Employment

Full Disclosure: When Mental Health Professionals Reveal Their Mental Illness at Work

Results from a survey conducted by Temple University Collaborative associates suggest that mental health staff who have mental health issues and work as therapists, counselors, case managers, etc. (i.e., non-peer-specialist roles) report positive and supportive responses from their colleagues following disclosure. However, many also acknowledged their own fears of and/or experiences with workplace discrimination and a ‘social distancing’ of colleagues following disclosure or after requests for workplace accommodations. Take a look at this publication to review the survey results and see what policy, program, and practice initiatives you can implement to build even more welcoming work environments within our mental health community for all.

 

Promoting Supportive Academic Environments for Faculty with Mental Illnesses: Resource Guide and Suggestions for Practice

This document provides both a review of current research into the experiences of academic faculty with mental illnesses and a set of recommendations for academic administrators and colleagues to promote a more welcoming work environment in higher education.
This guide focuses on ways to make college and university campuses more accessible for faculty with mental illnesses. It provides concrete suggestions for creating a “culture of access” by offering effective strategies for promoting inclusive language, managing accommodations, and revising policies around recruitment, hiring, and leaves of absence. The recommendations in this guide are informed by a survey that gathered information from more than 300 self-identified faculty with mental-health histories. Completed by Margaret Price (The Ohio State University), Stephanie L. Kerschbaum (University of Delaware), Mark Salzer (Temple University) and Amber O’Shea (Temple University), this survey is the first of its kind and joins other key research projects sponsored by the Temple University Collaborative. The guide, authored by Price and Kerschbaum, can serve as a training manual on its own, or can be used as a basis for interactive workshops.

 

Welcoming Work Environments

This document focuses on strategies for creating more welcoming work environments within mental health agencies for staff members with mental health conditions. It provides readers – those who have been diagnosed with a mental health issue, including agency CEOs, board members, supervisors, managers, and anyone else that might derive benefit from our suggestions— with a set of ideas and strategies that can be implemented to better support agency colleagues by creating and maintaining a positive, supportive, and welcoming work environment that enhances work life for all employees.

 

 

A Practical Guide for People with Mental Health Conditions Who Want to Work

Although a staggering number of individuals with mental health conditions do not work, competitive employment remains a vibrant goal for most, and the truth is that most people with mental health conditions are able to work successfully if they receive the supports they need. The Temple University Collaborative is proud to present “A Practical Guide for People with Mental Health Conditions Who Want to Work,” designed for people with mental health conditions who want to return to successful careers. In fifteen brief and beautifully illustrated chapters, the Guide offers vital information on the importance of work, the availability of rehabilitation programs, the ins and outs of the Social Security Administration’s work incentives, the challenges of starting a new job and grappling with disclosure, strategies for long-term success at work, encouragement, and more. Designed for those with mental health conditions to use on their own or as part of a return-to-work group in community mental health centers, psychiatric rehabilitation programs, or peer-run agencies, the Guide focuses on helping people to achieve economic self-sufficiency.

 

Facilitator’s Manual: A Practical Guide for People with Mental Health Conditions Who Want to Work

The “Facilitator’s Manual” is designed to be used in conjunction with the Practical Guide to Employment to help counselor’s in community mental health centers, consumer self-help programs or psychiatric rehabilitation services (among other settings) who want to develop structured ways to use the Guide with groups of people with a mental health condition who are considering work. The manual provides an overview of the demands of operating a ‘work-focused group’ and then provides a chapter-by-chapter set of exercises, suggestions, discussion questions and additional sources of information which group leaders will find helpful in structuring group activities around each of the guide’s important topics.

The Roles of Peer Specialists in Promoting Competitive Employment

The roles that peer specialists can play in promoting competitive employment with the people they serve are delineated in this ‘Policy Guidance’ from the Pennsylvania Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (P/OMHSAS) to county mental health offices and community-based programs. Because Pennsylvania’s peer specialist programs are Medicaid-funded, the guidance focuses on what types of employment-related services are and are not reimbursable under existing Medicaid guidelines, as well as approaches to documentation that can ensure the delivery of appropriate services and supports in the vocational arena. The Policy Guidance can serve as a useful tool in other Medicaid-funded state settings.

 

Facilitating Circles of Support for People with Mental Illnesses in Employment Settings

This manual is designed as a training tool to assist staff in implementing the use of Circles of Support approaches in Supported Employment settings for people with psychiatric disabilities. Developed with support from the Temple University Collaborative by the University of Dentistry of New Jersey, the manual provides step-by-step Circle of Support training.

 

The Past and Future Career Patterns of People with Serious Mental Illness

This qualitative study, based on interviews with 59 individuals with serious psychiatric disabilities, provides surprising new information on the career patterns of consumers in the years both preceding their contact with mental health rehabilitation providers and following their engagement in community mental health centers, psychiatric rehabilitation programs, and vocational rehabilitation services.

 

 

 

Mainstream Career Training: Accessing Community Resources for People with Psychiatric Disabilities

This qualitative study, based on interviews with MH, VR and Workforce Development providers in urban, suburban, and rural settings, provides an overview of the abundance of non-mental health job training and placement programs serving the general public and the policy and program difficulties faced by people with psychiatric disabilities in accessing these mainstream public resources for work.

 

 

Employment Programming: Addressing Prevailing Barriers to Competitive Work

This policy brief – developed for the Center for Behavioral Health Services and Criminal Justice Research – provides an overview of current research into effective strategies for assisting people with psychiatric disabilities who have also had contact with the criminal justice system to return to competitive employment.

 

 

 

The Careers of the Direct Support Workforce in the MH, DD, and SA Service Delivery Systems

Focusing on the entry-level workforce in mental health systems, this report provides a portrait of the demographic characteristics, job roles and responsibilities, compensations, tenure and job satisfaction of the behavioral health frontline workforce, with recommendations that address training opportunities and varied career development challenges.