Creating Jobs Initiative

The Creating Jobs Initiative (CJI) will follow the same successful model as the previously implemented Creating Homes Initiative (CHI).

CJI is administered and executed by the Director of Employment Planning and Development, who educates, advocates, and provides training regarding employment issues and assists in increasing financial resources to develop employment prospects locally. Additionally, the CJI Task Forces bring traditional and nontraditional community partners together to focus on expanding and creating more employment opportunities for persons with mental illness.

• Creating Jobs Initiative Description
• Why do we fund it?
• Whom does it serve?
• What are the outcomes?
• What evidence is available to support the service?

Service Description
Creating Jobs Initiative (CJI) is a strategic plan to partner with Tennessee communities to increase employment opportunities for persons with mental illness across the state. One goal of the program is to provide 2010 persons with mental illness with employment by the year 2010. The CJI will include a targeted, grassroots effort with local communities to create a multi-agency collaboration in each of the seven mental health planning regions across the state.

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Why do we fund it?
Employment is an important source of dignity and purpose and is an opportunity for persons who are diagnosed with mental illness and co-occurring disorders to develop independence. The Department of Human Services' Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) is the state agency that receives federal money and receives the mandate to provide employment services for persons with disabilities, including those diagnosed with a mental illness.

Whom does it serve?
The program serves adults who are diagnosed with mental illness and co-occurring disorders and who want to work.

What are the outcomes?
Develop joint efforts by Tennessee Career Centers, Mental Health Service Agencies, TDMHDD and Vocational Rehabilitation to promote and expand services and opportunities for employment for persons with mental illness across Tennessee. By leveraging private, state and federal money, provide education of Agency staff and allow involvement of mental health oprofessionals in vocational rehabilitation and job training organizations, and promote collaborative local efforts between mental health, vocational rehabilitation and faith-based entities. Community ownership of these efforts is an ultimate goal.

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Is there research, evidence-based practice, best practice, or literature to support the service?
Supported employment is a SAMHSA-approved evidence-based practice, as described in “Evidence-Based Practice: Supported Employment,” March 2004, compiled by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for SAMHSA, contract #280-00-8049. G.R. Bond, D.R. Becker, R.E. Drake, C.A. Rapp, Meisler, N., Lehman, A.F., and M.D. Bell, “Implementing Supported Employment as an Evidence-Based Practice,” Psychiatric Services, 52, (2001), 313-322. The recently published study on the treatment of schizophrenia by the Schizophrenia Patient Outcomes Research Team (Lehman, 2004) found vocational rehabilitation effective in the treatment of persons diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Supported employment has been the most extensively studied model of vocational rehabilitation for persons with psychiatric disabilities, and ample evidence supports its effectiveness. Recently, nine different research studies wherein consumers were randomly assigned to supported employment or a comparison program, the supported employment programs were found to produce better vocational outcomes than the comparison programs. Consumers in supported employment were more successful in obtaining competitive work, worked more hours, and earned more wages from competitive employment than consumers in the comparison programs. Although extreme stress was feared, no negative effects were identified for the consumers involved in supportive employment. They did not require more intensive psychiatric treatment, such as hospitalizations. Most consumers who work in supportive employment work part-time and are able to keep cash and medical benefits.

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