- In treatment plans and 180-day reviews, case managers and therapists will be required to assess and review each consumer’s financial goals and the consumer’s interests and goals in seeking employment. Progress towards employment will be also reported.
- Consumer satisfaction surveys must include specific questions about consumers’ interests in and goals for employment as well as consumers’ satisfaction with the employment supports they were offered and/or used.
21
- NSMHA will put together a consumer employment focus group which will meet semi-annually in order to 1) to identify and evaluate practices, 2) identify practices and other impediments that discourage or prevent consumers from seeking employment, and 3) find new partners in the community who also want to increase employment opportunities for consumers.
By 10/2010
12. To the extent possible, keep NSMHA and its providers up to date on trends and developments in local employment services (e,g, WorkSource, DVR) and planning (e.g., Workforce Development Councils, etc.). To accomplish this, NSMHA will:
- increase its awareness of the planning activities of the 2 Workforce Development Councils to the extent possible given NSMHA staff availability. NSMHA should ask to receive regular notices and reports from the Councils and participate in hearings or other public meetings when issues arise that will effect NSMHA’s consumers.
CONCLUSION
The rate of employment amongst consumers in NSMHA’s region – as in the rest of Washington – is half the rate for the nation as a whole. This is due in part to the fact that employment competes with other needs for the attention of clinicians and consumers. Employment has not been seen as important as counseling, medication, housing and other traditional treatment activities. Yet, researchers and advocates are beginning to see that employment is more than just a sign of recovery. They are beginning to believe that employment is a means by which many – perhaps most – people will recover from the effects of mental illness.
Employment must be an option for more than just 10% or 14% of consumers. But for that to become a reality, a number of things will have to happen. NSMHA and its providers will have to find ways to offer more
employment services and offer the most effective services possible. At a time of very tight budgets, this will be a challenge requiring imagination and rethinking how we deliver services. In this plan, 12 recommendations and 29 action steps are outlined which, if enacted, would significantly increase the availability of employment opportunities.
Consumers, clinicians and advocates will have to feel reassured that work will not leave consumers unsafe and insecure due to a loss of benefits. In all parts of the mental health system employment will have to be
recognized as important and as potential route to recovery. Employment must become a frequent and constant topic of conversation between clinicians and consumers, between agency management and staff and between providers and NSMHA.
The goal of 30% employment in 2014 is possible. There are some significant challenges to achieving this at the moment but there are a number of things we can do immediately that don’t require an improved economy. We should start with those.
23 REFERENCES
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26. Snohomish Workforce Development Council. Promoting a Globally Competitive Workforce for Snohomish County: Two Year Strategic Plan. July 1, 2007
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