Individual Placement and Support Employment Program

Job support varies based upon each worker’s preferences and needs. Generally, employment specialists are encouraged to provide intensive supports, including in-person contact, on a weekly basis for at least the first month of employment. Examples of supports are wake-up phone calls, meetings with employers to obtain extra feedback, help learning how to take the bus to work, family meetings to talk about the job, meetings with the worker to talk about how the job is going, on-the-job coaching to learn new duties, etc. Over time, most clients want and require fewer supports, and eventually transition off the IPS caseload. On average clients remain in the IPS program for about a year.

Competitive jobs are those that any person can apply for regardless of disability status. Workers earn minimum wage or higher (or their wages are commensurate with co-workers who have similar training and experience). Seasonal jobs may be considered competitive, but jobs that are designed to be short term as a way to ease someone back into the working world are not competitive. Likewise, jobs that have limited duration because they are designed to be assessments or to teach good work skills are not competitive. The number of hours worked each week does not affect whether a job is competitive, for example, a job working two hours a week could be competitive. Peer specialist positions are competitive because only a person with a lived experience of mental illness is qualified for those positions. Self-employment is considered to be competitive employment

Burrell partners with vocational rehabilitation services who pay for the fees for services and any costs associated with obtaining competitive employment within the community.