Specific Employment Research Articles

Enhancing employment services for people with severe mental illness: the challenge of the Australian service environment

Objectives: Comparatively few people with severe mental illness are employed despite evidence that many people within this group wish to obtain, can obtain and sustain employment, and that employment can contribute to recovery. This investigation aimed to: (i) describe the current policy and service environment within which people with severe mental illness receive employment services; (ii) identify evidence-based practices that improve employment outcomes for people with severe mental illness; (iii) determine the extent to which the current Australian policy environment is consistent with the implementation of evidence-based employment services for people with severe mental illness; and (iv) identify methods and priorities for enhancing employment services for Australians with severe mental illness through implementation of evidence-based practices. Method: Current Australian practices were identified, having reference to policy and legal documents, funding body requirements and anecdotal reports. Evidence-based employment services for people with severe mental illness were identified through examination of published reviews and the results of recent controlled trials. Results: Current policy settings support the provision of employment services for people with severe mental illness separate from clinical services. Recent studies have identified integration of clinical and employment services as a major factor in the effectiveness of employment services. This is usually achieved through co-location of employment and mental health services. Conclusions: Optimal evidence-based employment services are needed by Australians with severe mental illness. Providing optimal services is a challenge in the current policy environment. Service integration may be achieved through enhanced intersectoral links between employment and mental health service providers as well as by co-locating employment specialists within a mental health care setting.

What Predicts Supported Employment Program Outcomes?

Numerous state systems and local mental health and vocational rehabilitation programs are currently attempting to implement supported employment. This cross-sectional survey of 26 mental health agencies, partnering with federal-state vocational rehabilitation, identified differences in access to supported employment services and rates of competitive employment (efficiency) as well as predictors of access and efficiency. Access varied from 2 to 100% and was related to the percentage of supported employment specialists per consumers with serious mental illness served by the mental health agency (funding). Efficiency varied from 7 to 75% and was related to implementation of the critical components of evidence-based supported employment and to the local unemployment rate. To help mental health clients achieve their employment goals, state systems and local programs should address consolidation of resources in supported employment and the quality of implementation of supported employment.

Building Bridges???and Strengthening Nursing

In light of current nursing employment trends, nurses and employment specialists in one rural northern Iowa healthcare organization are collaborating to retain and recruit nurses. The purpose of this article is to describe how these individuals worked toward a comprehensive, cohesive approach to the development, implementation, and evaluation of learning opportunities that support these efforts. Staff development educators played key roles in developing program purposes, descriptions, curriculum, and outcome measures.

The Job Developer's Presence in the Job Interview: Is It Helpful or Harmful to Persons with Psychiatric Disabilities Seeking Employment?

This study examines the effect of having an employment specialist join supported employment participants at job interviews. The sample consists of 45 individuals with psychiatric disabilities who sought job placement services during a 28-month period between December 1991 and March 1994. Seventy-nine percent of the job offers occurred when the job developer was present in the interview as compared to only 21% when the job applicants went alone. The finding challenges "current" conventional wisdom about having rehabilitation staff at the worksite. Rehabilitation professionals need to take a fresh look at program policies and practices regarding on-site services to SE participants.

Les conditions d’efficacité des approches quantitatives dans l’action en santé mentale au travail

Les conditions d’efficacité des approches quantitatives dans l’action en santé mentale au travail

The cost of high-fidelity supported employment programs for people with severe mental illness.

This study determined the costs of evidence-based supported employment programs in real-world settings. A convenience sample of 12 supported employment programs known to follow closely the principles of evidence-based supported employment was asked to provide detailed information on program costs, use, and staffing. Program fidelity was assessed by using the Supported Employment Fidelity Scale. Cost and utilization data were analyzed in a comparable manner to yield direct and total costs per client served, per full-year-equivalent client, and per employment specialist. Usable data were obtained from seven programs in rural and urban locations in seven states: Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont. All programs received high fidelity ratings, ranging from 70 to the maximum value of 75. Annual direct costs per client served varied from dollars 860 in New Hampshire to dollars 2723 in Oregon, and direct costs per full-year-equivalent client varied from dollars 1423 in Massachusetts to dollars 6793 in Indiana. Direct costs per employment specialist did not show as much variation, ranging from dollars 37339 in Rhode Island to dollars 49603 in Massachusetts, with a mean of dollars 44082. Differences in cost per client arose in part from differences in rules for determining who is or is not considered to be on a program's caseload. By assuming a typical caseload of about 18 clients, it was estimated that the cost per full-year-equivalent client averaged dollars 2449 per year, ranging from dollars 2074 to dollars 2756. The results point to the need for greater uniformity in caseload measurement and help specify the costs of high-fidelity supported employment programs in real-world settings.

Cognitive and symptom predictors of work outcomes for clients with schizophrenia in supported employment.

This study examined the relationships of measures of cognitive functioning and psychiatric symptoms with work outcomes and use of vocational services for clients with schizophrenia in a supported employment program. Thirty clients who were newly enrolled in a supported employment program were evaluated with cognitive and symptom measures at program entry and two years later. The clients' amounts of competitive work, wages earned, on-job support, and contact with employment specialists during the two-year follow-up period were documented. Predictors of clients' work outcomes included previous work history, amount of government entitlement income received, severity of negative symptoms, involvement in sheltered work activity at baseline, and level of cognitive functioning, including scores on measures of executive functioning and verbal learning and memory. The amounts of on-job support and contact with employment specialists were predicted by the cognitive domains of executive functioning, verbal learning, attention, and psychomotor speed as well as by the severity of psychotic symptoms. Clients with schizophrenia who have higher levels of cognitive impairment may require greater amounts of vocational support than those with lower levels of impairment. A variety of rehabilitation strategies may be required to improve vocational outcomes and reduce the amount of supported employment services needed by clients with schizophrenia.

Self-Directed Employment: A Handbook for Transition Teachers and Employment Specialists

Self-Directed Employment: A Handbook for Transition Teachers and Employment Specialists

The Individual Placement and Support Model vs. the Menu Approach to Supported Employment

Two models of provision of employment services to a caseload of severely and persistently mentally ill are explored: the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model and the Menu Approach. The priority of the IPS model is to return interested clients to community-based, competitive, integrated employment with time-unlimited follow-along support. However, the IPS model offers little to clients unwilling or unable to work competitively. The priority of the Menu Approach is to assertively offer supported employment services to the agency's entire caseload, interested or not, and to provide the many benefits of a work experience to as many clients as possible. However, evidence points to this model reducing the likelihood of rapid direct entry into the competitive workplace. A case history illustrates the occupational therapist's role as an employment specialist offering both agency-based and community-based support services in an assertive community treatment program.

Ethnographic findings from the Washington, D.C., Vocational Services Study.

Based on a 20-month period of participant observations and interviews of persons receiving services, employment specialists and clinicians, this ethnographic substudy identified and documented dilemmas encountered during implementation of an assertive, manualized supported employment program, Individual Placement and Support (IPS), situated in a Washington, D.C., community mental health organization that previously focused on clinical interventions but lacked vocational services. Those receiving services, primarily African Americans, had extensive histories of homelessness and dual diagnosis, and minimal work experiences. Real-world issues centered on conflicting expectations and priorities, diverse perceptions of the role of work, and difficulties in integrating vocational rehabilitation with clinical treatment.

A center-based approach to a transplant employment program

The return to work after transplantation has been actively discussed in the transplant community for years. However, despite the desire for transplant practitioners to have recipients return to being healthy, contributing members of society as well as return to work, practitioners often passively support the sick role. We discovered that patients who are returning to work after transplantation may have been out of the work force for several years, and require assistance that we as healthcare providers were unable or untrained to provide. An employment specialist was added to the transplant staff and became a vital part of our attempts to create a proactive employment atmosphere and enhance our patients' quality of life. Adding an advocate for employment in our center has also facilitated the shift in our thinking and approach to care from the sick role to one of rehabilitation and from reactive to proactive. This change in attitude has assisted in empowering our recipients to feel as if they can truly resume a normal life.

Partnership with the Business Community: The Mental Health Employer Consortium

The Maine Medical Center Department of Vocational Services has developed a process for collaboration with the business community that has resulted in improved vocational outcomes for consumers and improved employer attitudes and flexibility. The process involves recruiting and sustaining an active group of leading employers who meet together as a Mental Health Employer Consortium (MHEC), to learn about mental illness, discuss problem situations and concerns and brainstorm accommodations. This article outlines the process of developing and working with a MHEC and presents preliminary employment outcomes for consumers using this approach. Findings of a qualitative follow-along study are presented, indicating how partnership with the MHEC enhances and supports the work of employment specialists and other vocational staff. Finally, results of interviews are presented, documenting the impact of the MHEC in improving employer attitudes and practices.

Statewide Employment Specialists: An Innovative Approach to Developing Relationships with Employers of People who are Visually Impaired

Editor's Note: With the addition of a statewide employment specialist to mentor vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors and forge relationships with businesses, the Rehabilitation Services for the Blind doubled the number of its visually impaired consumers who found jobs each year. The following interview—between Mark Laird (ML), statewide employment specialist, Missouri Rehabilitation Services for the Blind, and Gil Johnson (GJ), director, American Foundation for the Blind West, on May 26, 1998— describes this innovative model for service delivery. John Maxson, training director, Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision, Mississippi State University, edited the transcript of the interview.

Transition from School to Competitive Employment

In this article, two young women with severe mental retardation obtained competitive employment and were supported through the use of an employment specialist and coworkers. Although neither woman had a history of work in paid employment, both were at a transition stage from public school and needed unique specialized assistance to procure and maintain employment. There are thousands of other women with severe mental disabilities who could benefit from the supports that were provided to these two individuals in the workplace. This article provides the process and design of such supports.

The impact of school‐based training on classroom assistants in primary schools

This paper reports on an analysis of the impact of a course of school‐based training for primary‐school classroom assistants in ten local education authorities, under the aegis of the Department for Education and Employment Specialist Teacher Assistant programme. Students (n — 155) who successfully completed the course returned a questionnaire in which they provided their assessment of the impact of the course on their personal and professional development, and on their degree of participation in the teaching and learning process in school. It was found that students believed the course had had a significant positive impact on their knowledge and understanding of many aspects of teaching and learning, and on their confidence, adaptability and skills in the classroom. The extent of this impact was largely unrelated to their length of experience in schools. By contrast, students reported that there had been less change in the involvement that teachers provided for them in the teaching and learning process. However, in general, increases in involvement were greatest in those schools in which initial levels of participation had been low. These findings are discussed in the context of a major growth in recent years in the number of primary‐school classroom assistants. We argue that a training programme aimed solely at classroom assistants themselves is unlikely to have a major impact on their roles in the classroom, given the relatively powerless status of this group. On the other hand, more thoroughgoing programmes aimed at changing the professional boundaries between teachers and assistants may meet significant resistance from the teaching profession.

Enhancing your recruiting and staffing efforts with technical recruiter associations

Employment Relations TodayVolume 25, Issue 1 p. 23-30 New Ideas Enhancing your recruiting and staffing efforts with technical recruiter associations Nancy A. Hopkins, Nancy A. Hopkins is a senior data-processing employment specialist at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City. She is responsible for developing and implementing annual recruitment and selection strategies for all data-processing professionals. She is MSKCC's advertising coordinator and also serves on several project teams working on the automation of MSKCC's Employment Department, Including an automated applicant tracking system, document imaging, and document- management strategies. She is a founding member of the New York Technical Recruiters Association (NYTRA) and served as the association's president for five yearsSearch for more papers by this authorCharles Conlin, Charles Conlin is a senior recruiter for MTA Metro-North Railroad (an agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority) in New York City. He is responsible for staffing key management and technical positions in information systems. Through his recruiting efforts, he has helped facilitate It's integration of Its mainframe environment with a newer P.C based technology. He also plays a key role in staffing management, professional, and union positions within other departments of the railroad. Previously, he worked as an HR generalist for two major financial institutions. He Is co-president of NYTRA and is a member of the Society for Human Resources Management, the International Association of Career Management Professionals, and The Five O'clock Club, a job-search strategy group.Search for more papers by this author Nancy A. Hopkins, Nancy A. Hopkins is a senior data-processing employment specialist at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City. She is responsible for developing and implementing annual recruitment and selection strategies for all data-processing professionals. She is MSKCC's advertising coordinator and also serves on several project teams working on the automation of MSKCC's Employment Department, Including an automated applicant tracking system, document imaging, and document- management strategies. She is a founding member of the New York Technical Recruiters Association (NYTRA) and served as the association's president for five yearsSearch for more papers by this authorCharles Conlin, Charles Conlin is a senior recruiter for MTA Metro-North Railroad (an agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority) in New York City. He is responsible for staffing key management and technical positions in information systems. Through his recruiting efforts, he has helped facilitate It's integration of Its mainframe environment with a newer P.C based technology. He also plays a key role in staffing management, professional, and union positions within other departments of the railroad. Previously, he worked as an HR generalist for two major financial institutions. He Is co-president of NYTRA and is a member of the Society for Human Resources Management, the International Association of Career Management Professionals, and The Five O'clock Club, a job-search strategy group.Search for more papers by this author First published: 08 February 2007 https://doi.org/10.1002/ert.3910250104 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume25, Issue1Spring 1998Pages 23-30 RelatedInformation

An Analysis of the Activities of Employment Specialists in a Natural Support Approach to Supported Employment

The use of natural supports in supported employment service delivery has emerged as a widespread practice of supported employment providers. Though several strategies for using natural supports have evolved, detailed descriptions of the roles of the employment specialist, as well as nontraditional support resources, such as family members, friends, and co-workers, are lacking. The present investigation focused on the activities of one program's initial efforts to document the activities of employment specialists as well as nontraditional support providers in a supported employment setting emphasizing natural supports.

Employer Attitudes and Satisfaction with Supported Employment

The attitudes of employers toward workers with severe mental and physical disabilities and supported employment programs were examined through structured interviews with 47 employers who had hired or supervised workers participating in supported employment programs in Tennessee. Results indicated that employers generally hold favorable attitudes regarding the employment potential of workers with disabilities and the quality of services provided through supported employment programs. The physical presence of employment specialists at the job site was viewed by employers as a strength of the supported employment program. However, some employers indicated that few opportunities exist for career advancement within their businesses for the supported employment participants. Finally, employers identified a number of strategies that could be used to market supported employment services to other businesses in their local communities.

The rehabilitation counselor–employment specialist relationship: a collaborative approach

The rehabilitation counselor–employment specialist relationship: a collaborative approach

Rocket science 101: what supported employment specialists need to know about systematic instruction

As the number of people with severe disabilities receiving supported employment services increases, so do the 'calls' for improving services through the use of natural supports, co-worker supports, expanding employer capacity, consumer-driven services, self-instruction and self-management. While each of these strategies impacts service delivery, they also have direct implications for preparing individuals to be supported employment specialists. This article describes the skills and competencies needed by supported employment specialists in the area of job training and support which can be divided into two major roles: (1) training, which includes teaching job skills using systematic instruction; and (2) consultant, which includes teaching others how to provide workplace supports for both job-related and social interaction skills. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.