Rethinking MH Employment Services to Create Real Jobs: Blue Skies Personnel Services
Location
Blue Skies Personnel Services is a full-service, non-profit employee staffing entity that places people with mental illness into direct-hire jobs in the community. It was established as an innovative strategy for overcoming mental health stigma in the workplace so that more clients could obtain competitive employment.
About You
Section 1: About You
First Name
Steven
Last Name
Ramsland
Website URL
Country
United States
Section 2: About Your Organization
Organization Name
Buckelew Programs, Inc.
Organization Website
Organization Phone
415-457-6964
Organization Address
914 Mission Ave., San Rafael, CA 94901
Organization Country
United States
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Your idea
Name Your Project
Rethinking MH Employment Services to Create Real Jobs: Blue Skies Personnel Services
Country your work focuses on
United States
Describe Your Idea
Blue Skies Personnel Services is a full-service, non-profit employee staffing entity that places people with mental illness into direct-hire jobs in the community. It was established as an innovative strategy for overcoming mental health stigma in the workplace so that more clients could obtain competitive employment.
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
Blue Skies Personnel Services "rethinks mental health" by marketing itself as a professional HR staffing service, and not a mental health program. It's outreach staff are marketing and sales people who have been trained in working with mental health clients, not traditional mental health professionals who may be comfortable working with clients but are not adept at working with businesses.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
In the year prior to starting Blue Skies Personnel Services, Buckelew Programs placed 17 people with mental illness into jobs in the community. In every year since, we have placed between 75 and 93 people into real jobs, and those workers have increased their income, on average, by at least 45%.
Problem
Studies show that although 70% of people with mental illness want to work, only 15% are employed. The majority of people with serious mental illness in the US have incomes below the poverty level. A big hurdle to employment is the stigma associated with mental illness, and traditional mental health employment approaches have failed to surmount those challenges, resulting in such low rates of employment and income.
Small businesses comprise the vast majority of employers. Most do not have professional HR departments, and rely on staffing services for hiring and general HR needs. By forming our own staffing service, we gain direct access to companies that might employ our clients.
Actions
Professional job developers work with employers to identify their staffing needs, and then introduce qualified job candidates to the employer, assisting the client with the interview process. Once hired, job coaches provide a quality assurance role, working with the employer and client to ensure the success of the placement. HR specialists provide ongoing consultation and training to the employer.
Results
Blue Skies Personnel Services has placed over 400 individuals into competitive employment in the past 5 years. Our reputation as a reliable staffing service for small employers has grown, and a dozen local employers serve on our Employer Advisory Council. We are the preferred staffing service for our local Staples office supply company,Home Depot, and others. The clients placed into employment have, on average, increased their income by over 45%.
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
A turnaround in the economy will create more hiring opportunities for consumers. We hope to add funding to expand Blue Skies to other counties. Funding for more job developers leads to more jobs.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
A continuing jobless recovery may slow down our placements, but we're confident of continuing and expanding on our success.
How many people will your project serve annually?
101‐1000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$100 ‐ 1000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for 1‐5 years
In what country?
United States
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
Buckelew Programs, Inc.
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
We receive baseline funding from county mental health departments, from the state Dept. of Rehabilitation, Ticket to Work, and ARRA $, with additional $ from donations. We receive referrals and guidance from these partners. Our Employer Advisory Committee helps us to maintain strong relationships with employers.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
1) Funding to expand to other counties; 2) Implementation of new ETO outcomes software; 3) improved website and social media to better support our efforts.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
As part of an overall strategy of moving to a recovery-oriented vision of mental health services, we decided to close our day treatment program in 2005 and expand our employment services to clients with serious mental illness. Our employment services staff met in a retreat to plan our redesigned service model. They discussed how difficult it was to persuade employers to hire our clients, and brainstormed new ideas. One of our staff members had previously worked with 3 staffing services on a collaborative initiative to help low income Latina mothers to obtain computer skills and jobs through those staffing services. Remembering how important staffing services were to small employers, she thought aloud about the potential impact of having our own staffing service assist clients with mental illness to obtain work. Staff were enthusiastic about the idea, they incorporated principles of MH recovery and evidence-based employment practices into the model, came up with a name, and launched Blue Skies Personnel Services.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
Shelley Norris-Alvarez was the principal social innovator behind this idea. She has a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling and 30 years experience in employment services for people with disabilities. She has owned and operated a small business, and is a surveyor for the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). Her previous employment included a collaboration between a nonprofit and 3 staffing services to direct hire low income Latina mothers in jobs. She currently manages Buckelew Employment Services, the umbrella entity of Blue Skies Personnel Services.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Email from Changemakers
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
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Comments
On November 20, 2009 the judges reviewed the entries for the Changemakers Rethinking Mental Health: Improving Community Wellbeing competition and would like to pass on the following feedback (listed below) for your entry. Thank you for applying and for your hard work in the field. We are excited to archive your entry to serve as a leading solution for the worldwide community of innovators. We wish you continued luck with your innovative, sustainable, and socially impactful initiatives.
All the best, The Changemakers Team
“I thought the dual-client approach was extremely innovative especially since this is not what is typically done. This initiative addresses not just the individual who hopes to be employed but also thinks about how these individuals will work with the potential employer. It’s great that they’re thinking of employer needs as well.”
“This initiative deserves widespread recognition for its excellent approach. It really takes on the issue of stigma and provides opportunities for work. It helps recovering patients manage their on-going illness as part of the workplace.”
“While job programs are not new, the approach is so innovative! One of the most critical issues for many health professionals is on how to integrate people with illnesses back into society after being treated and rehabilitated. Even if patients are well, it’s often difficult to find jobs for them because of stigma. This addresses that big dream that we all have. This initiative is such a simple and useful way of integrating people in this way. Would you mind providing some more information on why you closed the day hospital?”
- Changemakers Rethinking Mental Health: Improving Community Wellbeing Judges
Thanks for your comments; we're very proud of our success both in finding employment for clients and in maintaining strong relationships with local employers.
In response to the question of why we closed the day hospital, we did so because we believed that a robust employment services program that focused on jobs in the community was more consistent with mental health recovery principles than our old day treatment paradigm. For those clients who don't work, a consumer-operated drop-in/resource center is also available.
--Steve Ramsland
This is a great project. I would be interested to know more about how it is progressing, for there is a lot for all of us who work with consumers to emulate. I have personally interacted with consumers who have benefited from such programs, and it is really great for their self esteem and building feelings of self-worth. Keep up the good work.