Employment specialists’ perspectives on implementing supported employment with young adults

ABSTRACT Objective: Youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions have particularly poor records of stable employment, but stable employment is a key to recovery. Employment specialists have a key role in supported employment services in assisting them with employment. This article describes the thoughts and concerns of employment specialists about finding and supporting employment for youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions. Method: The authors undertook 12 intensive interviews with supported employment specialists in two states. These interviews were transcribed and coded by the authors. A number of themes were identified and prototypical examples identified and included in the findings. Results: Although the employment specialists varied in their enthusiasm and optimism about the job, they agreed on key problems that they face in supporting employment for young adults that include employer resistance to hiring people with mental illness, increasing use of online applications, larger organizations not making hiring decisions locally and thus the decisions are not responsive to the employment specialist, resistance from family and mental health professionals and the young adults themselves to full-time employment and putting benefits at risk, and resistance from young adults to disclosing their disability to coworkers and thus being unwilling to take supported employment positions. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: These interviews suggest that some of the features of supported employment practice might need to be modified if young adults with serious mental health issues are to gain employment that over time could lead to significant careers and recovery.