University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Research Study #6: Development of a Model Guiding Research for Promoting Work and Well-Being for Transitioning Foster Care Youth with Disabilities: An Exploration and Discovery Study
Led by Dr. David Strauser at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Research Team:Dr. Michele Schutz, Dr. Judy Havlicek, Dr. Paul Wehman
Agency Partner:Cunningham Children's Home and Illinois State Board of Education
David R. Strauser, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Health and Kinesiology
strauser@illinois.edustrauser@illinois.edu
David R. Strauser, Ph.D. received his Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1995. He received the National Council on Rehabilitation Education New Career Award (1997), the James Garrett Distinguished Career Research Award (2011) from the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association, and the Researcher of the Year Award (2011) from the National Council on Rehabilitation Education. He received multiple research awards from the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association and National Rehabilitation Association. In 2014, Dr. Strauser received the George N. Wright Varsity Award given to an outstanding Alumni of the Rehabilitation Psychology Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2019, he received the King McCristal Distinguished Research Award from the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses is on the career and vocational development of young adults, including young adults with cancer. Dr. Strauser is the Editor in Chief of Rehabilitation Research, Policy and Education, Career Development, Employment, and Disability in Rehabilitation: From Theory to Practice and is co-editor of Assessment in Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling. He has authored over 130 journal articles and book chapters. He is consistently recognized as an international leader regarding the career and vocational development of individuals with disabilities and chronic health conditions. You can learn more about his projects and research at the Illinois Institute for Rehabilitation and Employment Research.
Michele Schutz, Ph.D., Assistant Professor,
Special Education, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Michele Schutz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She earned her Ph.D. in Special Education from Vanderbilt University. She previously taught high school students with disabilities and worked as a transition specialist connecting students to postsecondary opportunities. Dr. Schutz’s work addresses three interconnected areas of inquiry: (1) factors affecting the delivery and impact of career development and transition services for students with disabilities; (2) interdisciplinary roles and cross-systems collaborations that facilitate inclusive career development and competitive integrated employment; and (3) the leveraging of local assets within rural school communities toward supporting best practices in transition. Through her work, she seeks to (a) center the lived experiences and intersectional identities of disabled individuals, particularly those with low-incidence disabilities and extensive support needs, and (b) collaborate with people with disabilities and those who support them within publicly engaged scholarship.