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

Building Your ProgramWhat Is Supported Employment?People with serious mental illnesses havemany strengths, talents, and abilities thatare often overlooked, including the abilityand motivation to work. Research hasshown the following:• About 70 percent of adults with seriousmental illnesses desire work (Mueseret al., 2001; Rogers et al., 2001).• Consumers and families consistentlyidentify finding and keeping jobs as atop priority.• Approximately 60 percent of consumerscan be successful at working when usingSE services (Bond et al., 2001).Supported Employment (SE) is anapproach to vocational rehabilitationfor people with serious mental illnessesthat emphasizes helping them obtaincompetitive work in the communityand providing the supports necessaryto ensure their success in the workplace.SE programs help consumers find jobsthat pay competitive wages in integratedsettings (i.e., with other people whodon’t necessarily have disabilities)in the community.The overriding philosophy of SE is thebelief that every person with a seriousmental illness is capable of workingcompetitively in the community if theright kind of job and work environmentcan be found. Rather than trying tosculpt consumers into becoming “perfectworkers” through extensive prevocationalassessment and training, consumers areoffered help finding and keeping jobs thatcapitalize on their personal strengths andmotivation. Thus, the primary goal of SEis not to change consumers, but to finda natural “fit” between consumers’strengths and experiences and jobsin the community.Building Your Program 3 What Is Supported Employment