IPS Award Nominations

The Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Wisconsin team is seeking award nominations for the 2025 IPS Annual Meeting.

The award recipients will be announced at 9:45 a.m. October 8 at Summit Place in West Allis. Nominators and awardees must be present or send a proxy if unable to attend in person.

IPS Employer Award
For an outstanding employer working with an IPS site committed to collaboration with IPS, inclusion, and recovery in the workplace.

BEES (Be an Expert Employment Specialist) Award
For an outstanding IPS employment specialist committed to the principles of IPS, engaging with job seekers, collaborating with other professionals, and advocating for employment and education goals.

IPS Collaboration Award
For collaboration among vocational agencies, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), and county treatment teams demonstrating commitment to team integration, zero exclusion, and supporting the employment and education goals of shared job seekers.

Trailblazer Award
For a vocational or behavioral health agency committed to making a significant change or transformation that led to improving the quality of services supporting the education and employment goals of job seekers.

IPS Champion Award
For an individual committed to the principles of IPS and demonstrating focus on quality improvement and implementation of IPS. This award may go to anyone involved in IPS, regardless of role.

Complete this form to nominate a person, agency, or collaboration for an award. Nominations are due by August 26, 2025.

If you have questions or concerns about the awards or the nomination process, contact the IPS Wisconsin team at dhsdctsips@dhs.wisconsin.gov.

Provide information about the person making the nomination below.

First and last name *This question is required.

Agency name

Email address *This question is required. This question requires a valid email address.

Phone number *This question is required.

Provide information on the person or agency(s) being nominated.

First and last name(s)

Agency name(s)

Email address(s) *This question is required.

Phone number(s) *This question is required.

Select the award title for this nomination. *This question is required.

Share at least two examples how the nominee embodies the spirit of IPS when engaging with job seekers. Examples may include spending most of their workday in the community or developing relationships with employers and treatment teams (150 word limit).

Share at least two examples how the nominee shows commitment to the IPS practice principles (150 word limit).

Share a time when the nominee went above and beyond advocating for the employment and education goals of job seekers with other professionals or employers. Examples could include how many people they helped obtain work or education in the last year or creatively addressing individual job seeker needs for support (150 word limit).

Share at least two examples how the nominee embodies the spirit of IPS when hiring an IPS job seeker(s) in competitive employment. The nominee must be an employer involved with IPS. Good examples may include describing actions when employing an IPS program participant, participating in an IPS Steering Committee, and/or supporting the search or job development process (150 word limit).

Share at least two examples how the nominee shows commitment to the IPS practice principles and collaboration. (150 word limit).

Share a time when the nominee went above and beyond supporting inclusion and recovery in the workplace (150 word limit).

Share at least two examples how the nominees embody the spirit of IPS by ensuring exemplary collaboration between the vocational agency, county behavioral health treatment team, and DVR. Examples could include the DVR counselor regularly attends behavioral health treatment team meetings, a diverse group of providers collaborate on both the recovery plan and the plan for employment, and/or most people receiving IPS services are also DVR clients (150 word limit).

Share at least two examples how the nominees show commitment to the practice principles regarding team integration and zero exclusion (150 word limit).

Share a time when the nominees went above and beyond in their collaboration efforts to support the employment and education goals of shared job seekers (150 word limit).

Share at least two examples how the nominee made a significant agency transformation or change by embodying the spirit of IPS. Some examples could include significantly increasing fidelity, significantly growing their IPS team, using creative funding sources, or serving more treatment teams (150 word limit).

Share at least two examples how the nominee shows commitment to the practice principles such as new or innovative support from the executive team to increase fidelity items (150 word limit).

Share a time when the nominee went above and beyond to support the employment and education goals of job seekers (150 word limit).

Share at least two examples how the nominee embodies the spirit IPS when focusing on quality improvement. Some examples could include how the champion advocated for new programs or populations, devoted significant time to improving relationships with new or existing teams, and or exploring ways to support employment specialists (150 word limit).

Share at least two examples how the nominee shows commitment to the practice principles when championing or sustaining implementation efforts (150 word limit).

Share a time when the nominee went above and beyond in their work with IPS (150 word limit).