Strategies for Integrated Employment and Mental Health Services

Objective: Individual placement and support (IPS) supported employment for people with mental illness is most effective when mental health and employment services are fully integrated within teams in a single agency. Despite this evidence, there are times when separate mental health and employment agencies must collaborate rather than integrate. This article examines how 3 state implementation teams helped separate agencies to partner on IPS supported employment. Method: The authors used qualitative interviews and direct observations to examine successful collaborations in 3 states. We visited IPS programs on multiple occasions, interviewed multiple stakeholders, and evaluated adherence to the principles of IPS. Results: Leaders used 4 strategies to promote successful collaborations: (a) ensuring that employment specialists, and in some cases, vocational rehabilitation counselors, attended mental health treatment team meetings; (b) providing office space for employment staff at the mental health agency; (c) involving supervisors from both agencies in the implementation; and (d) using fidelity reviews to assess the quality of collaboration. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: Practitioners from separate agencies can coordinate services effectively, but successful coordination requires leadership at the state and local levels.