Fact #1: There are 3 million working-age
adults with severe mental illness in the nation’s communities, of whom 70%-90%
--- about 2 million people --- are unemployed. The National Institute of Mental Health
estimates that there are a little over 3 million adults
ages 18-69 who have a serious mental illness. Estimates of unemployment among
this group are startling: between 70% and 90% are unemployed, a rate higher
than for any other group of people with disabilities in the nation.
Fact #2: A diagnosis of serious mental
illness is not a reliable indicator that someone cannot work: indeed, many
people are able to work successfully despite their symptoms. Several
years of study report only a small relationship between diagnosis and work
capacity, or between psychiatric symptoms and work capacity. While it is true
that some of the symptoms of mental illness---its often unpredictable nature
and its impact on both cognitive and interpersonal functioning---make work a
real challenge, these symptoms vary from person to person.
Fact #3: On-the-job accommodations that
make it possible for people with serious mental illness to succeed at work are
proving relatively straight-forward and inexpensive: most job accommodations
involve flexible scheduling and job description modifications. Recent surveys
indicate that job accommodations for people with disabilities of all kinds are
not difficult or costly to implement: 68% of all accommodations cost less than
$500. The changes at work that people with serious mental illness request most
often---alterations in work schedules, or
modifications in job descriptions, clear communication patterns or additional
training for supervisors---are generally low-cost or no-cost to employers.
Fact #4: Researchers stress that
successful careers for people with serious mental illness, which depend in part
upon a good match between an individual’s work skills and the specific
requirements of the job, also reduce the use of costly mental health services and
hospitalizations. Many of those people with mental illness who do
work---often those with milder symptoms, stronger self esteem, more independent
functioning skills, and less need for emergency hospitalizations---are able to
continue at work because personal capacities and interests fit well with those
demanded by their job. Recent studies suggest that those involved in innovative
supported employment programs make less use of the most expensive mental health
services.
Fact #5: Innovative rehabilitation
programs that help people with the most serious mental illnesses are placing
more than 50% of their clients into paid employment. A
number of innovative programs that move clients into ‘real jobs for real pay’
as quickly as possible and then provide extensive supports for them either
on-the-job or off-the-job, are reporting considerable
success. An in depth analysis of Supported Employment outcomes, for instance,
found 52% of people still working after a year. Intensive case management and
individual placement and support models that emphasize employment regularly
report significant increases in wages, hours worked, work tenure, and career
advancement.
Fact #6: People with serious mental
illness work at all kinds of jobs in the labor market, although nearly 75% of
job placements are in entry-level positions, the rest are in technical and
professional roles. People who go to work through transitional and
supported employment programs can be found in all sectors of the economy (e.g.
manufacturing, service industry, rehabilitation programs, etc.) And in both
low-pay and low-benefit positions, but an increasing effort is being made to
open more responsible and better paying opportunities.
Fact #7: Employers who have hired
persons with serious mental illness in the past are generally very positive
about their experiences. Many employers throughout the country have hired
people with serious mental illness, and for a variety of profit-based and
altruistic motives: over 70% of these employers report their willingness to
continue working with rehabilitation programs that place and support people
with serious mental illness. Employers who are involved with rehabilitation
programs are less likely to share the public’s concerns and fears about people
with mental illness, particularly with regard to violent behavior. In fact, a
recent study of “mental disorder and violent behavior” reported only a modest
relationship between the two: 90% of people with mental illness are not
violent, and, the study reported that “having experienced psychotic symptoms in
the past bears no direct relationship to violence” in the future.
Reprinted from material completed by the
Research and
