (BOND) project. Under the EWIC service, SSA will test a $1 reduction in benefits for every $2 in earnings over substantial gainful activity (SGA) levels, in combination with benefits and employment counseling, with the goal of helping beneficiaries with disabilities return to work.

2011 – 2013: ERI continued to grow and provide work incentives benefits planning and assistive technology services under a variety of programs and fee-for-service arrangements. The Community Benefits Specialist (CBS) and Wisconsin Disability Benefits Network (WDBN) projects were each presented with a “Wisconsin Partner in Service Award” from the Social Security Regional Office for support in helping SSA “promote efficient, quality service to the public who qualify for Social Security program benefits, and promote and increase understanding of Social Security.”

ERI entered into a Partnership Plus agreement with Wisconsin’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) to facilitate more seamless services under the Ticket to Work (TTW) program. ERI’s TTW program became one of the top twenty performing Employment Networks in the nation. ERI continued to build expertise in Distance Learning resulting in formalized partnerships with the Wisconsin Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) program to expand online training courses for the Disability Benefits Specialist (DBS) and Elder Benefits Specialist (EBS) programs.

2014: Wisconsin became one of six sites participating in PROMISE, a national demonstration project focused on improving outcomes for children who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and their families. Wisconsin Promise provides services to youth receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and their families to help them meet their school and work goals in order to better their income and financial stability. This multi-agency collaboration includes the Wisconsin Departments of Workforce Development (DWD), Public Instruction (DPI), Children and Families (DCF), and Health Services (DHS). ERI provides training and technical assistance to work incentive benefits specialists providing services under Wisconsin Promise and provides work incentives benefits counseling services to Promise participants and their families. In addition, ERI partnered with University of Wisconsin-Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute to develop a Promise project brand and marketing materials to help recruit participants and help them enroll in DVR services. Services include career exploration, community work experience, benefits counseling, financial literacy training, social and soft skills training, and family training on employment expectations.

2015: ERI initiates services under the Comprehensive Community Services Program with Dane County. This is a recovery-based program that focuses on self-determination, strengths, independence, and reaching one’s full potential.

ERI hosts training sessions to learn about person-centered supports and services that lead to employment.

2016: ERI is a implementation partner in the Full Lives Initiative with Worklink-TransCen, through the Board for People with Developmental Disabilities

ERI partners with the University of Chicago project to conduct focus groups on effective interventions to prepare youth and their families for changes in social security at age 18 with a focus on fostering employment skills and opportunities.

ERI develops partnerships with Medicaid – Long Term Care for Family Care and IRIS. This includes benefit and employment related supports and services for people with significant long-term care needs.

2017: ERI Board authorizes the purchase of Pre-Driving Assessment equipment, and this new service area is initiated.

ERI partners on additional national projects to include TransCen, a national technical assistance contract – WINTAC with George Washington, UW-Stout and UW-Madison.
ERI is awarded a grant by DVR to develop Customized Employment Services in seven WDAs in Wisconsin.

2018: Explore Work Curriculum and Website is developed as part of the WINTAC contract and provides a platform for Pre-Employment Transition Services for youth.
ERI creates videos related to positive outcomes from the PROMISE youth intervention study.

2019: E3TC (Educate, Empower, and Employ- Targeted Communities) Contract with Southern University starts. This is focused on outreach and engagement with people from under-represented populations.

ERI develops web-based resources, material development and content dissemination efforts for the Program Evaluation and Quality Assurance Technical Assistance Center (PEQATAC) -
peqatac.org to assist State VR agencies in building capacity through professional education and training of VR evaluators.

ERI coordinates web design, event communication and registration and webinar facilitation to enhance research efforts and professional development for the George Washington University Center for Rehabilitation Counseling Research and Education (CRCRE).

ERI partners with Dane County on youth transition efforts. The goal is that youth with significant developmental disabilities achieve employment as they complete public education services.

ERI receives a grant from the Board for People with Developmental Disabilities to advance our efforts in the Partners with Business model for on the job supports.

2000: The ERI benefits counseling service model became recognized as “best practice” by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and was used when developing the federal Benefits Planning, Assistance and Outreach (BPAO) program. ERI provided SSA funded benefits counseling services in 36 Wisconsin counties. BPAO evolved into what is now the SSA Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) program.

2001: DHFS funded ERI to develop a training program for individuals approving employment plans for applicants enrolling into the state’s new Medicaid Buy-in program. This resulted in the Health and Employment Counseling (HEC) program.

2002: The Department of Health and Family Services added Vocational Futures Planning (VFP) as an allowable service for COP Waiver/CIP II participants.

2004: In partnership with DHFS, ERI developed and implemented the current Wisconsin Disability Benefits Network (WDBN) as a formalized network to train benefits specialists and provide outreach and information to other community members regarding benefits and employment issues.

2008: ERI began to learn and adopt the use of technology for providing flexible, on-demand training for new benefits specialists. ERI committed itself to becoming a leader in the use of e-learning as a way to train and build the capacity of benefits specialists and other disability professionals. This led to the development of the Paths to Employment Resource Center (PERC), a virtual training and technical assistance center, funded under a Medicaid Infrastructure Grant in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Wisconsin-Stout.

2008: ERI started an Employment Network, ERI PLUS, under the SSA Ticket to Work Program. ERI PLUS provides employment retention services to SSA beneficiaries, assisting those who have a goal of self-sufficiency and ending their dependency on SSA benefits. ERI partners frequently with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) to help DVR customers retain jobs through assistance with their benefits issues and financial support for work-related expenses.

2009: ERI started the Community Benefits Specialist (CBS) program in partnership with Dane County Human Services. Through this program, ERI assists local people with severe mental illness to apply for Social Security, Medicaid and a variety of other public benefits and services.

1990: ERI was founded to assist Wisconsin citizens, including those with disabilities in attaining full employment.

1991: ERI was funded through a “Corporate Initiative” Grant from the Federal Department of Labor to offer training and technical assistance to supported employment providers and employers interested in hiring people with disabilities using the supported employment approach.

1992: ERI began to recognize that one of the most pervasive barriers to employment for people with disabilities was the fear of losing needed cash benefits and healthcare if they went to work. ERI became committed to helping people with disabilities understand how work would impact their cash benefits, eligibility for health coverage and how to use work incentives. This launched ERI’s leadership in the evolution of disability and work incentives benefits counseling.

1993: ERI piloted a case management approach to providing benefits analysis and advisement for Dane County residents with severe physical disabilities. ERI focused on identifying and addressing benefits issues and other barriers to employment faced by people with disabilities. This led to the development of the Vocational Futures Planning process, a flexible package of employment planning services which combined benefits counseling with other services including barriers/asset assessment, assistive technology assessment and guided job search.

1995: ERI negotiated with the state’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) to purchase benefits counseling services on a Purchase of Service (POS) basis. ERI developed a three-day curriculum to train the first Work Incentives specialists in Wisconsin, using funding from the Department of Workforce Development, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.

1998: As demand grew for benefits counseling services, the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) contracted with ERI to develop a training curriculum for new benefits specialists as part of the federal Social Security Administration’s State Partnership Initiative.

1999: ERI became involved in a five-year research project, Wisconsin Pathways to Independence (WPTI), one of 12 Social Security Administration funded projects included in the State Partnership Initiative (SPI). ERI provided statewide training and technical assistance to contracted sites to providing the Vocational Futures Planning process. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided additional funding.