The Work and Recovery Project

Updated: May 5, 2005

Project Description

• The Work and Recovery Project was a two-year initiative that began in July 2002 and ended in June 2004, under the New York Work Exchange (NYWE) and the Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health Agencies at the request of the New York State Office of Mental Health. The project was aimed at improving consumer employment opportunities and outcomes in five New York City Continuing Day Treatment Programs.

• The project sites in order of consultation activity were:
• St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center Integrated Psychiatric Services
• F.E.G.S. Manhattan CDT
• Upper Manhattan Community Mental Health Center
• Fordham-Tremont Community Mental Health Center
• New York Psychotherapy Queens Adult Home CDT

• At each site, NYWE consultants offered tailored, on-site consultation to CDTP leadership, managers, program staff and consumers for about nine months per site during FYs 2002-2004. The consultation and technical assistance were aimed at promoting consumers' recovery and ultimate attainment of employment goals through the infusion of work-related and recovery-based concepts and activities.

• Jessica Wolf, Ph.D., and Leslie Reed Shields, L.C.S.W. were the two project consultants.

Key Project Benefits

• Opportunity to shift programming in a desired direction
• Staff training and consultation, resulting in targeted skill and role development
• Promotion of teamwork and collaboration among programs
• Initiation of a collaborative network of CDTPs

• Incorporation of work and related content into CDTP programming
• Increased staff skills and knowledge in areas of recovery and employment
• Improved integration of existing agency employment and clinical services
• CDTP client assessments to include vocational and related elements
• Treatment plans and progress notes to contain increased references to work and related options
• Increased CDTP consumer requests for employment-related experiences
• Increased consumer referrals to clubhouses and employment services
• Increased intra- and interagency collaboration
• CDTP network of employment-related community partners will expand
• CDTP support network will be launched
• Policies and procedures will reflect the employment needs of CDTP clients

• Consultants conducted focus groups and interviews on site with CDT and parent organization management staff, line staff, consumers, and CDT service providers to assess current and desired work related services within the CDT service system.
• Consultants and CDT leadership staff developed a tailored project design with appropriate CDT-specific project outcomes.
• Consultants and CDT leadership staff identified members of an evolving project team, responsible for managing and developing work related services over time.
• Project team members included management/supervisory and line staff and consumers.
• During the assessment phase, the consultants and project team members established preliminary outcomes that were refined and evaluated throughout the project.

Based on information from the assessment, consultants designed and presented a six-session on-site curriculum to CDT leadership, line staff and consumers with didactic, experiential, and application components

The curriculum content included though was not limited to:

• issues of recovery
• best practices for employment
• integration of clinical and employment services
• creating partnerships to promote employment options
• attention to elements of a cultural shift necessary to integrate employment within the existing delivery system
• identifying how to initiate and sustain organizational change

During the third phase, a project team of approximately 8 members was constituted to work on implementing specific outcomes identified in the first two phases. During a period of 4-6 months, the consultants served as resources to the project team as the team integrates curriculum learning into practice.

The fourth and final phase consisted of networking among participating CDTs as each CDT completed its project period, as well as on-site follow-up at each CDT one or two months post-completion to reflect on the learning, assess outcomes and plan for next steps.

Final Report:

Change Toward Work and Recovery,(Word 145kb)

Status and Activities at each project site, HTML

Work and Recovery Curriculum, (Word 150kb)