Creating Effective Employment Solutions for People with Psychiatric Disability (original) (raw)

Employment programs for people with psychiatric disability: the case for change

Australian Journal of Social Issues, 2006

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of disability employment policy in assisting people with psychiatric disability to find, or return to, paid work. We argue that the poor employment outcomes from current programs establish the need for a paradigmatic shift in the form of a state-provided Job Guarantee (JG) for people with psychiatric disability. In the absence of measures to generate suitable jobs, forthcoming changes to the eligibility criteria for Disability Support Pension will create risks rather than opportunities. Under the JG, the Federal Government would maintain a 'buffer stock' of minimum wage, public sector jobs to provide secure paid employment for this highly disadvantaged group. The role of the state in this alternative model is two fold. First, the state must provide the quantum of JG jobs required. Second, the state must ensure the design of jobs is flexible enough to meet the heterogeneous and variable support needs of workers. This will require effective integration of the JG scheme with mental health, rehabilitation and employment support services.

Policy Opportunities for Promoting Employment for People with Psychiatric Disabilities

2016

Employment rates among people with psychiatric disabilities lag far behind rates for the general population. While people with psychiatric disabilities face myriad of barriers to employment, many people want and are able to work successfully. Over the past several years, national and state level policies have increasingly focused on employment of people with disabilities, laying a foundation for enhanced worked opportunities for those with disabilities. In this policy brief, we discuss the services and supports that people with psychiatric disabilities need to work and the barriers to employment that still remain. We review current legislative and policy opportunities for further promoting employment for people with psychiatric disabilities, with an emphasis on opportunities created by enforcement of the ADA’s integration mandate, the Affordable Care Act, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, regulatory changes to Medicaid home and communitybased services and to Section 503 ...

Supported Employment Outcomes for People with Psychiatric Disability

Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 1991

Participation in paid work in competitive industry through placement in supported employment is compared and analyzed for two populations: 212 persons with a primary psychiatric disability and 1,588 persons with a non psychiatric primary disability. Results are organized in two areas: service patterns through an analysis of types of interventions, and outcomes from supported employment services. Results indicate differences in the types and amounts of interventions provided, with the majority of interventions for both populations studi£d provided at the job site. Persons with a psychiatric disability consistently earn higher wages across a vari£ty of service models than do persons in the other group. Differences between the two populations were also found in types ofjobs, job retention, and reasons for separation from employment. Results represent an expansion of the limited data base available to evaluate the design and effectiveness of supported employment services for persons with a psychiatric disability.

The future of supported employment for people with severe mental illness

Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 2008

This paper reviews current research on innovative attempts to improve the dissemination and effectiveness of supported employment. The domains of active investigation include: (1) organization and financing of services, (2) disability policies, (3) program implementation and quality, (4) motivation, (5) job development, (6) illness-related barriers, (7) job supports, (8) career development, and (9) new populations. Work in each of these areas offers the promise of improving services and outcomes in the near future.

Supported employment for individuals who are mentally ill: Program development

Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 1987

Supported employment programs for individuals with psychiatric disability have taken seed across the country and the authors of this paper present concepts gleaned from their personal involvement with the development of such programs. The authors also discuss in detail supported employment program components, needs, and areas of consideration.