Supported Employment: Building Your Program - SAMHSA Store ...

Develop discharge criteriaWhen you develop your SE discharge criteria,integrate the principles from the SE model. Someconsumers struggle with symptoms that persist overtime, so their optimal treatment and rehabilitationrequire a long-term commitment. For this reason,despite their vocational success, consumers whoreceive SE services are never terminated unlessthey directly request it. In your SE dischargepolicies and procedures specify that follow-alongsupports should be provided to consumers on atime-unlimited basis.Establish staffing criteriaYour SE policies and procedures should also specifythe staffing criteria for your program. Generally, SEteams should plan on having an employmentspecialist-to-consumer ratio of no more than 25consumers per employment specialist.Once your program is fully operational, continueto monitor the staff-to-consumer ratio. If youexceed the maximum number of consumers,work effectiveness will break down andemployment specialists will react to crises(or the imminent threat of crises) rather than helpconsumers take proactive steps towards achievingtheir vocational goals.Create useful job descriptionsInclude clear and useful job descriptions withinthe staffing criteria of your SE policies. For jobapplicants, a good position description clarifieswhether a particular position matches their skillsand expectations. Develop task-specific positiondescriptions, outline the main task categories, anddetail specific duties.Clear job descriptions allow SE leaders to effectivelysupervise new employees and also allow employeesto focus on the basic elements of their jobs.To figure your program capacity:Total number of employment specialists= 2 FTEMaximum number of consumers per practitioner = 25:12 FTEX 25 consumers per employment specialists50 maximum program capacityYou may consider decreasing this ratio in the firstyear of implementation. Make sure your staff-toconsumerratio is small enough to ensure that allemployment specialists learn how to practice highfidelitySE. No matter how well a team is organizedor how competent employment specialists may be,the team will be unable to achieve high-fidelitypractice if its caseload is too large during thefirst year.Discuss program organization andcommunicationSE policies and procedures should include criteriafor how the SE program is organized and howemployment specialists relate to one another. To beeffective, employment specialists must be able towork both independently and as team members.As members of the SE team, employmentspecialists should communicate regularly andprovide cross-coverage for consumers.Employment specialists should also attend weeklySE group supervisory meetings. These meetingsgive employment specialists the opportunity todiscuss and problem-solve consumer cases.Tips for Agency Administrators and SE Leaders 26 Building Your Program