Making Employment Work

Making Employment Work

Employers, people with mental illness must find compromise

By MARY-ANN REETER Special to The Ithaca Journal

December 1, 2004

In 2002 and 2003, the Mental Health Empowerment Project, a self-help organization for people with psychiatric disabilities, surveyed more than 1,000 people across New York. They asked them to prioritize what mental health services were most important to them. In 2002, the most important service selected was "increasing the opportunities and skills training programs necessary to getting and keeping a job." In 2003, this it also ranked in the top three priorities.

People who live with mental illness sometimes experience bouts of instability in their lives. In times of acute illness and crisis, these people may become hospitalized, lose their jobs and/or housing, alienate friends and family, and become dependent on social services to take care of basic needs. The road to recovery may include medical interventions like medication and therapy. Psychiatric rehabilitation research identifies that the road to recovery also includes stable and affordable housing, opportunities to socialize, to give and get social support and meaningful employment.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 protects qualified people with disabilities from being discriminated against when finding and keeping employment. If the qualified person can perform the essential functions of the job, the employer must make accommodations if it does not impose an "undue hardship" on the business. People who live with psychiatric disability most often require accommodations like access to water, opportunity to work part time, gradual introduction of new tasks, access to a job coach, and positive feedback by co-workers and supervisor.

Going to work has many benefits for people who have disabilities, as well as for the general population. Getting a paycheck is great. It means more money and a tangible reward for work well done and time well spent. Working gives an opportunity to meet people and interact with them, breaking social isolation. It helps build self-esteem and self-respect. It gives structure to the day and the week. It makes leisure time more meaningful. And it is a distraction from illness.

Many people who are disabled and receive disability benefits are concerned that if they go to work, they will lose their benefits and not get them back if they relapse. "It took me two years and a lot of work to get my Social Security benefits. I don't want to do anything to lose them."

Social Security has several employment incentives to help people who receive disability benefits go back to work. To find out more about these incentives, contact Kevin Nickerson, disability navigator at Workforce New York in Ithaca. Nickerson is available to meet with anyone receiving SSDI or SSI to design a plan for going back to work that is financially smart. Call 272-7570, ext. 136. [For those living in other areas, please contact your local social security office and ask about the ticket to work programs. Also see the Return2Work program. ]

Do you want to know more? There will be an informational panel on employment for people who live with psychiatric disabilities at Tompkins County Public Library on Wednesday, Dec. 8. It will be held in the Borg Warner Room from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Speakers include Nickerson, Shammi Carr from the Cornell ADA-Northeast team, and Mary-Ann Reeter, of Challenge Community Employment. Bring your questions and a sandwich. Beverages and dessert will be provided.

The Independent Living column, written by Finger Lakes Independence staffers, appears every other Wednesday. Contact the center at 215 Fifth St., Ithaca, NY 14850, or call 272-2433.

Source: Ithaca Journal

This 'Mental Health E-News' posting is a service of the New York Ass'n of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, a statewide coalition of people who use and/or provide community mental health services dedicated to improving services and social conditions for people with psychiatric disabilities by promoting their recovery, rehabilitation and rights. To join our list, please click on the E-News Subscription button.

Last Updated on 12/02/04 webmaster@namiscc.org

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