Connecting Health and Wellness to Career Development and Beyond: Center Life to Community Living

1. Connecting Health and Wellness to Career Development and Beyond: Center Life to Community Living Mental Health and Wellness Program Today and Tomorrow Valerie R. Cherry, Ph.D. Principal Mental Health Consultant

2. Mental Health and Wellness Program Focus • All Job Corps students are able to live, work, learn, and participate fully in Job Corps and their communities • Encourage a center wide focus on mental wellness and employability, NOT mental illness • Consistent and clear case management processes for students

3. Mental Health and the Workplace Consider this...... • In a typical workplace with 20 employees, four will likely develop a mental illness this year (NIMH 2004) • Mental health conditions are the 2nd leading cause of workplace absenteeism (APF 2004) • Untreated and mistreated mental illness costs the US $105 billion in lost productivity each year (NMHA 2001)

4. Mental Health and the Workplace Consider this...... • The treatment success rate for depression is more than 80 percent, whereas the rate for heart disease is 45-50 percent. (NMHA 2004) • More than 3 out of 4 employees who seek care for workplace issues or MH problems see substantial improvement in work performance after treatment (APF 2003)

5. Consider this...... Nearly 70% of current users of illegal drugs are employed. Nearly 1 in 4 employed Americans between the ages of 18 - 35 have illegally used drugs. 20% of young workers admit using marijuana on the job. * Source: 'Working Partners', National Conference Proceedings Report: sponsored by U.S. Dept. of Labor, the SBA, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy- 2004. Mental Health and the Workplace

6. Consider this...... For every dollar spent on treating an individual with a substance abuse problem, approximately $12 in future costs to society are avoided. Almost 75 percent of individuals who go through a treatment program remain drug-free six months later and 63 percent are still drug-free one year later. Employment rates nearly double and crime rates are reduced by 80 percent in the first year among those who have completed treatment * Source: 'Working Partners', National Conference Proceedings Report: sponsored by U.S. Dept. of Labor, the SBA, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy-2004. Mental Health and the Workplace

7. Annual Health and Wellness Program Report for PY 2003 Medical Separation Data • 64,336 students enrolled • 2,035 medical separations • Medical Separations account for 3.2% of all JC separations • Mental Health accounted for 40% • Substance Abuse –6%

8. Closer Look at Mental Health and TEAP Separation Data- PY 2003 • Psychosis and Affective Disorders- 458 (22%) • Personality Disorders and Behavior Problems – 205 (10%) • Substance Abuse – 117 (6%) • Non-compliance with Med Treatment- 59 (2.8%) • Unspecified Mental Disease –35 –(1.7%) • Anxiety- 33 ( 1.6%) • LD 2 and MR 5 (< 1%).

9. Substance Abuse- PY 2003 • 25% test positive on entry, most for marijuana(88%), next cocaine (4%) • At 45 day 16% still positive • 75% of our students come in to Job Corps with a clean test • Decrease in number of students positive on entry from 34% in 1995

10. Deaths- PY 2003 • PY 2003 increased from 13 in 2002 to 22 - Most were accidental • 2 were related to TEAP- huffing, methadone toxicity, • 2 suicides –hit by train and gunshot wound • PY 2004 – (7/1/04 –5/16/05) 27- Most were homicides • 3 were suicides – 2 hangings/suffocations and 1 hit by train • 1 related to TEAP - Unknown

11. Center Life to Community Living Helping our students gain and maintain employment? • Paradigm shift from traditional mental health to helping our students understand their mental health as it relates to employment. • Interventions aimed at addressing employment difficulties that may be a consequence of those symptoms. • Early identification and referrals for treatment • Implement ADA accommodations for students during Job Corps

12. Center Life to Community LivingHelping our students gain and maintain employment? • Opportunities to learn and practice strategies to deal with employment barriers prior to the CTP. • Career Counselors must view their role with students as to 'place and support' not to just train and place. •  Linkages with supported work environments

13. Success in the CommunityWhat Our Students Need! • Self-Management and Recovery Skills • What are the things I need to do every day to stay well and maintain my employment? • What are the external events at home and on the job that could trigger symptoms for me? • What are the responses that might keep my symptoms from getting worse? • What are my early warning signs and what should be my plan of action?

14. Success in the CommunityWhat Our Students Need! • Develop a Wellness Tool Box • Talk to a supportive person in the workplace. • Relaxation and stress reduction exercises. • Stop, analyze the situation and make a thoughtful decision. • Develop a Crisis Plan • List of supporters and what you will need them to do.

15. Success in the CommunityWhat Our Students Need! • Hope • Personal Responsibility • Self-Advocacy • Education • Personal and Work Support