Promoting Effective Connections between Community Mental Health Care Providers and Employers

December, 2003

The New York Work Exchange with the Workplace Center of Columbia University have undertaken a two-year study with eleven mental health agencies in NYC to explore the potential of vendors as a source of consumer employment.

Download the full report: Promoting Effective Connections between Community Mental Health Care Providers and Employers (PDF).

This report has been developed by the staff of Columbia University’s The Workplace Center comprised of Sheila H. Akabas Ph.D., Professor and Director, Lauren B. Gates, Ph.D., Research Director, Gretchen Koball, Program Coordinator, Beatrice Imperiali, Program Coordinator, and The New York Work Exchange, The Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health Agencies, Inc.

The mental health agencies in the study are: The Bridge, Inc., Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service, Brooklyn Community Housing and Services, Inc., Center for Urban Community Services, Community Access, Goodwill Industries of Greater New York & Northern New Jersey, Inc., Institute for Community Living, Inc., Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, Project Renewal, Riverdale Mental Health Association, and South Beach Psychiatric Center.

This study was conducted to identify strategies that encourage vendors to extend their business relationships with agencies to include the recruitment and hire of consumers. The study explored approaches to tailoring marketing strategies, efficient ways to contact employers, and employers’ sensitivity to hiring consumers of mental health services.

The study’s participating vendors included nearly half from the service industry. Nearly half had between 21-499 employees and a third had a human resource department. A wide range of vendor types implied that consumer interests in employment could most likely be met. Companies with a Human Resource Department were considered a positive feature for the reason that a centralized department for recruitment and hire would help a job developer to form an employer relationship more easily. During the interview, vendors talked about recruitment strategies, whether or not they hire on an annual basis, obstacles encountered in filling their vacancies with qualified staff and recruitment of individuals with mental health disabilities.

It was found that only 16% of the vendors actively recruit people with disabilities. Sixty-seven percent said that most co-workers would not have a problem working with a person with a mental health condition whereas 11% said that they would have a problem. Employers’ major concerns with recruiting and hiring from this applicant pool were on issues of reliability, productivity, liability and gaps in work history, just to name a few. The bottom line for most employers interviewed was that they simply wanted to hire capable employees who could come in and get the job done. Some concerns also came up regarding accommodations; most employers had limited experience with accommodations and some felt that providing an employee with accommodations would disrupt the group workflow.

The study determined that agencies could be most helpful in supporting employment for people with mental health conditions by paying attention to: core competencies or required skills for specific jobs; workplace environment by paying a visit to the site; and knowledge of the industry via research into the specific company.

Upon hiring an applicant from this pool, vendors indicated that they would need support with: establishing closer relationships with the agency; referring qualified applicants that meet core competencies to the vendor; addressing the need for disclosure; and raising employer awareness of agencies’ services.

Key questions are raised from this study. Can providers work with vendors and is this a potentially lucrative placement pool for consumers of mental health services? The customer or agency is in a position of significant leverage with the vendor and could this be utilized to serve the recipients of services from the agency towards employment for these consumers? Could education on topics such as productivity, reliability, safety, and working with individuals with a mental health history benefit the employer relationship? Can agency staff be utilized more directly in obtaining more precise information on employer/vendor responsiveness in hiring individuals with disabilities? Could staff look at ways to better assess consumers’ skills to match them with the core competencies that the employer needs?

In summary, it was determined that routine interaction with the vendors with up to date contact information must be maintained. Obtaining and maintaining a vendor list proved to be more complicated and much more labor intensive than originally planned. Increased outreach efforts, including the dedication of staff time, are required to the vendors in order for this potential job development contact to be productive and helpful to consumers. The study helped to underscore the job development process within supported employment programs such as the tremendous amount of time that is required to seek employers, make contact with prospective employers, and nurture these business relationships towards the development of jobs for consumers.

Download the full report: Promoting Effective Connections between Community Mental Health Care Providers and Employers (PDF).