Transcript Collaboration in Action: One-Stops and Mental Health Agencies”

Presented by:
Larry Abramson, Director of Vocational Services at
St. Luke’s House Inc.
And
Sheila Cuomo, DPN for Montgomery/Prince
George’s County
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Background on Maryland’s work with Mental
Health Agencies and job seekers with Mental
Illness
St. Luke’s House originally provided mental
health expertise and training to one-stop
partners and staff members to better serve
jobseekers with mental health needs
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Began with assigning a mental Health Expert from St.
Luke’s house co-located at Montgomery Works OneStop
◦ Mental Health Expert assigned case load of 10 job seekers
◦ Collaborated with partners particularly training programs:
Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to work with shared job
seekers
◦ Referrals were made from partners within One-Stop to
mental health expert (i.e. Veterans, Intensive Services, Exoffender programs) to assess job seekers needs
◦ If job seeker was in need of mental health services mental
health expert provided mental health resources to that
individual or staff members serving them
◦ Conducted Intakes for St. Luke’s House on-site at the OneStop
Mental Health expert provided:
◦ Training to core staff and partners on how to work
with job seekers with mental health challenges
◦ Training on the signs and symptoms of mental health
issues job seekers may present to One-Stop staff and
partners
 “Important: This was not an attempt to teach partners
how to diagnose mental health disorders”
 Information on available resources in the county for job
seekers who experience mental health issues
Recruited Mental Health Expert to become the
Navigator:
◦ Addressing the needs of Intensive Service job
seekers with mental health issues
◦ Continuing to provide all-staff training to other
partners and core staff on how to work with job
seekers
◦ Meeting with Intensive Service staff 1x per month to
conduct case consultation
◦ Conduct mental health training to other One-Stop
Career Centers outside of home One-Stop
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Continued trainings to One-Stop staff and
partners on types of mental illness on a more
frequent level
Increased collaborative relationship between
One-Stop partners and Navigator to provide
holistic services to job seekers
Developed & implemented crises intervention
training for Intensive Services Staff
Met with partners and job seekers as needed
Developed & implemented stress management
training tailored for job seekers (1x/mo.)
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Mental Health Navigator worked with a Core
Staff member in the Resource Room to
identify job seekers accessing One-Stop over
long time periods who had difficulty
obtaining/retaining employment
◦ Harvey – Homeless Veteran
◦ Rona – Unemployed with untreated Depression
◦ Debbie – Initially denied service
Harvey
 Became homeless after losing his job as a result of mental health
problems and inability to maintain work schedule (heard voices, very
depressed)
 Harvey was not taking his medications, did not have money to purchase
medications and was currently not seeing his psychiatrist at the VA
 Navigator helped job seeker get free medications from free clinics in
order to stabilize mental health
 Worked Collaboratively with Navigator and Department of Labor
Veterans Program to help Harvey secure employment after his mental
health was stable
 Navigator counseled job seeker on the importance of maintaining mental
health as a precursor to job stability
 Department of Labor Veteran Program -Provided transportation funds
for Harvey to attend interviews
 Harvey conducted daily job search with assistance from veterans
programs, navigator and assistance with core staff
 Harvey secured employment and became stable
Rona
 Job seeker was fired from her job as medical assistant
 Core services referred Rona to intensive services for training
 Staff noticed Rona was very depressed which potentially could
hinder training and job search process
 Intensive services staff member referred her to navigator to
assess level of mental health needs
 Rona was not open to mental health counseling or medication
therapy for depression
 Navigator and Intensive service staff developed a relationship
with Rona and implemented plan to support her while she
received training in phlebotomy (i.e. phone calls, meetings,
resume development, job search techniques, etc.)
 Rona completed training and found employment 1 month after
training in the field of phlebotomy.
Debbie
 Intensive services referred job seeker to Mental health
expert/Navigator
 Debbie was diagnosed with depression and had difficulty
securing employment
 Received Private insurance through her spouse which made her
ineligible for the supported employment services until she was
referred to Division of Rehabilitation by Navigator
 Division of vocational rehabilitation referred Debbie to St. Luke’s
to fund supported employment services
 Debbie became employed, was laid off due to downsizing but
later became employed as an administrative assistant with an
elder care program
 Debbie was also referred to the Medicaid buy-in program for
benefits counseling
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One Stop Staff feel more comfortable in working with job seekers who
experience mental health issues
◦ DOL Veteran’s Program: “I don’t know what we would do without you here to consult
with us, these guys have a lot of issues, without the mental health piece and our
ability to collaborate together to help these guys, they would not get employed”
◦ One Stop Core Staff: “We definitely appreciate the mental health expertise of the
navigator because they work with us and coach us on how to work effectively with job
seekers with obvious mental health problems”
◦ One Stop Intensive Services Staff“ “Now we’re able to assess the mental health needs
of our job seekers and offer resources to them such as information on Medicaid buyin programs, mental health resources in the community and direct job seekers to
where they need to go for additional services”
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Increased employment outcomes for job seekers due to staff’s
knowledge and understanding of how to accommodate mental health
issues
Increased collaborative efforts of partners to meet the holistic needs of
job seekers, (i.e. Vets: work clothing, transportation funds, Navigator:
psychiatric referral)
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Director of Operations used networking
connections to establish One-Stop
relationship with the Rehabilitation
Counseling Program at area University:
◦ Developed Practicum site for 1 intern, which
evolved into 2 more interns
◦ Internship: 2 masters level counselors
◦ 100 hour practicum
◦ Evolved into 600-hour practicum per intern
Mental Health Internship at One-Stop
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Interns provide the following to job seekers in
Intensive Services:
◦ vocational services
◦ case management services, and
◦ individual counseling
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Interns are supervised by Mental Health Navigator
licensed to supervise
◦ Evaluates interns based on:
 Feedback from Intensive Services staff
 Feedback from director
 Observation, etc.
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Intern: “I’ve learned so
much through my
internship. I’ve had the
opportunity to work with
many job seekers with
various types of barriers
to employment which
makes my experience
here worthwhile. As a
result of this work, I’ve
increased my counseling
skills level.”
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Director of Intensive Services:
“Our Mental Health intern
was able to work with a very
difficult job seeker who could
not maintain employment
because she was not
medication compliant. The
intern was able to provide
mental health interventions
to the job seeker in addition
to our services to help
improve the mental health
stability of this client. She
has now been meds
compliant since January,
2009”
Future Developments:
1.
(2) 600-hour Practicum Interns receiving masters
degrees in counseling-rehabilitation
2.
Begin advertising mental health counseling through the
One-Stop
3.
Each intern will:
◦ Carry a caseload of job seekers
◦ Provide individualized services to job seekers
 Mental health counseling
 Vocational counseling
4.
Exploring the possibility of Interns working in
conjunction with workforce development specialist to
develop goal plans for job seekers with significant
barriers to employment
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presenters.
Larry Abramson, Director
Vocational Services at St. Luke’s House Inc.
(301) 493-4200 ext. 401
[email protected]
Sheila Cuomo, Navigator
Montgomery/Prince George’s County Maryland
(240) 283-1577
[email protected]
Miranda Kennedy, Training Coordinator
NDI Consulting, Inc.
(720) 890-3990
[email protected]